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The seabed off the Sicilian coasts is deeply interested by volcanism. Nevertheless, only recently new surprising discoveries confirm that this part of the Mediterranean was surely theatre of important volcanic events able to destroy towns in the Sicilian coast. The discovery of a new underwater volcanic apparatus, named Empedocles, comparable to Etna in sizes is dated 2006. If scientific certainties are recent, the mythology typical of this area suggests that the hazard of it was already part of the ancient culture. Shipwrecking tales are narrated in The Acts of the Apostles with Saint Paul's account of his wreck at Malta; Also Aenea shipwrecked in the Sicilian sea when coming back to Cartage, before meeting Dido. There are many references to this mythology in one work of William Shakespeare called The Tempest. In this play, a particular emphasis is given also to The Cult of Demeter, a cult spread in many areas of Sicily and imported from Greece. There are many disputes about the sources the playwright used. Usually are quoted some pamphlet related to the discovery of Bermudas and a shipwreck occurred there, pretending that the island of the play is to be located in the Atlantic Ocean. Indeed, I believe that the verses describing "the tempest" suggest volcanism placing the island in the Sicilian sea. One implication would be that the playwright could have used sources precious to reconstruct geological events occurred out off the Sicilian coast.
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