Mediterranean Mountains in the Mythological Paintings of European Art (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Geoheritage of Mount Olympus: Ancient Mythology and Modern Geology
Geoheritage, 2022
Mount Olympos on the border of Thessaly and Central Macedonia (Greece) is the namesake of many mountains over the Earth and even on Mars. The inspiration of Olympos to humanity dates from the earliest settlements of modern peoples at its base (~ 40,000 years BP) who were witnesses to a period of ongoing active glaciation; these inhabitants would have endured the environmental consequences of proximity to the eruption of Thira (Santorini, 1646 BCE); possibly, they also observed a meteor impact. These geologic events can be interpreted from descriptions of activities attributed to the gods in Hesiod's Theogeny (~ 750 BCE). The incorporation of the mythology of Olympos into the epic tales of Homer and the "Greek Miracle" created a worldview that is significant to the evolution of Western civilization. The geological history of Olympos is perhaps as legendary as its mythology. From a carbonate platform on the Apulian (African) plate with active deposition from the Triassic to Eocene, the rocks of future Olympos were subducted beneath the Pangaean-originated European plate and were then exhumed later in the Cenozoic; the exhumation contact is marked by a ring of blueschist facies rocks and mafic-ultramafic rocks as a remnant of oceanic lithosphere (ophiolitic rocks) at the surface. Cobbles eroded from this exhuming complex found their way to Miocene fluvial depocenters, forming conglomerate formations of Meteora, located ~ 70 km to the SW. Continued uplift of Olympos has created rivers that were considered sacred to the ancient societies, and that contributed to the immense late-Pleistocene cataclysmic release of waters from the inland basin of Thessaly, forming the Vale of Tempe between the mountain of the Olympian gods and Mount Ossa of the Titans. Olympos comprises the oldest National Park of Greece and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Despite the significance of Olympos as part of the bedrock of western cultural heritage, as well as the physical geomorphology of Greece, it has yet to be recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
2014
This book is a topographical guide to the real world of the Greek Myths, a compact physical environment of rugged mountains separating small agricultural plains that occupy what is now southern and central Greece. Its purpose is to relate a selection of the myths in their original settings, either the location in which the principal events were thought to have occurred, or the places in which they were celebrated. ISBN 9780957584617
The Topography of Greek Mountains in the Light of Greek Sources
In order to understand the roles of Greek mountains and hills in the ancient Greek civilization, one should study its ancient geological changes that came to Greece over time, and had changed the nature of its surface and rolled its movements, in particular succession of earthquakes and volcanoes.
Pheidias, Homer and Olympus. On Helios and Selene framing scenes in the Parthenon and in Olympia
Boreas 45/46, 2022
The paper deals with Helios and Selene as framing figures in works attributed to Pheidias. The two cosmic deities are shown in the east pediment of the Parthenon as well as on the inside of the shield and the base of the Athena Parthenos. Furthermore, they are depicted on the base of the statue of Zeus in Olympia. Whereas previous research has interpreted this motif either in an allegoric way or as specification of time or place, it is now argued that it relates to heavenly Olympus. Some of the images also depict rocks, and this combination of heavenly and mountainous features visualizes the ambiguous Olympus of Homer, which is both heaven and mountain.
Quaternary history of Mount Olympus, Greece
Erosional and depositional evidence on Mount Olympus, Greece, and across the adjacent piedmont provides clear indication that the mountain was more extensively glaciated over a longer period of time than has been previously reported. The stratigraphic record of Pleistocene-Holocene events on Mount Olympus is most clearly documented on the eastern piedmont, where three discrete sedimentary packages (units 1-3), each capped by a distinctive soil, reflect glacial and nonglacial activity in the Mount Olympus region. A working stratigraphic framework for sediments and soils is proposed and is tentatively correlated with a dated alluvial succession south of Mount Olympus. We suggest that the oldest sedimentary package (unit 1) predates 200 ka (isotope stage 8?). Lithologic and pedologic equivalents of the piedmont stratigraphy are found within major valleys draining Mount Olympus, as well as within cirque basins and on the summit plateau surface. These deposits can be clearly tied to three stages of cirque development on the upland and at valley heads. Taken together, upland and piedmont glacial features and deposits indicate the following general scenario: (1) earliest glaciation (isotope stage 8?) produced upland ice and valley glaciers that extended as piedmont lobes east, north, and west of Mount Olympus; (2) nonglacial (interglacial) conditions (isotope stage 7?) were accompanied by extensive erosion and subsequent pedogenesis; (3) a second glaciation (isotope stage 6?) involved production of upland ice and valley glaciers that did not reach the piedmont; (4) interglacial (interstadial) conditions (isotope stage 5?) provided time for stream erosion and substantial pedogenesis; (5) final(?) glaciation (isotope stages 4-2?) was restricted to valley heads (no upland ice) and glaciers that extended to mid-valley positions; (6) nonglacial conditions (isotope stage 1?) were associated with additional pedogenesis and stream incision. The largest cirque on the mountain (Megali Kazania) may contain depositional evidence for neoglaciation. Study of the neotectonic history of the Mount Olympus region indicates that uplift has persisted throughout the mid-Pleistocene and Holocene at a rate of about 1.6 m/k.y.; the total uplift since deposition of unit 2 is approximately 200 m.