Parnassus

Mount Parnassus or Apollo and the Muses by Simon Vouet, ca. 1640

Mount Parnassus is a mountain of barren limestone in central Greece that towers above Delphi, north of the Gulf of Corinth, and offers scenic views of the surrounding olive groves and countryside. According to Greek mythology, this mountain was sacred to Apollo, the Corycian nymphs, and the home of the Muses. The mountain was also favored by the Dorians. The name Parnassos seems etymologically related to the Anatolian languages that made use of *-ssos in placenames (eg. Knossos). *Parna- derived from the same root as the word in Luwian meaning House.

Mythology

Mount Parnassus is named after Parnassos, the son of the nymph Kleodora and the man Kleopompus. There was a city of which Parnassos was leader, which was flooded by torrential rain. The citizens ran from the flood, following wolves' howling, up the mountain slope. There the survivors built another city, and called it Lykoreia, which in Greek means "the howling of the wolves." While Orpheus was living with his mother and his eight beautiful aunts on Parnassus, he met Apollo who was courting the laughing muse Thalia. Apollo became fond of Orpheus and gave him a little golden lyre, and taught him to play it. Orpheus's mother taught him to make verses for singing. As the Oracle of Delphi was sacred to the god Apollo, so did the mountain itself become associated with Apollo. According to some traditions, Parnassus was the site of the fountain Castalia and the home of the Muses; according to other traditions, that honor fell to Mount Helicon, another mountain in the same range. As the home of the Muses, Parnassus became known as the home of poetry, music, and learning.

Parnassus was also the site of several unrelated minor events in Greek mythology.

• In some versions of the Greek flood myth, the ark of Deucalion comes to rest on the slopes of Parnassus.
• Orestes spent his time in hiding on Mount Parnassus.
• Parnassus was sacred to the god Dionysus.
• The Corycian Cave, located on the slopes of Parnassus, was sacred to Pan and to the Muses.

Parnassus was also the home of Pegasus the winged horse of Bellerophon.

Parnassus as metaphor

Mount Parnassus.

The name "Parnassus" in literature typically refers to its distinction as the home of poetry, literature, and learning.

Thus, it receives mention in such works as:

• The Parnassus Plays (referring to the University of Cambridge)
• John Clare's "To the Rural Muse"
• Christopher Morley's Parnassus on Wheels (referring to a mobile bookseller)
• The "New Parnassus," the salon of Marguerite of Navarre.
• Climbing Parnassus by Tracy Simmons
• Le Parnasse contemporain, an influential 19th century French poets' journal, gave its name to an entire literary style known as "Parnassianism" (or less commonly "Parnasism"), which is placed between romanticism and symbolism
• Parnassus: Poetry in Review, an influential American literary magazine founded in 1973
• In The Magus by John Fowles, Mount Parnassus is the destination for a trip taken by two estranged lovers
• Mount Parnassus is mentioned in the purgatory section of The Divine Comedy, at the terrestrial paradise on the summit of the holy mountain
• The national epic of Belarus is "Taras on Parnassus" (author unknown)
• In Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Parnassus is also mentioned in this manner
• In Jo's Boys, the final sequel to Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Amy and Laurie's house is nicknamed "Parnassus" because they patronize young and struggling artists
• The Parisian region of Montparnasse has its name from the Greek location, and indeed many "muses" lived there.
• Used in The Battle of the Books by Jonathan Swift as the mountain that is the works of the ancients
• Meantioned in the sonnet titled "Sonnet" by Edwin Arlington Robinson
• Within the Poetry of "Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg", by Richard Wagner. (Act 3, scene 5).
• The Parnassus (1511), a painting by Raphael
• The Frieze of Parnassus on the Albert Memorial
• The Latin phrase Gradus ad Parnassum

Furthermore, in classical music, there are many works associated with Parnassus. For example, Orazio Vecchi's L'Amfiparnaso (1597), Carolus Hacquart's Harmonia Parnassia Sonatarum (1686), François Couperin's Le Parnasse ou L'Apotheose de Corelli (1725), Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer's Musikalischer Parnassus (c.1738), George Frideric Handel's Il Parnasso in festa (1734), Christoph Willibald Gluck's Il Parnaso confuso (1765). Important didactic and pedagogical works referred to Parnassus, including Johann Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum (1725) which is a classic treatment of counterpoint and fugue; and Muzio Clementi's piano studies Gradus ad Parnassum (1817-26), later satirized in Claude Debussy's Docteur Gradus ad Parnassum (suit Childres's corner No.1, 1908).

In the massively multiplayer online roleplaying game World of Warcraft, the Night Elf capital is called Darnassus, seen by many as a nod to Parnassus. Night Elves are known for their deep appreciation for learning and the arts. Parnassus is also the name of the main campus of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and UCSF Medical Center, located on Parnassus Avenue in San Francisco, California.

Parnassus today

Today, the slopes of Mount Parnassus are the location of two ski centres. The Parnassos Ski Centre is composed of two sections, Kellaria and Fterolakka, which together make up the largest ski center in Greece. A smaller ski centre (only two drag lifts) called Gerontovrahos is across a ridge from Kellaria. Parnassus is mined for its abundant supply of bauxite which is converted to aluminium oxide and then to aluminium.

The construction of the ski resort started in 1975 and was completed in 1976, when the first two drag lifts operated in Fterolaka. In 1981 the construction of a new ski area was completed in Kelaria, while in winter season 1987–1988 the chair lift Hermes started operating and connected the two ski areas. Both ski resorts continued expanding and in 1993 the first high-speed quad in Greece was installed, named Hercules. Today the ski center operates with 14 lifts,a 4-seater cable car, a 4-seater high-speed chair lift, four 3-seaters, one 2-seater chair lift and 6 drag lifts, with a maximum capacity of about 5000 people per hour. The ski center boasts 25 marked ski runs and about 12 ski routes of 30km total length while the longest run is 4km.

References

1. John Fowles, The Magus, 1965, Published by Little Brown & Company.
2. The Parnassos Ski Centre

External links

• Greek Mountain Flora