Olympus

Ŏlympus and -pos (anciently written Olĭmpus), i, m., = Ὄλυμπος.

• The name of several mountains, the most celebrated of which is one on the borders of Macedonia and Thessaly (now Lacha), of great height, and consequently regarded as the seat of the gods, Mel. 2, 3, 2; 4, 8, 15: Musae quae pedibus magnum pulsatis Olimpum, Enn. ap. Varr. L. L. 7, § 20 Müll.: his diis Helicona atque Olympon attribuerunt homines, Varr. R. R. 3, 16, 7: frondosus, Verg. G. 1, 282: opacus, Hor. C. 3, 4, 52: nubes excedit Olympus, Luc. 2, 271.—
• • B Transf., poet. for heaven: caelum dicunt Graeci Olympum, Varr. L. L. 7, § 20; Verg. E. 6, 86: longus Olympus, the distant heavens, id. G. 3, 223: annuit (Juppiter) et totum nutu tremefecit Olympum, id. A. 9, 106: stelliger, Sen. Herc. Oet. 1907.
• —Hence, Ŏlympĭădes, um, f., the Muses (perh. only acc. to the foll. remark): caelum dicunt Graeci Olympum montem in Macedoniā omnes, a quo potius puto Musas dictas Olympiadas, Varr. L. L. 7, § 20.—
• II Of other mountains.
• • A In Bithynia, Plin. 5, 32, 43, § 148.—
  • B In Mysia, Plin. 5, 32, 40, § 142.—
  • C In Galatia, Liv. 38, 18, 15; 38, 20, 2.—
  • D In Lycia, Plin. 21, 6, 17, § 31. —
  • E In Ionia, Plin. 5, 29, 31, § 118.—
• F In Peloponnesus, Serv. ad Verg. A. 8, 352.

Ŏlympus, i, f.,

• a city in Cilicia, named from a neighboring mountain, now the ruins of Deliktash: Olympum cepit, urbem antiquam et omnibus rebus auctam, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 21, § 56 (Zumpt N. cr.); Flor. 3, 6, 5; Eutr. 6, 3.—
• II A city of Lycia, named from a neighboring mountain, Cic. Ac. 1, 21, 56.

Ŏlympus, 1, m.,

• a famous fluteplayer, pupil of Marsyas, Ov. M. 6, 393; id. P. 3, 3, 42; Hyg. Fab. 165; Plin. 36, 5, 4, § 29.

Olympus — Olympus (Pieria), Pleiades 491677

Olympus — Olympus (Mysia), Pleiades 511343

Olympus [CL < Ὄλυμπος] 1 Olympus, mountain on the border of Thessaly and Macedonia (also partly fig.); b (as the abode of the gods). transportare ‥ in montes quoslibet, ut est Olimpus supra aerem Comm. Cant. I 62; Olimpus, mons in Macedonia GlC O 145; si ‥ me viderent alii homines ‥ elaborare circa montem ~um, ad confirmandum illum ne alicujus impulsu ‥ subverteretur Anselm (Incarn. A 1) I 281.  b ut Jovem pro flammea regnandi cupidine summo detruderent ~o Lib. Monstr. I 55; qui dicuntur in Olimpho habitare quia celsitudo Olimphi pro superbia accipitur Wals. AD 150. 2 (general) the sky, the heavens (ruled or governed by God); b (w. ref. to the Christian heaven). Cynthia non dicor nec frater Apollo vocatur / sed potius summi genuit regnator Olimpi / qui nunc in caelis excelsae praesidet arci Aldh. Aen. 79 (Sol et Luna) 5; clarum stelligeri conscendens culmen Olimpi Aldh. CE 3. 32; ab aethereis Olimpi [v. l. Olimphi] nubibus Felix Guthl. 5; do vitae tempus, superis do lumen Olympi Bonif. Aen. (Misericordia) 93; olimphum, caelum GlC O 144; tu, Christe, nostrum gaudium, / manens Olimpho [AS: on rodore] preditum AS Hymns 91; 940 crux que excelsis tot et dominaris Olimpo / inclita lex Domini Christi fundamen et aule (Vers.) CS 751; 972 Olimphum cum syderibus rotari suo nutu perficiens CS 1285.  b ut ‥ in aethrali Olimpho ‥ semper gaudeamus Ælf. Bata 5. 11; proximus a Christo Stephanus prothomartyr Olympum / per lapidem meruit martyriique stolam Garl. Tri. Eccl. 76; Indorum gladio Thomas transfertur Olympo Ib. 102. 3 (understood as) the space between heaven and earth. Olimpus, spatium inter celum et terram vel mons Macedonie dictus quasi Ololampus, i. celum propter altitudinem Osb. Glouc. Deriv. 403.

1 Ŏlympus, (10) ī, m. (Ὄλυμπος), ¶ 1 Olympe [montagne entre la Thessalie et la Macédoine ; séjour des dieux] : Varro L. 7, 20 ; Virg. G. 1, 282 || [fig.] le ciel : Virg. En. 9, 106 ¶ 2 montagnes de Bithynie, de Lycie, dʼIonie, de Mysie, de Galatie : Plin. 5, 148 ; 21, 31 ; 5, 118 ; 5, 142 ; Liv. 38, 18 ¶ 3 f. , ville maritime de Pamphylie : Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 58.

2 Ŏlympus, ī, m. , célèbre joueur de flûte, élève de Marsyas : Ov. M. 6, 393 ; Plin. 36, 35.

olympus, i. m.
至高之山名。天。

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Olympus

(Ὄλυμπος).

1. A teacher of Zeus, after whom the god is said to have been called the Olympian. (Diod. 3.73.)

Olympus

2. The father of Marsyas. (Apollod. 1.4.2.)

Olympus

3. A disciple of Marsyas, and a celebrated fluteplayer of Phrygia. For a further account of this personage, who is closely connected with the historical Olympus, see the following article.

Olympus

4. The father of Cius, from whom Mount Olympus in Mysia was believed to have received its name. (Schol. ad Theocr. 13.30.)

Olympus

5. A son of Heracles by Euboea. (Apollod. 2.7.8.)

Olympus

6. Olympus, the abode of the gods also requires a few words of comment in this place. Mount Olympus is situated in the north-east of Thessaly, and is about 6,000 feet high; on its summit which rises above the clouds of heaven, and is itself cloudless, Hephaestus had built a town with gates, which was inhabited by Zeus and the other gods. (Od. 6.42, Il. 11.76.) The palace of Zeus contained an assenmbly-hall, in which met not only the gods of Olymnpus, but those also who dwelt on the earth or in the sea. (Il. 20.5.) This celestial mountain must indeed be distinguished from heaven ; but as the gods lived in the city which rose above the clouds and into heaven, they lived at the same time in heaven, and the gates of the celestial city were at the samite time regarded as the gates of heaven. (Il. 5.749, &c.) [L.S]

Olympus

(Ὄλυμπος), the physician in ordinary to Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, who aided her in committing suicide, B. C. 30. Works Account of the Death of Cleopatra

He afterwards published an account of her death. Further Information

Plut. Ant. 100.8. [W.A.G]

Olympus

(Ὄλυμπος), musicians, Suidas distinguishes three Greek musicians of this names of whom the first is mythical, and the last historical : the second probably owes his existence only to some mistake of Suidas, or the writer whom h, copied, since Plutarch who is a much better authority only recognizes two musicians of the name ; both of whom are connected with the auletic music which had its origin in Phrygia. (Plut. de Mus p. 1133d. e.)

Olympus

1. The elder Olympus belongs to the mythica genealogy of Mysian and Phrygian flute-players--Hyagnis, Marsyas, Olympus--to each of whom the invention of the flute was ascribed, and under whose names we have the mythical representation of the contest between the Phrygian auletic and the Greek citharoedic music : some writers made him the father (instead of son, or disciple, and favourite of Marsyas), but the genealogy given above was that more generally received. Olympus was said to have been a native of Mysia, and to have lived before the Trojan war. The compositions ascribed to him were νόμοι εἰς τοὺς Θεοὺς, that is, old melodies appropriated to the worship of particular gods, the origin of which was so ancient as to be unknown, like those which were attributed to Olen and Philannion. Olympus not unfrequently appears on works of art, as a boy, sometimes instructed by Marsyas, and sometimes as witnessing and lamenting his fate. (Suid. s.v. Plut. de Alus. pp. 1132, e., 1133, e.; Apollod. 1.4.2; Hyg. Fab. 165, 273; Ovid, Aletuan. 6.393, Eleg. 3.3; Marsvas.) It may fairly be assumed that this elder and mythical Olympus was invented through some mistake respecting the younger and really historical Olympus. (Respecting this confusion, see Muüiller, History of Greek Literature, p. 156.)

Olympus

2. The true Olympus was a Phrygian, and perhaps belonged to a family of native musicians, since he was said to be descended from the first Olympus. Muller supposes that there was an hereditary race of flute-players at the festivals of the Phrygian Mother of the Gods, who claimed a descent from the mythical Olympus. Hie is placed by Plutarch at the head of auletic music, as Terpander stood at the head of the citharoedic : and on account of his inventions in the art, Plutarch even assigns to him, rather than to Terpander, the honour of being the father of Greek music, ἀρχηγὸς τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς καὶ καλῆς μουσικῆς (De Mus. pp. 1133, e., 1135, c.). With respect to his age, Suidas places him under a king Midas, son of Gordis s; but this tells us nothing, for these were alternately the names of all the Phrygian kings to the time of Croesus. Müller places him, for satisfactory reasons, after Terpander and before Thaletas, that is, between the 30th and 40th Olympiads, B. C. 660-620. Though a Phrygian by origin, Olympus must be reckoned among the Greek musicians ; for all the accounts make Greece the scene of his artistic activity, and his subjects Greek; and he had Greek disciples, such as Crates and Hierax. (Plut. de Mus. pp. 1133, e., 1140, d.; Poll. 4.79.) He may, in fact, be considered as having naturalized in Greece the music of the flute, which had previously been almost peculiar to Phrygia. This species of music admitted of much greater variations than that of the lyre; and, accordingly, several new inventions are ascribed to Olympus. The greatest of his inventions was that of the third system, or genus, of music, the Enharmonic, for an explanation of which see Diet of Ant. s. v. s. Music.

Of the particular tunes (νόμοι) ascribed to him, the most important was the Ἁρμάτιος νόμος, a mournful and passionate strain, of the rhythm of which we are enabled to form an idea front a passage in the Orestes of Euripides, which was set to it, as the passage itself tells us. A dirge, also, in honour of the slain Python, was said to have been played by Olympus, at Delphi, on the flute, and in the Lydian style. Aristophanes mentions a mournful strain, set to more flutes than one (ξυναυλία) as well known at Athens under the name of Olympus. (Equit. 9; comp. Schol. and Brunck's ote). But it can hardly be supposed that his music was all mournful; the nome in honour of Athena, at least, must have been of a different character. Some ancient writers ascribe to him the Nonos Orthios, which Herodotus attributes to Arion.

Olympus was a great inventor in rhythm as well as in music. To the two existing species of rhythm, the ἴσον, in which the arsis and thesis are equal (as in the Dactyl and Anapaest), and the διπλάσιον, in which the arsis is twice the length of the thesis (as in the lalmbus and Trochee), he added a third, the ἡμιόλιον, in which the length of the arsis is equal to two short syllables, and that of the thesis to three, as in the Cretic foot (), the Paeons (, &c.), and the Bacchic foot (), though there is some doubt whether the last form was used by Olympus.

There is no mention of any poems composed by Olympus. It is argued by some writers that the inseparable connection between the earliest compositions in music and poetry forbids the supposition that he composed music without words. Without entering into this difficult and extensive question, it is enough to observe that, whatever words may have been originally connected with his music, they were superseded by the compositions of later poets. Of the lyric poets who adapted their compositions to the nomes of Olympus, the chief was Stesichorus of Himera. (Plutarch de Mus. passim; Müller, Ulrici, Bode, and a very elaborate article by Ritschl, in Ersch and Gruber's Encyklopiidie.) [P.S]

Olympus

(Ὄλυμπος), a statuary, whose country is unknown, and respecting whose date it can only be said that he lived later than the 80th Olympiad, B. C. 460 [Oebotas]. He made the statue at Olympia of the pancratiast Xenophon, the son of Menephvlus, of Aegium of Achaea. (Paus. 6.3.5. s. 14.) [P.S]

Olympus (-pos) ī, m

• a high mountain on the borders of Macedonia and Thessaly, V., H.—The abode of the gods, heaven, sky: invito processit Vesper Olympo, V.: longus, the distant heavens, V.: (Iuppiter) totum nutu tremefecit Olympum, V., O.

OLYMPUS

OLYMPUS (Ὄλυμπος).

1.

One of the loftiest mountains in Greece, of which the southern side forms the boundary of Thessaly, while its northern base encloses the plains of Macedonia. Hence it is sometimes called a mountain of Macedonia (Strab. 7. p. 329; Ptol. 3.13.19), and sometimes a mountain of Thessaly. (Hdt. 7.128; Plin. Nat. 4.8. s. 15.) It forms the eastern extremity of the Cambunian range, and extends to the sea as far as the mouth of the Peneius, being separated by the vale of Tempe from the heights of Ossa. Xenagoras, who measured the perpendicular height of Olympus from the town of Pythium, ascertained its elevation to be ten stadia and nearly one plethrum (Plut. Aemil. 15); which Holland, Dodwell, Leake, and others regard as not far from the truth, since they estimate its height to be between six and seven thousand feet. But these writers have considerably undercalculated its elevation, which is now ascertained to be 9754 feet. Herodotus relates that Mt. Olympus was seen by Xerxes from Therma (7.128); and we know from modern travellers that in clear weather it is visible from Mt. Athos, which is 90 miles distant. (Journ. Geogr. Soc. vol. 7. p. 69.) All travellers, who have visited Mt. Olympus, dwell with admiration upon its imposing grandeur. One of the most striking descriptions of its appearance is given by Dr. Holland, who beheld it from Litókhoro at its base:--We had not before been aware of the extreme vicinity of the town to the base of Olympus; but when leaving it, and accidentally looking back, we saw through an opening in the fog, a faint outline of vast precipices, seeming almost to overhang the place; and so aërial in their aspect, that for a few minutes we doubted whether it might not be a delusion to the eye. The fog, however, dispersed yet more on this side, and partial openings were made, through which, as through arches, we saw the sunbeams resting on the snowy summits of Olympus, which rose into a dark blue sky far above the belt of clouds and mist that hung upon the sides of the mountain. The transient view we had of the mountain from this point showed us a line of precipices of vast height, forming its eastern front toward the sea; and broken at intervals by deep hollows or ravines, which were richly clothed with forest trees. The oak, chestnut, beech, planetree, &c., are seen in great abundance along the base and skirts of the mountain; and towards the summit of the first ridge, large forests of pine spread themselves along the acclivities. Behind this first ridge, others rise up and recede towards the loftier central heights of Olympus. Almost opposite the town of Litókhoro, a vast ravine penetrates into the interior of the mountain, through the opening of which we saw, though only for a few minutes, what I conceive to be the summit,--from this point of view, with a somewhat concave ascending line on each side.( Holland, Travels, vol. 2. p. 27.) Though the lower sides of Olympus are well wooded, the summit presents a wide extent of a bare light-coloured rock. (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. 1. p. 434.) The broad summit of Olympus is alluded to by Homer, who gives to it the epithet of μακρός more frequently than any other. Next to that, is ἀγάννιφος (Il. 1.420), from its being covered with snow during the greater part of the year. Hesiod (Hes. Th. 118) also gives it the epithet of νιφόεις. Below the summit its rugged outline is broken into many ridges and precipices, whence Homer describes it as πολυδειράς. (Il. 1.499, 5.754.) The forests, which covered the lower sides of Olympus, are frequently alluded to by the ancient poets. (πολύδενδρος, Eurip. Bacch. 560; Ossae frondosums involvere Olympum, Verg. G. 281; opacus Olympus, Hor. Carm. 3.4. 52.) The mountain is now called Élymbo, i. e. Ἔλυμπος, by the surrounding inhabitants, which name Leake observes is probably not a modern corruption, but the ancient dialectic form, for the Aeolic tribes of Greece often substituted the epsilon for the omicron, as in the instance of Ὀρχομενός which the Boeotians called Ἐρχομενός. (Dodwell, Tour through Greece, vol. 2. p. 105;. Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iii. pp. 341, 407.) Olympus was believed to be the residence of Zeus and the other gods; and as its summit rose above the clouds into the calm ether, it was believed that here was an opening into the vault of heaven, closed by a thick cloud, as a door. (Il. 5.751.) [See Dict. of Biogr. Vol. 3. p. 25; Liddell and Scott, Greek Lex. s. v. ]

2.

A mountain in Laconia, near Sellasia. [SELLASIA]

3.

A mountain above Olympia in Elis. [OLYMPIA 475a.]

OLYMPUS

OLYMPUS (Ὄλυμπος).

1.

A mountain range of Mysia, extending eastward as far as the river Sangarius, and dividing Phrygia from Bithynia. To distinguish it from other mountains of the same name, it often is called the Mysian Olympus. Its height rises towards the west, and that part which is of the greatest height, is the highest mountain in all Asia Minor. The country around this mountain was well peopled, but its heights were thickly clad with wood, and contained many safe retreats for robbers, bands of whom, under a regular leader, often rendered the country unsafe. (Strab. 12. p. 574, comp. 10. p. 470, 12. p. 571; Hdt. 1.36, 7.74; Ptol. 5.1.10; Steph. B. s. >v.;Plin. Nat. 5.40, 43; Pomp. Mela, 1.19; Ammian. 26.9; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. 1.598.) The lower regions of this great mountain are still covered with extensive forests; but the summit is rocky, devoid of vegetation, and during the greater part of the year covered with snow. The Turks generally call it Anadoli Dagh, though the western or highest parts also bear the name of Keshish Dagh, that is, the Monk's Mountain, and the eastern Toumandji or Domoun Dagh. The Byzantine historians mention several fortresses to defend the passes of Olympus, such as Pitheca (Nicet. Chon. p. 35; B. Cinnam. p. 21), Acrunum, and Calogroea (B. Cinnam. l. c.; Cedren. p. 553; Anna Comn. p. 441; comp. Brown, in Walpole's Turkey, tom, ii. pp. 109, foil.; Pococke, Travels 3. p. 178).

2.

A mountain in the north of Galatia, which it separates from Bithynia. It is, properly speaking, only a continuation of the Mysian Olympus, and is remarkable in history for the defeat sustained on it by the Tolistoboii, in a battle against the Romans under Manlius. (Liv. 38.19, &c.; Plb. 22.20, 21.) Its modern name is Ala Dagh.

3.

A volcanic mountain in the east of Lycia, a little to the north-east of Corydalla. It also bore the name of Phoenicus, and near it was a large town, likewise bearing the name Olympus. (Strab. 14. p. 666.) In another passage (14. p. 671) Strabo speaks of a mountain Olympus and a stronghold of the same name in Cilicia, from which the whole of Lycia, Pamphylia, and Pisidia could be surveyed, and which was in his time taken possession of by the Isaurian robber Zenicetas. It is, however, generally supposed that this Cilician Olympus is no other than the Lycian, and that the geographer was led into his mistake by the fact that a town of the name of Corycus existed both in Lycia and Cilicia. On the Lycian Olympus stood a temple of Hephaestus. (Comp. Stadiasm. Mar. Mag. § 205; Ptol. 5.3.3.) Scylax (39) does not mention Olympus, but his Siderus is evidently no other place. (Leake, Asia Minor, p. 189; Fellows, Lycia, pp. 212, foll.; Spratt and Forbes, Travels in Lycia, 1. p. 192.) Mount Olympus now bears the name Janar Dagh, and the town that of Deliktash; in the latter place, which was first identified by Beaufort, some ancient remains still exist; but it does not appear ever to have been a large town, as Strabo calls it. [L.S]

OLYMPUS

OLYMPUS (Ὄλυμπος, Strab. xiv. pp. 682, 683; Ptol. 5.14.5), a mountain range in the lofty island of Cyprus. On one of its eminences--breast-shaped (μαστοειδής)--was a temple to Aphrodite of the heights( ἀκραία), into which women were not permitted to enter. (Strab. l. c.) This probably implies that all but the hierodulaew ere excluded. (Comp. Claudian, Nupt. Hon. et Mar. 49--85; Achill. Tat. 7.13.) According to Pococke (Trav. vol. 2. p. 212; comp. Mariti, Viaggi, vol. 1. p. 206), this part of the chain is now called Haghios Stavros, or Sta. Croce, from a convent dedicated to the Cross. (Engel, Kypros, vol. i. pp. 33--37).

[E.B.J]

Olympus

(Ὄλυμπος). (1) A mountain situated in Thessaly, the summit of which (nearly 10,000 feet above the sea) rises from the region of the earth's atmosphere into the sky, and was, according to the earliest popular belief of the Greeks, the abode of the higher (hence named Olympian) gods. Below the summit, which, according to Homer's description, is never ruffled by winds or drenched with rain, but is always radiant in cloudless splendour ( Od. vi. 42-45), comes the region of clouds, which Zeus at one time gathers together and at another dispels; it forms the boundary between the celestial region and that of the earth, and, accordingly, Homer elsewhere implies that the clouds are the gates of heaven, which are guarded by the Horae (Il. v. 749). On the highest peak Zeus has his throne, and it is there that he summons the assemblies of the gods. The abodes of the other gods were imagined to be placed on the precipices and in the ravines of the mountain. When the height of the vault of heaven came to be regarded as the abode of the gods, the name Olympus was transferred to the sky. See Henzey, Le Mont Olympe (Paris, 1860); and Tozer, The Highlands of Turkey, vol. ii. (London, 1869).

(2) A chain of mountains in Mysia, Bithynia, Galatia, Paphlagonia, and Pontus.

(3) A volcano on the eastern coast of Lycia.

(4) A mountain in Cyprus.

(5) A mountain in Lesbos.

Olympus

(Ὄλυμπος). One of the mythic poets and musicians belonging to Phrygian mythology, pupil of Marsyas. The art of flute-playing, invented by Marsyas, was supposed to have been perfected by Olympus. A Phrygian family, in which the art of flute-playing was hereditary, traced their descent from him. The Phrygian Olympus, who lived about the seventh century before Christ, invented the auletic νόμος, and brought it into esteem among the Asiatic Greeks, was said to be descended from the mythical Olympus ( De Mus. p. 1133).

Olympus Olympus

• Hera hung by Zeus from: Apollod. 1.3.5, Apollod. 2.6.4
• Mount, Ossa piled on: Apollod. 1.7.4
• the mares of Diomedes destroyed by wolves at: Apollod. 2.5.8
• mountain of Thessaly, lions on: Paus. 6.5.5
• Mount, in Thessaly: Hdt. 1.56
• northern boundary of Thessaly: Hdt. 7.129
• pass between Olympus and Ossa: Hdt. 7.173

Olympus (2), In Mysia

• haunted by a wild boar: Hdt. 1.36, Hdt. 1.43
• Mysians called Olympians: Hdt. 7.74

Olympus(3), name given to Mount Lycaeus in Arcadia

• Paus. 8.38.2

Olympus(4), sculptor

• Paus. 6.3.13

Olympus(5), son of Herakles by Euboea

• Apollod. 2.7.7

Olympus (6)

• taught to play flute by Marsyas: Paus. 10.30.9