Mount Parnassus (/pɑːr ˈnæsəs/; Greek: Παρνασσός, Parnassós) is a mountain range in Central Greece. It has always been very important to the Greek people and ancient city-states for many reasons. During peaceful times, it offers beautiful views of the countryside and is a popular place for recreation, with many visitors enjoying the mountain landscapes. The mountain is also home to historical, archaeological, and cultural sites, such as Delphi, which is located on the southern slopes of the mountain in a valley north of the Gulf of Corinth.

Parnassus has many trails for hiking during the three warm seasons. In winter, the entire mountain range is open for skiing, especially near the resorts of Arachova. The melting snow from the mountain provides water for nearby communities. The mountain is made of limestone and also contains bauxite, a type of aluminum ore that is mined and processed. During times of war, Parnassus has served as a place of resistance, offering shelter and hiding places for people fighting against enemies.

Parnassus is mentioned in early Ancient Greek writings. Many of its ancient communities are described in Homer’s Iliad. Linguistically, it was home to groups of the Dorians, such as the Phokians, who spoke a Doric dialect called Phokian. According to Greek mythology, this mountain was sacred to Dionysus and the Dionysian mysteries. It was also sacred to Apollo and the Corycian nymphs and was considered the home of the Muses.

However, there is a major gap in the early history of the mountain’s name, Parnassos. Mycenaean settlements were common to the south and east of the mountain. These people often saw Parnassus and climbed parts of it, but the name Parnassos does not appear in records of their language, Mycenaean Greek, which was written in a script called Linear B.

Etymology

The philologist Leonard Robert Palmer proposed that the name Parnassus comes from the Luwian language, which is one of the Anatolian languages. He believed the name is based on "parnassas," a form of the Luwian word "parna," meaning house or specifically temple. This would make the name mean "the mountain of the house of the god." This explanation fits with the mountain's reputation as a holy place where divine power is shown. Even people who disagree with the theory have always found this explanation strong. Palmer also suggested that some people who lived before the Greeks may have been from Anatolia, possibly arriving earlier through conquest, and that the Greeks later took over their land and places.

However, this connection does not hold for other parts of the evidence. The word "Parnassus" remains a single piece of evidence with no other historical or archaeological proof linking it to Anatolia. G. Mylonas, who studied the possibilities, found no evidence connecting the area around the mountain to Anatolia. While some research suggests a possible link to Crete, there is no proof that the Cretans were related to the Luwians. The script used by the Minoans, called Linear A, has not yet been deciphered. In conclusion, after many years of study, the identity of the people who lived before the Greeks remains unknown. There is still no clear answer about how or when the mountain received its name, which comes from the Luwian language.

Geology and geography

Parnassus is one of the largest mountain regions in Mainland Greece and one of the highest mountains in the country. It covers three regions: Boeotia, Phthiotis, and Phocis, with most of the area located in Phocis. The mountain reaches an altitude of 2,457 meters (8,061 feet), and its highest point is called Liakouras. To the northwest, Parnassus connects to Mount Giona, and to the south, it connects to Kirphe.

The mountain is bounded on the east by the valley of the Boeotian Kephissus and on the west by the valley of Amfissa. A unique feature of Parnassus is its large amounts of bauxite, a type of mineral. Mining for bauxite has been happening regularly since the late 1930s, which has caused harm to parts of the mountain’s environment.

Climate

Mount Parnassus experiences very cold winters and cool summers. The following data comes from the World Meteorological Organization station located in the doline of Vathistalos.

Mythology

Mount Parnassus is named after Parnassos, who was the son of a nymph named Kleodora and a man named Kleopompus. A city led by Parnassos was flooded by heavy rains. The people ran from the flood, following the howling of wolves, up the mountain slope. There, the survivors built another city called Lykoreia, which means "the howling of the wolves" in Greek. While Orpheus was living with his mother and his eight beautiful aunts on Parnassus, he met Apollo, who was trying to win the favor of the joyful muse Thalia. Becoming fond of Orpheus, Apollo gave him a small golden lyre and taught him to play it. Orpheus's mother taught him to write verses for singing. Because the Oracle of Delphi was sacred to the god Apollo, the mountain also became linked to him. According to some traditions, Parnassus was the site of the fountain Castalia and the home of the Muses; according to other traditions, that honor belonged to Mount Helicon, another mountain in the same range. As the home of the Muses, Parnassus became known as the place where poetry, music, and learning thrived.

Parnassus was also the site of several unrelated minor events in Greek mythology.

• In some versions of the Greek flood story, the boat of Deucalion lands on the slopes of Parnassus. This is the version of the story told in Ovid's Metamorphoses.
• Orestes spent time hiding on Mount Parnassus.
• Parnassus was sacred to the god Dionysus.
• The Corycian Cave, located on the slopes of Parnassus, was connected to Hermes and the Bee Maidens (Thriae) nymphs. Later, it became sacred to Pan and the Muses.
• In Book 19 of The Odyssey, Odysseus tells a story about being gored in the thigh during a boar hunt on Mount Parnassus when he was young.

Parnassus was also the home of Pegasus, the winged horse of Bellerophon.

As metaphor

The connection between the mountain and the Muses inspired the Parnassism movement in poetry and art. This movement began in France between 1866 and 1876 as a response to Romanticism. Parnassism focused on returning to classical styles and followed the idea of "Art for Art's Sake," first described by Theophile Gautier. A publication called Modern Parnassus, created by Catul Mendes and Xavier Ricard, included references to Mount Parnassus and its mythological role as the home of the Muses. The Parnassists, a small group of about twenty poets, had a strong influence on Parisian culture because of their focus on perfecting rhyme and vocabulary. Parnassism affected many French poets and also influenced modern Greek poets, such as Kostis Palamas and Ioannis Gryparis.

The mountain, called Mont Parnasse, was the name given to a neighborhood in Paris on the left side of the Seine River. This area was a gathering place for artists and poets who shared their work publicly. Today, Montparnasse is a well-known part of Paris, and its cemetery is the resting place for many important figures in the arts.

Mount Parnassus also appears in Jonathan Swift’s The Battle of the Books (1697), where it is described as the setting for a debate between supporters of ancient and modern ideas.

Recreational use

The National Park of Parnassus was created in 1938. The goal of the park was to protect the natural environment by managing how its natural resources were used. However, the park did not cover all the land in the area. Some of the highest mountains were not included.

A few years later, the park’s activities slowed as Greece focused on ending the German occupation and then on ending the Greek Civil War after World War II. Parnassus was an important place for resistance efforts, similar to its role during the Greek war for independence. Battles took place in the valleys around the mountain range.

After the wars ended and the region became active again, new scientific ideas about ecology changed how the park was managed. Scientists listed all the plant and animal species in the area, identified those that were unique or endangered, and created the idea of protected areas. Parnassus National Park became a protected area for birds under the "Birds Directive." Later, it received more protections under other European Union laws. After 2000, it was renamed Oros Parnassos, or "Mount Parnassus," and became part of the Natura 2000 protected area with the ID GR2410002. These two areas are not exactly the same. The national park covers about 150 km (37,000 acres), while the Natura 2000 area covers about 344 km (85,000 acres), adding more land to the protected region.

Some of the plants protected in the area include the Cephalonian fir tree and the Parnassian peony (Paeonia parnassica). The park is also home to birds of prey, wolves, wild boars, badgers, and weasels.

The slopes of Mount Parnassus have two ski areas, Kellaria and Fterolakka, which together form the largest ski center in Greece. A smaller ski area called Gerontovrahos, with only two drag lifts, is located across a ridge from Kellaria. The mountain is also mined for bauxite, which is used to make aluminum.

The ski resort began construction in 1975 and was finished in 1976, when the first two drag lifts started operating in Fterolakka. In 1981, a new ski area was completed in Kellaria. In the winter of 1987–1988, the chair lift Hermes began operating, connecting the two ski areas. Both resorts continued to grow, and in 1993, Greece’s first high-speed quad lift, named Hercules, was installed. Between 2014 and 2015, two new hybrid lifts and an eight-seater lift were added, replacing older equipment.

Today, the ski center uses 16 lifts, including two hybrid lifts that combine an eight-seater cabin and a six-seater chair, one eight-seater cabin, one four-seater chair lift, one two-seater chair lift, six drag lifts, and four baby lifts. The ski center has 25 marked ski runs and about 15 ski routes covering 36 km (22 miles) total. The longest ski run is 4 km (2 miles).