Mount Helicon
Mount Helicon | |
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Highest point | |
Elevation | 1,749 m (5,738 ft) |
Coordinates | 38°21′10″N 22°49′21″E / 38.35278°N 22.82250°E |
Geography | |
Parent range | Helicon |
Mount Helicon (
Greek mythology
In Greek mythology, two springs sacred to the Muses were located here: the Aganippe and the Hippocrene, both of which bear "horse" (ἵππος híppos) in their names. In a related myth, the Hippocrene spring was created when the winged horse Pegasus aimed his hoof at a rock, striking it with such force that the spring burst from the spot. On Mount Helicon too was the spring where Narcissus was inspired by his own beauty.[3]
Mount Helicon and the Hippocrene spring were considered to be a source of poetic inspiration. In the late seventh century BCE, the poet Hesiod placed a reference to the Muses on the Helicon at the very beginning of his Theogony:
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Later in the text, he describes a meeting between himself and the Muses on Mount Helicon, where he had been pasturing sheep when the goddesses presented him with a laurel staff, a symbol of poetic authority.
In his
The cult centers on Helicon established in the
Since the Renaissance
The poetical image of Helicon established by the Roman poets became once more an emblem of cultural inspiration with the Renaissance and is often referred to in poetry.[13] The Hungarian composer
Religious sites
The monastery of Hosios Loukas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located on Mount Helicon.[14]
Modern references
- The Four Seasons released the album Helicon in 1977, with a song "Helicon" containing the lyric "Take me to Helicon, I want to write my song"
- During the 1980s an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio arts programme was called Radio Helicon.[15]
- The Scottish band Mogwai recorded two tracks as part of their Government Commissions: BBC Sessions 1996–2003 album entitled New Paths to Helicon, Pt. 1 and New Paths to Helicon, Pt. 2.
- Irish author Seamus Heaney wrote a poem entitled “Personal Helicon”, which references the story of Narcissus and the mountain's spring.
- The poet John Godfrey Saxe mentioned the waters from Mount Helicon in the poem, “Where There's a Will There's a Way.”
- In Gilbert and Sullivan's 1884 opera Princess Ida, ladies who are interested in reading Classics are said to want to "climb the Helicon".
- German author Eduard Mörike poem entitled "Antike Poesie" refers to Mount Helicon.
- The title of Bryan Aldiss's 1982 novel Helliconia Spring may be an oblique reference to the Heliconian springs and their sacredness to the Muses that inspire literature.
- Tom Zé mentions the mount on the song Cabeça De Aluguel from his 2014 album Vira Lata na Via Láctea.
References
- ^ Kerenyi, 1951:172.
- ^ Palazzo, Anna Lisa (2015). Some Observations on the Road Network through the Peloritani Region, North, East Sicily. Proceedings of the 15th International Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology. University of Catania.
- ^ Michael Grant and John Hazel. Who's Who in Classical Mythology. Oxford University Press, USA; reprinted 1993.
- ^ Hesiod, Theogony 1–8, ed. and commented by Richard S. Caldwell, Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company, 1987.
- ^ Hesiod, Theogony 22–35.
- Karl Kerényi, The Gods of the Greeks, 1951.
- Aitia, noted by Richard Hunter, The Shadow of Callimachus: Studies in the Reception of Hellenistic Poetry at Rome 2006:16.
- ^ Hunter 2006:17.
- ^ Ovid, Metamorphoses, Book V, 250–678, translated by Frank Justus Miller (Loeb Classical Library, third edition). Harvard University Press, Cambridge 1977.
- ^ Grimal, Pierre. The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Blackwell Publishing Limited, 1996.
- ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece, ix.29.5 and following sections.
- ^ Hunter 2006:18f.
- ^ It was such a familiar touch that a humorous reference to Helicon is made in Gilbert and Sullivan's Princess Ida, near the beginning of Act II.
- ^ https://whc.unesco.org/document/153702 [bare URL PDF]
- ^ 75th Anniversary of ABC Radio ABC Website
Sources
- Richard Hunter, The Shadow of Callimachus: Studies in the Reception of Hellenistic Poetry at Rome (Cambridge University Press) 2006:16ff "De Monte Sororum: In the Grove".