In Greek mythology, Hippocrene /hɪpəˈkriːniː/ (Ancient Greek : Ἵππου κρήνη [1] or Ἱπποκρήνη or Ἱππουκρήνη [2] ) is a spring on Mount Helicon. [3] It was sacred to the Muses and was said to have formed when the winged horse Pegasus struck his hoof into the ground, whence its name which literally translates as "Steed/Horse's Fountain". [4] The water was supposed to bring forth poetic inspiration when imbibed. [5] [6]
Hesiod refers to the horse's well on Helicon in his Theogony . [7]
And after they have washed their tender skin in Permessus or Hippocrene or holy Olmeidus, they perform choral dances on highest Helicon, beautiful, lovely ones, and move nimbly with their feet.
Petrarch refers to the fountain of Helicon in his epic poem Africa :
Sisters who are my sweet care,
If I sing to you of wonders,
I pray that it be granted to me
To drink again at the fountain of Helicon.
Camoens cites the fountain as a great source of poetic inspiration in his epic Portuguese poem The Lusiads, [8] [9] as translated:
And you, my Tagian Nymphs, oh, since my rhyme
With ardent genius new you now inspire,
If I was wont, well pleased, in former time
To celebrate your stream with humble lyre,
Oh, grant me now a lofty note sublime,
A grand and glowing line of poet's fire,
That of your waters Phoebus may ordain:
They shall not envy those of Hippocrene.
John Keats refers to Hippocrene in his poem "Ode to a Nightingale". [10]
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:
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow mentions the fountain in his poem "Goblet of Life":
No purple flowers,—no garlands green,
Conceal the goblet's shade or sheen,
Nor maddening draughts of Hippocrene,
Like gleams of sunshine, flash between
Thick leaves of mistletoe.
Pegasus is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood when their mother was decapitated by Perseus. Greco-Roman poets wrote about his ascent to heaven after his birth and his obeisance to Zeus, who instructed him to bring lightning and thunder from Olympus.
In Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion, Mnemosyne is the goddess of memory and the mother of the nine Muses by her nephew Zeus. In the Greek tradition, Mnemosyne is one of the Titans, the twelve divine children of the earth-goddess Gaia and the sky-god Uranus. The term Mnemosyne is derived from the same source as the word mnemonic, that being the Greek word mnēmē, which means "remembrance, memory".
In Greek mythology, the Graeae, also called the Grey Sisters and the Phorcides, were three sisters who had gray hair from their birth and shared one eye and one tooth among them. They were the daughters of the primordial sea gods Phorcys and Ceto and, among others, sisters of the Gorgons and the Hesperides. Their names were Deino (Δεινώ), Enyo (Ἐνυώ), and Pemphredo (Πεμφρηδώ). The Graeae are best known from their encounter with Perseus, who, after capturing their eye, forced them to reveal information about the Gorgons.
Deianira, Deïanira, or Deianeira, also known as Dejanira, is a Calydonian princess in Greek mythology whose name translates as "man-destroyer" or "destroyer of her husband". She was the wife of Heracles and, in late Classical accounts, his unwitting murderer, killing him with the poisoned Shirt of Nessus. She is the main character in Sophocles' play Women of Trachis.
Luís Vaz de Camões, sometimes rendered in English as Camoens or Camoëns, is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of Shakespeare, Milton, Vondel, Homer, Virgil and Dante. He wrote a considerable amount of lyrical poetry and drama but is best remembered for his epic work Os Lusíadas. His collection of poetry The Parnasum of Luís de Camões was lost during his life. The influence of his masterpiece Os Lusíadas is so profound that Portuguese is sometimes called the "language of Camões".
In Greek mythology, the Meliae were usually considered to be the nymphs of the ash tree, whose name they shared.
In Greek mythology, Erato is one of the Greek Muses, the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as Eros, as Apollonius of Rhodes playfully suggested in the invocation to Erato that begins Book III of his Argonautica.
In Greek mythology, Erebus, or Erebos, is the personification of darkness. In Hesiod's Theogony, he is the offspring of Chaos, and the father of Aether and Hemera (Day) by Nyx (Night); in other Greek cosmogonies, he is the father of Aether, Eros, and Metis, or the first ruler of the gods. In genealogies given by Roman authors, he begets a large progeny of personifications upon Nox, while in an Orphic theogony, he is the offspring of Chronos (Time).
In Greek mythology, Hemera was the personification of day. According to Hesiod, she was the daughter of Erebus (Darkness) and Nyx (Night), and the sister of Aether. Though separate entities in Hesiod's Theogony, Hemera and Eos (Dawn) were often identified with each other.
In Greek mythology, Pirene or Peirene, a nymph, was either the daughter of the river god Asopus, Laconian king Oebalus, or the river god Achelous, depending on different sources. By Poseidon she became the mother of Lecheas and Cenchrias.
In Greek mythology, Hyperion was one of the twelve Titan children of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Sky). With his sister, the Titaness Theia, Hyperion fathered Helios (Sun), Selene (Moon) and Eos (Dawn).
Os Lusíadas, usually translated as The Lusiads, is a Portuguese epic poem written by Luís Vaz de Camões and first published in 1572. It is widely regarded as the most important work of Portuguese-language literature and is frequently compared to Virgil's Aeneid. The work celebrates the discovery of a sea route to India by the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (1469–1524). The ten cantos of the poem are in ottava rima and total 1,102 stanzas.
In Greek mythology, Enceladus was one of the Giants, the offspring of Gaia (Earth) and Uranus (Sky). Enceladus was the traditional opponent of Athena during the Gigantomachy, the war between the Giants and the gods, and was said to be buried under Mount Etna in Sicily.
The Pleiades, were the seven sister-nymphs, companions of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. Together with their sisters, the Hyades, they were called the Atlantides, Dodonides, or Nysiades, nursemaids and teachers of the infant Dionysus. The Pleiades were thought to have been translated to the night sky as a cluster of stars, the Pleiades, and were associated with rain.
Mount Helicon is a mountain in the region of Thespiai in Boeotia, Greece, celebrated in Greek mythology. With an altitude of 1,749 metres (5,738 ft), it is located approximately 10 kilometres (6 mi) from the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth. Some researchers maintain that Helicon was also the Greek name of mount Rocca Salvatesta in Sicily as a river started from it was called also Helikon.
In Greek mythology, Uranus, sometimes written Ouranos, is the personification of the sky and one of the Greek primordial deities. According to Hesiod, Uranus was the son and husband of Gaia (Earth), with whom he fathered the first generation of Titans. However, no cult addressed directly to Uranus survived into classical times, and Uranus does not appear among the usual themes of Greek painted pottery. Elemental Earth, Sky, and Styx might be joined, however, in solemn invocation in Homeric epic. Uranus is associated with the Roman god Caelus.
Pegasides were nymphs of Greek mythology connected with wells and springs, specifically those that the mythical horse Pegasus created by striking the ground with his hooves.
The "Precepts of Chiron" is a now fragmentary Greek didactic poem that was attributed to Hesiod during antiquity. The poem was presented in the voice of Chiron, the wise centaur, as he instructed a young Achilles. To judge from the few fragments that are preserved in other ancient authors, the hero's lessons consisted of moral, religious and practical advice. As such, the poem shows affinities not only with the Hesiodic Works and Days, with which it shared its hexameter verse form, but also with the gnomic elegies of Theognis.
In Greek mythology, the Pierides or Emathides (Ἠμαθίδες) were the nine sisters who defied the Muses in a contest of song and, having been defeated, were turned into birds. The Muses themselves are sometimes called by this name.
Minerva's Visit to the Muses is an oil-on-oak-panel painting by Flemish painter Joos de Momper. The painting depicts a scene from Ovid's Metamorphoses, which tells of Minerva visiting the muses on Mount Helicon, to listen to their song and see the Hippocrene. In the painting, the scene takes place in a wooded mountain side. At the same time, a pastel, distant landscape is depicted in the background. The painting is currently housed at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
Media related to Hippocrene source at Wikimedia Commons
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