A hypnotic plume of gas, pyroclastic ash and lava fountains mark the new eruption of Etna volcano from the Southeast Crater, March 10, 2021. The death of the Greek philosopher Empedocles in 434 BC was mythologised by ancient writers. A version has it that he leapt into the crater of Etna so that he might be deemed a god. Not surprisingly, one of the surviving fragments of his poems is called Purifications.