INFLUENCE OF VOLCANOES 4 3 



to lie buried beneath the region between Etna and 

 the Phlegrasan Fields. The belching of the volcano 

 suggested to the popular imagination, which so loved 

 to personify the powers of nature, the gasping of an 

 imprisoned monster. The tremors so constantly affect- 

 ing the islands were his quiverings as he lay on his 

 uneasy, burning bed, and the earthquakes that from 

 time to time shook the region marked how he tried 

 now and again to shift his position there. 



As intercourse with the West made the vol- 

 canic phenomena of that region more familiar, the 

 mythological interpretation underwent gradual modi- 

 fication. On the one hand, it was observed that 

 eruptions from Etna, sometimes disastrous enough 

 when they occurred, took place at irregular and often 

 widely separated intervals. On the other hand, it was 

 noticed that among the iEolian Islands, which lay 

 to the north, within sight of the Sicilian volcano, 

 subterranean rumblings and explosions were of daily 

 occurrence. The Cyclops of older time, being no 

 longer extant above ground, came to be transferred in 

 popular fancy to the underground regions as associates 

 of Hephaistos or Vulcan. The incessant commotion 

 below the surface suggested the idea of a subterranean 

 workshop, where these beings were employed in forging 

 the thunderbolts of Jove and in making arms and 

 implements for other gods and heroes. Accordingly 

 the belief gradually spread over the ancient world 

 that the god of fire had his abode under Sicily and 

 the neighbouring islands. 



Further, the abundant discharges of steam and 

 vapours, both in the quiescent and the active phases 



