I recently spent a year with the
sorceress/nymph/witch/enchantress Circe, and frequently recorded my
impressions at the top of Monte Circeo just south of
Sabaudia.
Credit: Luke Stratte-McClure
I attentively reread an appropriate section in my weathered
copy of "The Odyssey" as I sat above Lago d'Averno (Lake Avernus)
near Pozzuoli. The volcanic crater lake is thought to be the
entrance used by Odysseus to visit the Underworld.
Credit: Judy Barnett
Lake Avernus is not far from the smoldering volcanic Campi
Flegrei, or Phlegraean (the word means "scorching" or "fiery" in
Greek) Fields, where I let the earth's steam warm my
soul/soles.
Credit: Luke Stratte-McClure
And I take a break when entering Naples -- after visiting
Cuma, the first Greek colony on the Italian mainland and the site
of the sanctuary of Sibyl and a Temple of Zeus, and
MedTrekking over the Posillipo hill, which Victor Bérard claimed to
be the home of the Cyclops -- by imitating a sculpture of
Poseidon on the waterfront.
Credit: Luke Stratte-McClure
