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Mount Olympus

 
 

Mountain peak, northeastern Greece. At 9,570 ft (2,917 m), it is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus range, lying on the border between Macedonia and Thessaly, near the Gulf of Salonika. The summit is snowcapped and often has cloud cover. In ancient Greece, it was regarded as the abode of the gods and the site of the throne of Zeus.

For more information on Mount Olympus, visit Britannica.com.

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Mythology Dictionary: Mount Olympus
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The legendary home of the Greek and Roman gods. Mount Olympus is an actual mountain in Greece, the highest in the country. Some stories of the gods have them living on the mountain. Other stories have them living in a mysterious region above it.

  • The Olympians were the Greek gods.
  • The Olympic Games were a celebration held every four years on the plain of Olympus in honor of Zeus. They included athletic games and contests of choral poetry and dance. Our modern Olympic Games are modeled after them.

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    WordNet: Mount Olympus
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    Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

    The noun has one meaning:

    Meaning #1: a mountain in northeast Greece near the Aegean coast; believed by ancient Greeks to be the dwelling place of the gods (9,570 feet high)
      Synonyms: Olympus, Mt. Olympus, Olimbos


     
    Wikipedia: Mount Olympus
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    Mount Olympus

    Mount Olympus: View from Litochoro
    Mount Olympus is located in Greece
    Mount Olympus
    Mount Olympus
    Location of Mount Olympus in Greece
    Elevation 2,919 metres (9,577 ft)
    Location  Greece
    Range Olympus
    Prominence 2,355 metres (7,726 ft)
    Coordinates 40°5′00″N 22°21′00″E / 40.083333°N 22.35°E / 40.083333; 22.35Coordinates: 40°5′00″N 22°21′00″E / 40.083333°N 22.35°E / 40.083333; 22.35
    Easiest route Hike
    Listing Country high point
    Ultra
    Olympus' highest peak, Mýtikas or the "Throne of Zeus"

    Mount Olympus (Greek: Όλυμπος ; also transliterated as Ólympos, and on Greek maps, Óros Ólimbos) is the highest mountain in Greece at 2,919 metres high (9,577 feet).[1] Since its base is located at sea level, it is one of the highest mountains in Europe in terms of topographic prominence, the relative altitude from base to top. It is located in Macedonia, about 100 km away from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city.

    Mount Olympus is noted for its very rich flora with several endemic species. The highest peak on Mount Olympus is Mitikas at 2,919 metres high (9,577 feet), which in Greek means "nose" (an alternative transliterated spelling of this name is "Mytikas"). Mitikas is the highest peak in Greece, the second highest being Skolio (2912 m).

    In Greek mythology the mountain was regarded as the "home of the gods", specifically of the Twelve Olympians, the twelve principal gods of the ancient Hellenistic world.[2] Any climb to Mount Olympus starts from the town of Litochoro, which took the name City of Gods because of its location on the roots of the mountain.

    Coin

    The Mount Olympus and the national Park around it was recently selected as main motif for a high value euro collectors' coin: the €10 Greek National Park Olympus commemorative coin, minted in 2005. On the reverse, the War of the Titans on Mount Olympus is portrayed along with flowering branches on the lower part of the coin. Above the scene is written, in Greek, "National Park Olympus", while on the bottom of the coin, close to the edge, is the issuing year.

    Other mountains

    Apart from the Greek Olympus, there was a mountain of the same name in ancient Phrygia and also currently one in Cyprus, one in Utah, one in Washington, one in San Francisco, one on Mars, and many others.

    See also

    References

    1. ^ SummitPost - Olymbos (Olympus) - Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering
    2. ^ Wilson, Nigel (2005-10-31). Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece. Abingdon, England: Routledge. pp. p 516. 

    External links



     
    Best of the Web: Mount Olympus
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    Some good "Mount Olympus" pages on the web:


    Greek Mythology
    www.pantheon.org
     
     
     

     

    Copyrights:

    Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Mythology Dictionary. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.  Read more
    WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
    Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mount Olympus" Read more

     

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