#Avernus

• Avernus — The ancient name of a volcanic lake located in the Campania region of Italy (Lago d'Averno), considered in Greek and Roman mythology to be the gateway to the underworld, Hades, or the Inferno; in an extended literary sense, the term is used as a poetic or allegorical metaphor to denote hell, death, darkness, or an endless abyss. The name etymologically derives from the Greek 'aornos' (birdless), due to the belief that toxic gas emendations killed any bird flying over it.
• Avernus — The classical Latin form of the toponym Avernus (Lago d'Averno), denoting the volcanic crater lake near Cumae (Italy), anciently regarded as the entrance to the Underworld; the term is widely used in academic literature, classical philology, and faithful translations of Virgil's works (The Aeneid) to evoke the subterranean realm of shades and the god Hades. Its etymology points to the absence of birds, due to toxic sulfurous gases emitted by the area's volcanic activity.