Erebus

“ Firstly, black-winged Night laid a germless egg in the bosom of the infinite deeps of Erebus, and from this, after the revolution of long ages, sprang the graceful Eros with his glittering golden wings, swift as the whirlwinds of the tempest. He mated in deep Tartarus with dark Chaos, winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race, which was the first to see the light. That of the Immortals did not exist until Eros had brought together all the ingredients of the world, and from their marriage Heaven, Ocean, Earth and the imperishable race of blessed gods sprang into being. ”

“ The glorious sunsets, the magic of the sunrise seen from our camp above the clouds, when the great shadow of Erebus swept across McMurdo Sound, and touched the far-off Western Mountains, the weird shapes of the green and white ice mounds built around the fumaroles of the old crater, its pavement of sparkling felspar crystals interspersed with snow and pumice; the hissing and booming caldron of the modern crater; with its long lines of steam jets, and its snow-white pillar of steam, will never fade from the memory. ”

“ Erebus could not finish, but his countenance was so sad that Reine, frightened, cried, “What do you mean?”
“I mean that when one cannot endure life the best thing is to get rid of it; when you are rescued and in safety, Erebus will give a last thought to you, and then kill himself.”
“Another crime! he will end a life already so guilty by another misdeed!” cried Reine. “But you do not know that your life belongs to God only!”
Erebus smiled bitterly, and replied: “My life belongs to me, since I can free myself from it when it becomes a burden. ”

“ This sudden uprush was obviously the result of a vast steam explosion in the interior of the volcano, and proved that it still possessed considerable activity.
Although several expeditions had been in its neighbourhood, Erebus had never been ascended. For us, living under its shadow, the longing to climb it, and penetrate the mysteries beyond the veil soon became irresistibly strong. But there were difficulties in the way. In the first place, the only party who had ascended the foothills of Erebus had found their path barred by heavily crevassed ice. ”

“ From our hut, four hundred yards away, it looks like a great embankment behind which rises the majestic volcano Erebus, with its plume of steam and smoke.
The cape itself does not rise on the average more than thirty feet, and somewhat resembles the back of a hog with several backbones. The hollows between the ridges are for the most part filled with snow and ice, while in one or two places where the accumulation of snow is great enough there are little glacierets which do not travel far before they ignominiously peter out. ”

“ But startled by his song from the deep sunken realm of Erebus thin shadows rose and phantoms of the lost to light, millionfold as birds shelter in the leaves when evenfall or wintry rain drives them from the hill; matrons and men and bodies of high-hearted heroes whose life was done, boys and unwedded girls and young men laid on the pyre before their parents' eyes: whom all round the black slime and ugly reeds of Cocytus and the sluggish wave of the unlovely pool enfetter, and Styx severs with the barrier of her ninefold flood. ”

“ When, at length, he had fought his way out from among them, he found himself in a dismal vale, the air still dark as Erebus, where he heard the blowing of unseen furnaces, the boiling of cauldrons, the rattling or armour, the trampling of horses, the jingling of chains, the roaring of wild beasts, the hissing of serpents, and the cries of unearthly spirits, and such like dreadful sounds, which would have made any other hearts than those of Saint Andrew of Scotland, and of his faithful squire, Murdoch McAlpine of that ilk, quake and tremble with fear ”

“ Erebus quickly drew his dagger and raised it over the pirate before Trimalcyon could take a step.
Pog, calm and unmoved, opened his breast without a sign of emotion.
Twice Erebus raised his arm, twice he let it fall again. He could not make up his mind to strike a defenceless man. ”

“ He saw the necessity for prudence, that his vengeance might be sure and complete.
The death of Erebus could not satisfy him; that death, however slow, however cruel it might be, would be only one day of torment,—that no longer sufficed him.
The violence of his rage could not dissociate the innocent result of the crime from the crime itself, or from those who committed it, but Pog had long ceased to think or act with regard to justice.
In his opinion, Erebus was justly devoted to his wrath. He felt, too, a sinister joy in learning that Pierre des Anbiez was the seducer of his wife. ”

“ Onward we scramble, down to the 'beached margent' of the shallow bay; whence a scene of rare beauty is beheld.
From the unsullied strand vast buttresses and pinnacles of lichen-clad limestone rise sheer and inaccessible; their solid ribs pierced with shadowy caverns wide as a cathedral vault and dark as Erebus, which tempt the wanderer to explore their deep, unknown recesses. Crystal-clear pools, fringed with dainty seaweeds and gemmed with starfish and sea-anemones, nestle in every hollow of the rocky shore; while shells of various tints encrust the untrodden sands. ”

“ The ready Erebus handed the landing-net up to him. He chose his peach, the ripest he could see; slipped the net under it, flicked it, lifted the peach in it over the wall, and lowered it down to Erebus, who made haste to roll it in a leaf and lay it gently in her bicycle basket. The Terror netted another and another and another. ”

“ At noon to-day there was bright sunlight on the tops of the Western Peaks and on the summit and steam of Erebus—of late the vapour cloud of Erebus has been exceptionally heavy and fantastic in form.
The balloon has become a daily institution. Yesterday the instrument was recovered in triumph, but to-day the threads carried the searchers in amongst the icebergs and soared aloft over their crests—anon the clue was recovered beyond, and led towards Tent Island, then towards Inaccessible, then back to the bergs. ”

“ The girl, astonished not to find her mistress, went out on the balcony. The Bohemian softly shut the window behind her, and put his hand over her mouth.
Although surprised and frightened, Stephanette made bold efforts to deliver herself from the pirate, who, scarcely able to hold her, cried in a low voice to Erebus:
“Help! help! This she devil is as strong as a little demon; she bites like a wildcat If she cries, all is lost!”
Erebus, not willing to leave Reine, ordered the other pirate to go to the help of Hadji. ”

“ On a sudden open fly, With impetuous recoil and jarring sound, Th' infernal doors, and on their hinges grate Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook Of Erebus. ”

“ You have always told me, Captain Pog, that I had no soul,” replied the unhappy Erebus, with a bantering indifference.
“You do not see, my boy, that Captain Pog is jesting,” said Trimalcyon, “as far as the soul is concerned; but as for your beauty, by Sardanapalus! we will carry her off; the pains of Hadji and your mysterious gallantries shall not be lost, although, in my opinion, you were wrong to make yourself as romantic as an ancient Moor of Grenada, just to please this Omphale. ”

“ Pisthetærus
All arm themselves with slings and bows! This way, all our soldiers; shoot and strike! Some one give me a sling!
Chorus
War, a terrible war is breaking out between us and the gods! Come, let each one guard Air, the son of Erebus, [140] in which the clouds float. Take care no immortal enters it without your knowledge. Scan all sides with your glance. Hark! methinks I can hear the rustle of the swift wings of a god from heaven. ”

“ All within the shadow of Erebus was a soft bluish grey; all without was warm, bright and golden. Words fail to describe a scene of such transcendent majesty and beauty.
After breakfast while Marshall was attending to Brocklehurst’s feet, the hypsometer which had become frozen on the way up, was thawed out with the heat of the primus, and a boiling point determination was made. This when reduced, and combined with the mean of our aneroid levels, made the altitude of the old crater rim, just above our camp, 11,400 feet. ”

“ Cape Evans is one of the many spurs of Erebus and the one that stands closest under the mountain, so that always towering above us we have the grand snowy peak with its smoking summit. North and south of us are deep bays, beyond which great glaciers come rippling over the lower slopes to thrust high blue-walled snouts into the sea. ”

“ They were silent; and the bright eyes of Wiggins moved expectantly backward and forward from one to the other. He preserved a decorous sympathetic silence.
“No, it’s no good talking to Mum,” said Erebus presently in a despairing tone.
“Well, we must leave her out of it and just squash the Cruncher ourselves,” said the Terror.
“But you can’t squash the Cruncher!” cried Erebus.
“Why not? We’ve squashed other people, haven’t we?” said the Terror sharply.
“Never any one so thick-skinned as him,” said Erebus.
The Terror frowned deeply again: “We can always try,” he said coldly. ”

“ The first impulse of Erebus was to hasten to the rescue of Raimond V. and to respond with almost filial veneration to the old man’s outburst of gratitude,—in fact, to believe himself rewarded for his generous conduct by the satisfaction of his conscience and the grateful looks of the young girl; but a bitter sarcasm from Pog, a coarse jest from Trimalcyon, changed these noble emotions into sensual desire and a profound disdain for the courageous action by which he had just honoured himself. ”

“ Erebus, although exasperated beyond measure by the contemptuous hatred of Pog, did not dare avenge himself, because he was dominated by an involuntary sentiment of gratitude toward the man who had reared him, and with an air of desperation he went out of the chamber.
“He is going to kill himself!” cried Trimalcyon. ”

“ The scientific results of the ascent of Erebus will, it is hoped, prove of considerable interest. Probably there is no more important spot in the world for studying the movements of the upper atmosphere. ”

“ But it was growing worse each moment, and hope was nearly dead. They were staggering along in the darkness, the zebras every now and then stumbling up against a tree, and nearly rubbing their riders from their backs. They felt satisfied that they had lost their way, and if this was so, and they could not again reach the avenue, then, indeed, might all hope be abandoned. Black as Erebus, the air was not only laden with the death-dealing ashes, but was so hot and humid, that no living thing could withstand it for any length of time. ”

“ Jar > Discord
8 But Phlegethon is son of Erebus and Night;
Erebus > Darkness (son of Chaos, brother and husband of Nox.
Personified in Hesiod, Theogony 125)
Night > (Nox; see 105.20 ff.)
9 But Erebus son of Eternity is hight.
hight > called
204.42
So from immortall race he does proceede,
2 That mortall hands may not withstand his might,
Drad for his derring do, and bloudy deed;
4 For all in bloud and spoile is his delight.
His am I Atin, his in wrong and right,
6 That matter make for him to worke vpon,
And stirre him vp to strife and cruell fight. ”

“ Erebus, a region of utter darkness in the depths of Hades, into which no mortal ever penetrated, the proper abode of Pluto and his Queen with their train of attendants, such as the Erinnyes, through which the spirits of the dead must pass on their way to Hades; equivalent to the valley of the shadow of death.
Erectheus or Erichthonius, the mythical first king of Athens; favoured and protected from infancy by Athena, to whom accordingly he dedicated the city; he was buried in the temple of Athena, and worshipped afterwards as a god ”

“ The atmosphere is very clear when it is not filled with snow or ice crystals, and the moonlight lay upon the land so that we could see the main outlines of the Hut Point Peninsula, and even Minna Bluff out on the Barrier ninety miles away. The ice-cliffs of Erebus showed as great dark walls, but above them the blue ice of the glaciers gleamed silvery, and the steam flowed lazily from the crater carried away in a long line, showing us that the northerly breezes prevailed up there, and were storing up trouble in the south. ”

“ It is not often that men are able to reciprocate such compliments as these! The most conspicuous object of the chain was Mount Erebus (77° 5 ́ S.) , an active volcano, of which Ross had the good-fortune to witness a magnificent eruption. The enormous columns of flame and smoke rising two thousand feet above the mouth of the crater, which is elevated 12,400 feet above the level of the sea, combined with the snow-white mountain chain and the deep-blue ocean to form a magnificent scene. ”

“ But when Trimalcyon, in a shrill and bantering voice, again uttered a few words, as he designated Reine by an insolent glance, when the lord Pog had added a biting sarcasm in the same language, unintelligible to the other actors in this scene, the features of Erebus completely changed their expression.
With an almost disdainful gesture, he roughly repulsed the hand of the old man, and fixed an impudent stare on Mlle, des Anbiez. This time the girl blushed and dropped her eyes. ”

“ On April 22, 1848, the signal for departure was given, and the heavy sledges creaked slowly and in jerks over the uneven snow-covered ice. Axes, picks, and spades were constantly in use to break to pieces the sharp ridges and blocks in the way. The distance to King William Land was only 15 miles, yet it took them three days to get there. The masts and hulls of the Erebus and Terror grew smaller all too slowly, but they vanished at last. ”