Italy is a mountainous country. The Alps dominate the north and the Appenines run down the peninsula like a backbone. The regions of open plains, including the Padanian basin and the lowlands of Salento, are few and far between. The Giro d'Italia has a separate classification recognizing the best cyclists in mountain terrain - instead of the famous pink jersey the leader of the overall classification wears, the leader of the mountain-scaling classification wears blue.
Etna is far from the tallest mountain in Italy - most of the Alps tower over it - but it is the second-largest active volcano in the whole of Europe. In near constant activity, it looms over the city of Catania frequently belching smoke and flame.
The volcano has a central place in Greek and Roman mythology, and spreads into the folklore of other European and Mediterranean cultures. The following is a brief list of the gods, goddesses, monsters, heroes and villains living in, on, or under Mount Etna:
- The four winds, imprisoned under Etna by King Aeolus, son of Poseidon.
- The monstrous giant Typhon, son of Gaea (earth) and Tartarus (hell), also imprisoned under the volcano.
- Hephaestus, or Vulcan, the god of the forge, sets up shop in the fiery interior, forging arms and armor for the gods of Olympus.
- The Cyclopses have a blacksmithing workshop next door, presumably making inferior but cheaper products.
- King Arthur and his court of knights, relaxing in a lovely green England-like landscape enclosed in the mountain.
- Queen Elizabeth I of England, as a condition of a pact made with the devil to aid her in her earthly reign.
- And finally, a moment of silence for the pre-Socratic philosopher Empedocles, who was so determined to pursue an empirical course of study on the nature of volcanic activity that he jumped into the crater. He never published again.
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