Mount Olympus: facts and mythology

One fact to make clear at the outset is that Mount Olympus and Olympia are two entirely separate places. The latter is on the western side of the Peleponnese peninsula of southern Greece, whereas Mount Olympus is more than 160 miles distant, on the eastern side of mainland Greece, where Thessaly meets Macedonia. No Olympic Games were ever held on the slopes of Mount Olympus!

The facts of Mount Olympus include that it is the highest mountain in Greece at 9,570 feet (2,919 metres), and that it rises virtually from sea level, making its appearance all the more impressive. Its top is covered in perpetual snow, even when tourists are basking in Mediterranean sunshine on the Greek beaches and islands not far away.

It is a massive cone-shaped mountain, with eight distinct peaks, the highest being Mytikas. It is popular with hikers and climbers, although it should not be attempted during the winter months, when the weather makes the slopes particularly dangerous. Even so, a climb to the summit and back is a two-day excursion for most. The views from the top, on a fine day, are well worth the effort, with the Aegean and its islands and peninsulas stretching to the horizon.

The lower slopes of Mount Olympus are covered in dense forests of oak, beech, cedar and pine, which are home to a vast array of plants and animals, the latter including bears, wolves and lynxes. It is no surprise that the area around Mount Olympus was declared Greece’s first national park in 1937.

It is also no surprise that the ancient Greeks held Mount Olympus in very special esteem. It marked the northern limit of Greece proper, so it was the edge of their world. It was also so high, and more often than not had its summit lost in cloud, that it was the natural location for the home of the gods. When people looked to the north and saw and heard lightning and thunder coming from storms on the mountain, they knew that this had to be the place where Zeus lived and from where he threw his thunderbolts.

This was not a mountain that people dared to climb, so the ancient Greeks could literally believe that the gods lived here. The legend of the giants trying to assail the gods had them piling two other mountains on top of each other so that they could reach the upper slopes of Olympus where the chief gods lived in splendid mansions, consuming nectar and ambrosia to preserve their immortality. According to Homer, the gods had their council chamber right at the top, hidden from the eyes of mortals by a wall of cloud. However, the cloud did not prevent the gods from seeing what mortal men were up to, and interfering in their affairs when the mood so took them.

In the Odyssey, the abode of the gods is described as a peaceful abode unshaken by storms, and the same notions are found in the poems of Hesiod and some other poets. However, most of the later Greek poets either regarded the true abode of the gods as being in the vault of Heaven above the mountain and not actually on it, or they thought that the mountain was infinitely high and therefore reached all the way to the aether, or Heaven.

Whether you believe the myths or not, the mountains of northern Greece are impressive enough to deserve their reputation. Where else would the most powerful gods live, if not at the top of the most powerful mountain?

© John Welford