A detailed 18th century copperplate engraving depicts the mythological giant Enceladus being buried beneath Mount Etna. The central scene shows a massive, rocky mountain in violent eruption, with fire and smoke billowing from its summit. In the upper right, Jupiter is depicted among stormy clouds, hurling jagged lightning bolts down at the mountain. The giant Enceladus is shown trapped beneath the landmass; his colossal head lies on the shore to the left, and his enormous hands emerge from under the rocks on the right. In the foreground, a small coastal town is visible at the foot of the mountain, and a galley ship sails on the choppy sea. The illustration is surrounded by an elaborate decorative border. At the top center is a crowned and bearded head with wings, positioned in front of crossed tridents. The sides of the frame feature heavy chains and monstrous heads: a Medusa face with snakes for hair on the left, and a three-headed creature, likely Cerberus, on the right. The bottom section of the frame shows a dragon breathing fire toward a spiked wheel and various tools or weapons.

original: "ENCELADE PRÉCIPITÉ SOUS LE MONT ETHNA"

original: "Enceladus unter dem Berg Æthna bedeckt"

original: "Enceladus onder den Berg Ethna bedekt"

III. FIGURE.

ENCELADUS.

He struggles indeed, and often tries to rise again;
but his right hand is pinned under Ausonian Pelorus,
the left, Pachynus, under you; his legs are pressed by Lilybaeum;
Etna weighs down his head.
Original Latin: "Nititur ille quidem, tentatque resurgere sæpe: / Dextra sed Ausonio manus est subjecta Peloro, / Læva Pachyne tibi, Lilybæo crura premuntur; / Prægravat Ætna caput." from Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book 5. Pelorus, Pachynus, and Lilybaeum are the three capes or corners of Sicily.

THIS scene is nothing other than a supplement to the preceding one. The 1 triangular shape of the Island Ancient geographers often called Sicily "Trinacria" due to its three-sided shape., and the Mountain which vomits forth a terrifying fire and takes up a portion of the scene, give enough indication that it is 2 Sicily. That monstrous Giant, whom the Mountain can barely cover, can be no one other than the notorious Enceladus, because it is on this Island that he was struck by lightning. One sees him holding with 4 one hand the Cape, or the promontory of Pelorus, and with the other that of Pachynos. "At times the 5 Mountain bursts forth with a thick vapor of ash, smoke, and sparks. Then a whirlwind of flames emerges from it, rising even unto the Heavens; now it throws up rocks, melted within its burning caverns, toward the stars, and vomits forth its own entrails with a terrifying sound heard coming from deep within its base. It is said that Enceladus, half-burned by Jupiter’s lightning, is buried beneath this massive weight; that, pressed by Mount Etna, he still breathes out fire and flame through the open rifts; and that whenever he wishes to shift himself, the entire Island trembles and quakes with a terrifying noise, and the Sky is covered with a thick cloud of smoke..." This vivid description of the volcano is a translation of a famous passage from Virgil's Aeneid, Book 3, where the poet explains volcanic activity as the restless movements of the imprisoned giant.