Phlegraean Islands

The Phlegraean Islands (Italian: Isole Flegree [ˈiːzole fleˈɡrɛːe]; Neapolitan: Isule Flegree) are an archipelago in the Gulf of Naples and the Campania region of southern Italy.

[1] The name is derived from the common affiliation to the geologic area of the Phlegraean Fields.

A Greek myth tells of two brigands, the Cercopes of Ephesus, who played pranks on Zeus, who then punished them by turning them into monkeys and exiling them to the islands of Aenaria (Ischia) and Prochyta (Procida).

Such stories might be significant as a clue to how the ancient Greeks attempted to account for the volcanism of the whole area.

The resulting changes in the topography of the islands were due to the frequent intervention of deities.