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Leibethra


Libethra or Leibethra (Ancient Greek: τὰ Λίβηθρα or Λείβηθρα) was a city close to Olympus where Orpheus was buried by the Muses. His tomb was later destroyed by a flood of the river Sys. It was a place where the Libethrian Nymphs were worshiped. Remains of Libethra have been found and there exists an archeological site close to Olympus.

The location of Libethra was held to be a favourite place of the Muses, hence their epithet Libethrides (Ancient Greek: Λιβεθρίδες).

The 2nd-century geographer Pausanias writes:

"In Larisa I heard another story, how that on Olympus is a city Libethra, where the mountain faces, Macedonia, not far from which city is the tomb of Orpheus. The Libethrians, it is said, received out of Thrace an oracle from Dionysus, stating that when the sun should see the bones of Orpheus, then the city of Libethra would be destroyed by a boar. The citizens paid little regard to the oracle, thinking that no other beast was big or mighty enough to take their city, while a boar was bold rather than powerful."

The Muses also gathered up the fragments of his body and buried them at Leibethra below Mount Olympus, where the nightingales sang over his grave. Cults of the Muses were also located in Leibethra. Well-known springs and memorials dedicated to Orpheus were there in great number.

When Alexander the Great set out against Persia, the the cypress-wood statue of Orpheus was said to sweat.


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