MYTHOLOGY AND EARLY SPECULATIONS ON VOLCANOES

 

         People used to think dragons under the earth caused volcanoes. They said the smoke that puffed above the ground was the dragon’s breath. They said the earthquakes were caused by the dragon’s moving around under the earth. Now we know that this is not true.

 

ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
          The word volcano comes from the little island of Vulcano in the Mediterranean Sea off Sicily. Centuries ago, the people living in this area believed that Vulcano was the chimney of the forge of Vulcan-the blacksmith of the Roman gods. They thought that the hot lava fragments and clouds of dust erupting from Vulcano came from Vulcan’s forge as he beat out the thunderbolts for Jupiter, king of the gods, and weapons for Mars, the god of war.

       There is a legend that during the reign of Romulus, a temple to Vulcan was  built in Rome, and a festival called Vulcalania was held on August 23 of each year , the ceremony consisting of a sacrifice to Vulcan for the purpose of averting all mishaps that might arise from the use of fire or light.     

 

 

PRIMITIVE MYTHOLOGY

            Since many of the primitive peoples of the earth were fire-worshippers, it would seem reasonable that volcanoes, as a source of fire, might be a part of their mythology. In support of this idea is the fact that the earliest pyramids in Mexico, such as Cuicuilco in Mexico City are round and similar in shape to volcanic cones. That the people were familiar with volcanoes is obvious, since this particular pyramid was partially buried by a lava flow, known as the Bedregal, covers a large area in the southern part of the Mexico City. Later pyramids are the conventional four-sided structures. Nevertheless, James B. Fraser (1930) indicates that few myths allude to volcanoes as a source of fire. An exception is the Polynesian myths , which do ascribe fire to volcanoes. The Tongan people tell of the hero Maui who stole fire in "  the nether world " and ran out of a passage and set the bushes on fire, since which time all people have had fire. A Samoan version relates that one of their ancestors struggled with the god Mafuie and after breaking off one of the god's hands, permitted him to go free, which Mafuie is somewhere below Samoa, occasionally shaking the islkand with his one good hand, and the Samoans thank their gods that he has only one good hand , for with two hands he would surely shake their island into ruins.

THE LEGEND OF PELE

            The legend of Pele, a fire goddess of Hawaiian volcanoes, has many variations, as well as adherents, even today.The most common account relates how Madam Pele ( so called by the natives in respect and familiarity ), in search of a home, visited first one island and then another looking for a suitable abode. Koko Head and Koko Crater, prominent landmarks at the eastern end of the island of Oahu, are evidences of Pele's last visit to Oahu. Pele built these craters while trying to find a home on Oahu. Finally, coming to Kilauea, an active volcano is proceeded by the appearance of Madam Pele, and many residents of the Big Island will testify that they have seen her in the form of an old woman just before an eruption. In most accounts Madam Pele is described as a revengeful goddess, taking care of her friends and destroying her enermies.

VOLCANIC ACTIVITY AND RELIGION

            According to many of the early Christian teachings, hell was somewhere near the center of the earth , and volcanoes were believed to be the gateway to the infernal regions, an idea that persisted well into the nineteenth century. The fiery discharges from volcanoes were believed to come from the fires of the hell in the interior of the earth, and the noise from the shrieks and groans of the departed spirits suffering the tortures of the damned. In Dante's Divine Comedy, hell is described as a vast crater with  the Lucifer enthroned at the center. In many cultures, there is a form of worship of mountain deities, such as the famous volcano Fujiyama, which is sacred to many Japanese.

    VOLCANOLOGY  AMONG THE ANCIENTS

            A very indistinct line separates the mythologies of the early Greeks and Romans and their more scientific idea concerning volcanoes. Although the Greeks were among the first to formulate explanations of the various physical features of the earth, including volcanoes, it should be recalled that they did not employ deductive reasoning, that is, the collection of the facts followed by the development of an explanation to interpret the facts. It was centuries later- infact , not until the time of Charles Darwin, only about 100 years ago- that is type of reasoning came into general use.

             Despite shrewd guesses of Plato, Aristotle and Strabo, and observations of Pliny the Younger, more of the early Greeks or Romans had any real concept of the true nature of volcanic activity. Aristotle ( 384-322 B.C. ), following Plato ( 427-347 B.C. ) referred vaguely to "pent-up" winds imprisoned in subterranean channels as being the cause of earthquakes and also of such winds' striking fire from seams of sulphur and cone as being the cause of volcanoes. Strabo (63 B.C.-AD. 21) a learned geographer of his time, in allusion to the tradition that Sicily had been separated from Italy by a convulsion, remarked at present the land near the sea was rarely slacken by earthquakes, since they were "now open orifices whereby fire, and ignited matter, and water escape, "but that formerly, when the volcanoes Etna, the Lipari Islands, Ischia, and others had been closed up, the imprisoned fire and wind might have produced more violent movements ( Strabo 1854-1857 ). Thus, while holding to the old Aristotelian idea of  "pent-up" winds, Strabo seems to have inferred that volcanoes a set as safety values, a somewhat modern concept.

            Shakespeare (1564-1616) reflecting the general idea of his time, has Hotspur reply to Glendower in Henry IV : Part One as follows :

    Diseased nature of fentimes breaks forth,

    In strange eruptions ; off the teeming earth 

    Is with a kind of colic pinched and vex'd

   By the imprisoning of unruly wind 

    Within her womb ; which for enlargement striving 

    Shakes the old beldame earth, and topples down

    Steeples and moss-grown towers. 

( 3.1.27 - 33 )                                                

    

            Volcanoes, first regarded with superstition and fear, sometimes even the abode of the gods, finally became the subject of scientific inquiry. Then investigators learned to identify the causes producing volcanoes this knowledge made possible speculations on the prediction and control of volcanic eruptions and the development of ways and means of harnessing volcanic energy for the benefit of mankind.