Parnassus

Parnassus

1. Mount. a mountain in central Greece, in NW Boeotia: in ancient times sacred to Dionysus, Apollo, and the Muses, with the Castalian Spring and Delphi on its slopes. Height: 2457 m (8061 ft.)

2. 

a. the world of poetry

b. a centre of poetic or other creative activity

3. a collection of verse or belles-lettres

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Parnassus

mountains sacred to Muses; hence, abode of poetry. [Gk. Myth.: Hall, 234]

See: Poetry

Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Parnassus

 

(also Parnasos, Parnassos), a mountain in Greece, north of the Gulf of Corinth; maximum elevation, 2,457 m. It is composed chiefly of limestones and has a rocky summit. Below 1,000 m it is covered with Mediterranean shrub vegetation, and at higher elevations with conifer forests.

In ancient Greek mythology, Parnassus was the home of Apollo and the Muses. The city of Delphi, with its famous Temple of Apollo, was at the foot of the mountain. In Russian, “Parnassus” is figuratively applied to the brotherhood of poets, verses are the “flowers of Parnassus,” and the Muses are the “sisters of Parnassus.”

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.