A fountain on Mount Helicon, Greece, sacred to the Muses and regarded as a source of poetic inspiration.
[Latin Hippocrēnē, from Greek Hippokrēnē : hippos, horse (from the myth that Pegasus's hoof created it) + krēnē, fountain.]
Hippocrene
Dictionary:
Hip·po·crene (hĭp'ə-krēn', hĭp'ə-krē'nē)  |
| Classical Literature Companion: Hippocrēne |
| Wikipedia: Hippocrene |
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:
Modern Adaptations
Hippocrene Books is named for the Hippocrene fountain.
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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| Best of the Web: Hippocrene |
Some good "Hippocrene" pages on the web:
 Greek Mythology www.pantheon.org |
Learn More
 | Aganippē |
| Pegasus (Greek Mythology) |
| Helicon (mountains, Greece) |
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Copyrights:
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Classical Literature Companion. The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Copyright © 1993, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hippocrene". Read more |
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