L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 4 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS M o u n t E t n a i s one of the symbols of Sicily and of the Mediterranean. Since t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t i m e , i t kept watch on its lands and i t s s e a , w i t n e s s i n g a n d k e e p i n g t r a c k o f h i s t o r y . S i l e n t , p r o t e c t i v e , a n d peaceful, but also roaring a n d t h r e a t e n i n g w h e n i t decides so, Mount Etna is l i k e a n a l l - p o w e r f u l b u t beloved parent to all Sicil- ians, who call it affection- a t e l y " M o n g i b e l l o , " o r "Mungibeddu," as well as 'a muntagna (the mountain) or, quite simply, idda (she, b e c a u s e " m o u n t a i n " i s female in Italian). As such, i t c o u p l e s w i t h M o u n t Stromboli, nicknamed by locals iddu, "he." In Cata- nia, a city that learned how to live in symbiosis with it, Mount Etna is not only part o f t h e l a n d s c a p e , b u t o f Catanese identity. From its s u m m i t , o n a g o o d d a y , one's eyes can space all the way to Malta. Mount Etna is also the highest active volcano in E u r o p e a n d a m o n g t h e h i g h e s t i n t h e w o r l d ; i n 2 0 1 3 , i t b e c a m e p a r t o f t h e U N E S C O W o r l d Heritage, with a site that comprises 19,237 hectares of land on and around the volcano, including part of the Parco dell'Etna Region- a l P a r k . M o u n t E t n a , U N E S C O w r i t e s , i s "renowned for its excep - t i o n a l l e v e l o f v o l c a n i c activity, and the documen- tation of its activity over at l e a s t 2 , 7 0 0 y e a r s : " t h i s makes it the volcano with t h e l o n g e s t d o c u m e n t e d records of historical volcan- ism. "Its notoriety, scientif- ic importance, and cultural and educational value are of g l o b a l s i g n i f i c a n c e , " U N E S C O c o n c l u d e s . T h e scientific importance of the m o u n t a i n i s m i r r o r e d b y the fact Etna is among the m o s t s t u d i e d a n d m o n i - t o r e d v o l c a n o e s i n t h e world. A legendary past With such a natural, his- torical, and cultural pedi- gree, it's not surprising that m a n y l e g e n d s a n d t a l e s d e v e l o p e d a r o u n d t h i s beautiful, albeit menacing, mountain. Perhaps the first legend - even though it's not really a l e g e n d b u t r a t h e r a t r i p down etymological history - we should look into is that r e l a t e d t o M o u n t E t n a ' s names. According to some, t h e n o u n " E t n a " c o m e s from the Italic pronuncia- tion of the ancient Greek t o p o n y m A i t n a , w h i c h comes from the verb aitho, "to burn." The association Continued to page 6 The "Mountain of Mountains:" Sicily's Mount Etna Mount Etna and the city of Catania (Photo: Alberto Masnovo/Dreamstime) FRANCESCA BEZZONE o f t h e a r e a w i t h f i r e w a s extended also to the cities o f K a t a n e a n d I n e s s a , which stood at the volcano's feet. The Romans knew it as Aetna, while the Arabs u s e d t o c a l l i t G a b a l a l - Burkan ("the mountain of the volcano"), Gabal Atma S i q i l l i y a ( " t h e g r e a t e s t m o u n t a i n o f S i c i l y " ) , o r Gabal al-Nar ("the moun- tain of fire"). The origins of the other common name for Mount E t n a , M o n g i b e l l o , a r e m o r e c o m p l e x . I n t i m e , Latin and Arabic both con- tributed to the creation of yet another toponym for it, Mons Gibel, from the Latin word mons ("mount") and t h e A r a b i c j e b e l ( a l s o "mount"), a lexical repeti- tion symbol of Etna's very majesty. From Mons Gibel, s o m e l i n g u i s t s m a i n t a i n , comes Mongibello. Accord- ing to others, though, Mon- gibello originates from the L a t i n m u l c i b e r , w h i c h d e r i v e s f r o m q u i i g n e m m u l c e t , ( " t h a t p l a c a t e s fires"). "Mulciber" was one of Vulcan's (the god of fire) epithets. Considering the associa- tion between Vulcan and Mount Etna we've just dis- covered, it seems legit to begin our legendary walk f r o m t h i s f i e r y , p o w e r f u l g o d . G r e e k m y t h o l o g y (which calls Vulcan "Efes- tus") tells us that his moth- er Hera, wife of Zeus, found the poor child so ugly she cast him off Mount Olym- p u s . Y o u n g E f e s t u s w a s r a i s e d b y t w o n y m p h s , Tethys and Eurynome and, while living his earthly life, he became a talented black- s m i t h a n d g o l d s m i t h , s o much so his mother, Hera, asked him to forge a throne for her. Mind, though: Hera

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