Etna has been a volcano from time immemorial; but of its more ancient eruptions only vague traditions have survived. The Greek poet Pindar is the earliest writer who makes mention of its activity. He refers to it in his first Pythian Ode, Strophe B, 1. 1. The passage is thus rendered by Carey--
"From whose caverned depths aspire, In purest folds upwreathing, tost Fountains of approachless fire-- by day a flood of smouldering smoke With sullen gleam the torrents pour"
The ode in which this allusion occurs is said to have been written about B.C. 470; and the eruption to which it refers probably took place shortly before that date.
Virgil also describes the mountain very forcibly in the Æneid, lib. iii. 570. Dryden renders the passage thus:--
"The port capacious, and secure from wind, Is to the foot of thund'ring Etna joined. By turns a pitchy cloud she rolls on high: By turns hot embers from her entrails fly, And flakes of mounting flames, that lick the sky. Oft from her bowels massy rocks are thrown, And shivered by the force come piece-meal down. Oft liquid lakes of burning sulphur flow, Fed from the fiery springs that boil below."
Since the one to which Pindar alludes, there have been recorded about sixty eruptions; but in the present century Etna has been less frequently active than Vesuvius.
Owing to the great height of Mount Etna, the lava seldom rises so far as to flow from the summit. It more frequently bursts forth from the flanks of the mountain; and in this manner there have been formed numerous smaller cones, of which several have craters of their own. Hence Etna is rather a group of volcanoes than a single cone; but all these subordinate volcanic hills cluster round the flanks of the great central summit. Etna may thus be regarded as a fertile mother of mountains, with all her children around her. Some of these hills, her offspring, are covered with forests and rich vegetation--such having enjoyed a lasting repose. Others are still arid and bare, having been more recently formed. Owing to this peculiarity in its structure, Etna does not present that conical aspect which characterizes most other volcanoes. Strange as it may seem, there are, on the sides of the mountain, caverns which the Sicilians use for storing ice. Some of these caverns are of vast extent. One called Fossa della Palomba measures, at its entrance, 625 feet in circumference, and has a depth of about 78 feet. This great cavity, however, forms merely the vestibule to a series of others, which are perfectly dark.