Hippocrene: Definition from Answers.com

This article is about the fountain. For the asteroid, see 5085 Hippocrene. For the publisher, see Hippocrene Books.

In Greek mythology, Hippocrene (Ἱπποκρήνη) was the name of a fountain on Mt. Helicon. It was sacred to the Muses and was formed by the hooves of Pegasus. Its name literally translates to 'Horse's Fountain' ^[1] and the water was supposed to bring forth poetic inspiration when imbibed. ^[2]

John Keats refers to Hippocrene in his poem Ode to a Nightingale.^[3]

O for a beaker full of the warm South
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-stained mouth;
That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,
And with thee fade away into the forest dim:

References

^ Encyclopedia Mythica: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/hippocrene.html
^ Merriam-Webster: http://www.aolsvc.merriam-webster.aol.com/dictionary/hippocrene
^ "Ode to a Nightingale": Keats, John (1884). Stephen Greenblatt. ed. Norton Anthology of English Literature (Eighth ed.). New York: Norton.

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	Aganippē
	Pegasus (Greek Mythology)
	Helicon (mountains, Greece)

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