Lake
Lacus Avernus
Lago Averno
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Lacus Avernus, near Pozzuoli, is so small on the map that its name begins at the bottom and wraps around three sides, and a thin red line may trace the steep rim of its volcanic crater. The Greeks explained the name as Aornos, 'without birds', from the tale that its fumes killed any bird flying over. Here Odysseus and Aeneas were said to have entered the underworld. The lake was thought bottomless; it is sixty-five metres deep. In 37 BC Agrippa joined it by a canal to the Lucrine lake as part of a new naval harbour, and a tunnel led on to Cumae.