Mt. Helicon
| Mount Helicon | |
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Ascent on Mountain Helikon
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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°ECoordinates: 38°21′10″N 22°49′21″E / 38.35278°N 22.82250°E |
| Geography | |
| Parent range | Helicon |
Mount Helicon (Ancient Greek: Ἑλικών; Greek: Ελικώνας) is a mountain in the region of Thespiai in Boeotia, Greece, celebrated in Greek mythology. With an altitude of 1,749 metres (5,738 ft), it is located approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) from the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth. Some researchers maintain that Helicon was also the Greek name of mount Rocca Salvatesta in Sicily as a river started from it was called also Helikon.
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.
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:
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. The Helicon thus was an emblem of poetical inspiration. (It is not clear, if the other names mentioned – Permessus and Olmeius – are different springs or other names for Hippocrene.) In the Homeric Hymn to Poseidon – generally dated to the seventh century, but a bit later than Hesiod's works – a brief invocation, the god is hailed as "Lord of Helicon".
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