Mount Olympus in the Ancient Sources: 104 Passages in Greek & English

Hesiod (12)

Hesiod, Theogony 35–59The Muses' song of gods and men; their birth (35-59)Hesiod turns from his own story to the song of the Muses, who delight their father Zeus on Olympus by singing first of the race of the gods, then of Zeus himself, then of men and the strong giants. Mnemosyne (Memory) bears them to Zeus in Pieria after nine nights, nine daughters whose hearts are set on song.
Hesiod, Theogony 60–99The Muses on Olympus and their gifts to kings and singers (60-99)The Muses have their dancing places and fair homes on Olympus beside the Graces and Himerus, and they sing the laws of the gods and Zeus's overthrow of Cronus. The nine are named, with Calliope the chief because she attends on princes. Kings favoured by the Muses speak with persuasive words and settle quarrels fairly, and singers who serve the Muses make a sorrowing man forget his troubles.
Hesiod, Theogony 100–129Invocation of the Muses; Chaos, Gaia and the first gods (100-129)The proem closes with an invocation: the Muses are asked to tell how the gods and the world first came to be. The cosmogony begins with Chaos, broad-breasted Gaia (Earth), murky Tartarus and Eros, fairest of the gods. Erebus and Night come from Chaos and bear Aether and Day, and Gaia bears Uranus (Heaven) and the hills.
Hesiod, Theogony 650–699The Titanomachy: Zeus's thunderbolts (650-699)Cottus answers for the Hundred-Handers and the war begins, the sea, earth and heaven shaking at the clash. Then Zeus holds back his might no longer and comes from Olympus hurling lightning and thunderbolts, so that the earth burns, the sea and Ocean seethe, and the Titans are blinded by the glare.
Hesiod, Theogony 780–819Styx and the oath of the gods (780-819)Iris fetches water from the Styx, the eldest daughter of Oceanus, which the gods swear by. A god who perjures himself lies breathless for a year and is then barred from the feasts of the gods for nine years. Beyond lie the sources and limits of earth, sea and sky, and the Titans live beyond Chaos; Cottus and Gyes live on Ocean's foundations, and Briareos marries Poseidon's daughter.
Hesiod, Theogony 960–1022Goddesses and mortal men; the end of the poem (960-1022)The Muses are asked to sing of the goddesses who lay with mortal men. Demeter bears Plutus to Iasion, Harmonia bears Ino, Semele, Agave, Autonoe and Polydorus to Cadmus, and Callirrhoe bears Geryon. The list continues with Eos and Tithonus, Aphrodite and Anchises, Thetis and Peleus, and ends with Circe and Calypso bearing sons to Odysseus before the poet turns to the company of women.
Hesiod, Works and Days 105–199The five ages of men (105-199)Hesiod tells how gods and mortals came from one source and describes the races of men: a golden race that lived at ease in the time of Cronos, a foolish silver race that would not honour the gods, a violent bronze race that destroyed itself, and the god-like race of heroes, some of whom died at Thebes and Troy while others live on the islands of the blessed. He laments that he lives in the fifth, iron race, and foretells that it will be destroyed when children are born grey-haired, kin are at odds and might is right.
Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 400–480Heracles kills Cycnus and wounds Ares (400-480)Heracles drives his spear into Cycnus's neck between helmet and shield, and he falls like a lightning-struck oak. Ares attacks next, and although Athena tells him to stop, he is wounded in the thigh and cast down, and Panic and Dread carry him to Olympus. Heracles and Iolaus strip Cycnus's armour and go to Trachis, where Ceyx buries him, but Anaurus, swollen by rain at Apollo's command, washes the grave away.
Hesiod, Theogony 370–404Children of Hyperion and Crius; Styx and her sons (370-404)Theia bears Helios, Selene and Eos to Hyperion, and Eos bears the winds and the morning star; Crius and Eurybia's sons include Astraeus, Pallas and Perses. Styx, daughter of Oceanus, bears to Pallas Zelus, Nike, Cratos and Bia, and Zeus honours her as the great oath of the gods because she was first to support him against the Titans. The section ends as Phoebe comes to the embrace of Coeus.
Hesiod, Theogony 615–649Zeus releases the Hundred-Handers (615-649)Zeus and the gods, at Gaia's advice, bring the Hundred-Handers, Obriareus, Cottus and Gyes, up from the gloom beneath the earth where their father Uranus had bound them. The ten-year war between the Titans on Othrys and the gods on Olympus is evenly balanced, and Zeus feeds the three nectar and ambrosia and asks them to stand with the younger gods against the Titans.
Hesiod, Theogony 820–869Zeus and Typhoeus (820-869)Gaia bears her youngest child, Typhoeus, with a hundred snake heads and every kind of voice, and he would have come to rule gods and men had Zeus not noticed. Zeus's thunder shakes heaven and earth, and he strikes the monster down and burns his heads; earth melts in the heat. Typhoeus is hurled to Tartarus, and from him come the harmful winds, except Notus, Boreas and Zephyrus.
Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 150–239The shield of Heracles: war, Lapiths and Centaurs, the harbour, Perseus (150-239)The shield's decoration continues with Pursuit, Flight, Tumult and Panic, deadly Fate dragging a dead man, twelve snake heads, and boars and lions glaring at one another. Other scenes show the Lapiths fighting the Centaurs, Ares in his golden chariot with Athena, the gods on Olympus where Apollo plays the lyre and the Muses sing, and a harbour with dolphins and a fisherman. Perseus, wearing the cap of Hades and carrying the Gorgon's head, flies above the shield while the Gorgons pursue him, and beyond him men fight for and against a town.

Homer (34)

Homer, Iliad 8.350–484Zeus turns back Hera and AthenaHera and Athena set out to help the Achaeans, but Zeus sends Iris to turn them back with the threat of lamed horses and a shattered car. Zeus returns to Olympus and tells the two goddesses that at dawn he will destroy more of the Argives and that Hector will not stop fighting until Achilles rises at the ships over the body of Patroclus. Hera refuses to be rebuked and says that she will not oppose him.
Homer, Iliad 1.493–611Thetis begs Zeus; the quarrel of Zeus and HeraAfter twelve days the gods return to Olympus, and Thetis goes up to clasp the knees of Zeus and ask him to honour her son by giving the Trojans the upper hand. Zeus is troubled because it will anger Hera, but he bows his head in assent. Hera upbraids him for plotting in secret and he threatens her, until Hephaestus calms the gods by pouring wine, and they feast and sleep.
Homer, Iliad 5.297–430Diomedes wounds AphroditeAeneas stands over the body of Pandarus, and Diomedes hurls a stone that crushes his hip, but Aphrodite wraps him in her robe and Diomedes pierces her hand. She drops her son, and Apollo covers Aeneas with a cloud while Iris leads the wounded goddess to Ares, who lends her his chariot to Olympus. Dione comforts her daughter, Athena mocks her, and Zeus tells Aphrodite that war is not her business.
Homer, Iliad 15.78–142Hera on Olympus; Athena stops AresHera goes to the gods on Olympus and tells them that Zeus will not be moved. Ares, hearing that his son Ascalaphus has been killed, prepares to go down in armour to avenge him, and Athena takes the helmet and spear from him and rebukes him. Athena makes him sit down again on his throne.
Homer, Iliad 1.304–427Briseis is taken from Achilles; Achilles prays to ThetisAgamemnon launches a ship to take the girl home to Chryses and sends heralds to Achilles' hut to take Briseis. Achilles lets her go, then sits weeping by the sea and prays to his mother Thetis, who rises from the water to comfort him. He asks her to go to Zeus and win honour for him by having the Achaeans driven back to their ships.
Homer, Iliad 2.1–101Zeus sends a deceptive dream to AgamemnonWhile the other gods sleep, Zeus plans to honour Achilles and sends a deceitful dream to Agamemnon in the likeness of Nestor, telling him that the gods now favour him and that he can take Troy. Agamemnon wakes with the voice in his ears, dresses and bids the heralds summon the Achaeans. He first holds a council of the elders beside Nestor's ship and tells them of the dream.
Homer, Iliad 5.793–909Diomedes wounds AresAthena finds Diomedes cooling the wound the arrow made, rebukes him, and takes Sthenelus' place in his car, putting on the helm of Hades. They go against Ares, who is stripping the body of Periphas, and Diomedes drives his spear into the god's belly. Ares bellows like nine thousand men and goes up to Olympus, where Zeus tells him that he is hateful to him, but has Paeon heal him.
Homer, Iliad 24.77–158Thetis is sent to AchillesZeus sends Iris to bring Thetis to Olympus, and Hera gives her a cup and speaks kindly to her. Zeus tells Thetis to go to her son and tell him that the gods are angry that he keeps Hector's body, and that he must accept a ransom from Priam. Thetis finds Achilles groaning in his hut and tells him what Zeus has said, and he agrees.
Homer, Odyssey 20.1–121Odysseus cannot sleep; the omensOdysseus lies down in the fore-hall, and sees the women who sleep with the suitors go laughing out, and his heart growls like a bitch over her pups. He rebukes his heart, and Athena comes and tells him to trust her, and puts him to sleep. Penelope wakes and weeps and prays to Artemis, and Odysseus wakes and prays to Zeus for a sign, and Zeus thunders from a clear sky, and a woman grinding grain prays that this be the suitors' last meal.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 2.290–394Hymn 2 to Demeter (4): the famine and the mission of HermesIn her new temple Demeter withholds the grain and a terrible year follows, which threatens the offerings of the gods. Zeus sends Iris and then the other gods to persuade her, but she will not return to Olympus without her daughter. Zeus sends Hermes to the underworld; Hades agrees to let Persephone go, but first gives her a pomegranate seed to eat, and Hermes drives her back to Eleusis, where her mother embraces her.
Homer, Iliad 1.1–67The Wrath of Achilles; Chryses and the plagueThe poet asks the goddess to sing the wrath of Achilles, which began when Agamemnon and Achilles quarrelled. Chryses, a priest of Apollo, comes to the Achaean ships with ransom to free his daughter, but Agamemnon sends him away harshly, and the old man prays to Apollo. The god comes down from Olympus and strikes the army with a plague, first the mules and dogs and then the men, until on the tenth day Achilles calls an assembly and asks for a seer to explain the god's anger.
Homer, Iliad 7.1–91Hector challenges the AchaeansHector and Paris return to the battle together, and each kills an Achaean. Apollo and Athena meet beside the oak and agree to end the fighting for the day with a single combat, and Helenus, who understands the gods' plan, tells Hector to challenge the best of the Achaeans. Hector steps between the armies and proposes a duel in which the winner keeps the dead man's armour but returns his body.

22 more passages of Homer that name Mount Olympus

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.7.1–10Prometheus, Deucalion's flood and the family of HellenPrometheus moulds men from water and earth, steals fire for them and is nailed to Mount Caucasus, where an eagle eats his liver until Heracles frees him. His son Deucalion survives Zeus's flood in a chest with Pyrrha and makes new people from stones; their son Hellen gives the Greeks their name and divides the country among Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus. The section then follows Aeolus's children: the Aloads Otus and Ephialtes who pile Ossa and Pelion on Olympus, Endymion, Aetolus, Evenus and Marpessa, and the house of Thestius.

Pindar (3)

Pindar, Nemean Odes 10.1–90Nemean 10: for Theaeus — Castor and PolydeucesPindar praises Argos, the city of Danaüs and Hera, and its famous heroes, among them Proetus, and the victories of Theaeus in wrestling. He tells how Idas killed Castor in a quarrel over cattle, how Polydeuces prayed to Zeus to die with his brother, and how Zeus allowed them to share their fate by living alternately under the earth and on Olympus.
Pindar, Olympian Odes 1.1–116Olympian 1: for Hieron — Pelops and TantalusPindar opens with the praise of water and gold and of the Olympic games as the greatest of contests, and hails Hieron of Syracuse, victor with the horse Pherenicus. He rejects the tale that the gods ate the flesh of Pelops, and tells instead how Poseidon, in love, carried the boy off to Olympus after the banquet of Tantalus, and how Tantalus is punished for stealing nectar and ambrosia with a rock hanging over his head. Pelops later prays to Poseidon, overcomes Oenomaüs in the chariot race and wins Hippodameia. The ode ends with a prayer that Hieron keep his greatness and that Pindar be the foremost poet among Hellenes.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 11.1–64Pythian 11: for Thrasydaeus — Orestes and AgamemnonPindar invites the daughters of Cadmus to honour Thrasydaeus of Thebes, victor in the boys' foot-race, and then tells how Orestes was rescued by his nurse after Clytaemnestra killed Agamemnon and Cassandra, how he reached Strophius, and how he later killed his mother and Aegisthus. He asks whether a wind has blown him off course, like a traveller at a fork in the road, and returns to the glory of Thrasydaeus and his father. The ode ends with a prayer to Iolaüs and to Castor and Polydeuces, who live alternately at Therapne and on Olympus.

Euripides (1)

Euripides, Bacchae 509–575Second episode: the stranger is imprisoned; second choral ode to DircePentheus orders the stranger shut up near the horse stable and threatens to sell the Bacchae as slaves. The stranger goes, warning that Dionysus, whom Pentheus denies, will punish him. The Chorus sings to Dirce, who refused the infant god, and calls on Dionysus to come and restrain Pentheus.

Apollonius Rhodius (2)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.1–166Hera and Athena ask Cypris to make Medea love JasonThe poet calls on Erato, and Hera and Athena decide to go to Cypris to ask her to make Aeetes' daughter Medea fall in love with Jason. Cypris finds her son Eros playing dice with Ganymede, and persuades him with the promise of a ball that once belonged to Zeus.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.685–782Circe purifies Jason and MedeaAt Aeaea Circe, daughter of Helios, purifies Jason and Medea of the murder. When she learns the whole story she drives them from her house with reproaches. Hera sends Iris to fetch Thetis and to ask Hephaestus and Aeolus to help Argo.

Aristophanes (1)

Aristophanes, The Knights 1–106bPrologue: Demosthenes and Nicias lament their new slave PaphlagonDemosthenes and Nicias, two slaves of old Demus, curse their master's newest slave Paphlagon, who gets the whole household flogged, and sob out a stave of Olympus. After a joke about the word 'desert' they tell the audience of their trouble: the sour, deaf old master and the leather-seller who flatters him and steals the other servants' dishes. They think of dying, and Demosthenes persuades Nicias to fetch pure wine instead, hoping that it will give him an idea.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.41.1–5.46.7Hiera and PanchaeaBeyond Arabia lie islands in the southern ocean. The historian describes the frankincense and myrrh of Arabia and the island of Hiera, whose Panchaean people sell them, and then Panchaea itself, with its temple of Zeus Triphylius, its wild animals, its cities, and its priests, soldiers and farmers.

Ovid (1)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.833–875Europa and the BullHermes (Mercury) returns to Olympus, and Zeus (Jupiter) sends him to drive the herds of King Agenor down to the shore, where Agenor's daughter Europa is playing. Zeus, taking the form of a bull, wins her favour, and she climbs on his back. He carries her over the sea toward Crete.

Pausanias (3)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.5.1–9Olympia: the pancratiast PulydamasThe statue of Pulydamas of Scotusa, by Lysippus, stands on a lofty pedestal. Pausanias tells how Alexander of Pherae destroyed Scotusa, and lists the feats of Pulydamas: killing a lion on Mount Olympus unarmed, holding back a bull by its hoof and stopping a chariot. He also tells how Pulydamas fought three Persian Immortals at Susa and died when he tried to hold up the roof of a collapsing cave.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.30.1–12Helicon: statues of the Muses and of the poets, and the traditions about OrpheusPausanias lists the statues in the grove of the Muses, among them images of the Muses by Cephisodotus, Strongylion and Olympiosthenes and a Dionysus taken by Sulla from Orchomenus. He describes statues of Thamyris, Arion, Sacadas, Hesiod and Orpheus. He gives his view of Orpheus and the various accounts of his death, including the river Helicon and the destruction of Libethra by the torrent Sys, and says Orpheus' hymns are short and sung by the Lycomids.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.30.1–9Delphi: Polygnotus' painting of the underworld (3): the daughters of Pandareos, Phocus, Orpheus and ThamyrisPausanias continues the underworld painting with the daughters of Pandareos, Antilochus, Agamemnon, Protesilaus, Achilles and Patroclus, and Phocus giving a signet to Iaseus. He describes Maera, Actaeon with his mother and hound, and Orpheus seated in the grove of Proserpine beside the willows and Promedon. He ends with Schedius, Pelias, the blind Thamyris with his broken lyre and Marsyas teaching Olympus to play the flute.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (9)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 1.654–765Achilles and ThersitesAchilles takes the helmet from the dead queen's head and, seeing how beautiful she is, grieves for her. Ares rushes down from Olympus in anger for his child but is held back by Zeus. Thersites jeers at Achilles for pitying an Amazon, and Achilles strikes him dead with a single blow.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 2.388–548Achilles kills MemnonAchilles leaves the line and finds Memnon, rebuking him as inferior in blood and strength. They fight with swords and shields, and the long and even struggle is watched from Olympus. At last Eris tips the scales and Achilles kills Memnon.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 14.419–547Athena's stormAs the Argives near Euboea, Athena asks Zeus for vengeance on Aias son of Oileus and for the storm that follows. Zeus gives her his thunder and lightning, and she puts on the Aegis and darkens sea and sky. Her thunderbolt breaks Aias' ship and drowns its crew, and captive women drag Danaans down with them.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 2.94–182Memnon comes to TroyMemnon arrives with a host of Aethiopians and is welcomed by Priam, who pledges him in the golden cup that Hephaestus made and that passed down through the kings of Troy. Memnon goes to his rest. On Olympus Zeus tells the gods that tomorrow's battle will cost many lives and that none of them may intervene.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 2.549–666Dawn mourns MemnonDawn groans and veils the earth in cloud, and her children the winds bear Memnon's body away. His Aethiopian companions are turned into birds that wheel round his tomb. All night Dawn lies weeping for her son, and the Hours at last lead her back to heaven against her will.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 3.1–95Apollo shoots AchillesThe Pylians bury Antilochus by the Hellespont, and Achilles drives the Trojans back, filling the streams of Simois and Xanthus with the dead. Apollo warns him to stop, and Achilles defies him. Apollo, veiled in cloud, shoots an arrow into his ankle, and Achilles pulls it out in agony.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 9.210–320Apollo and Poseidon check NeoptolemusNeoptolemus drives against Deiphobus, who is snatched away by Apollo in a cloud, and Zeus then lifts the cloud. Neoptolemus presses the Trojans to the Scaean Gate. Apollo comes down to strike him as he struck his father, but Poseidon strengthens the Greeks, and Apollo yields.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 8.395–504Zeus veils TroyThe Trojans man the towers and Meriones shoots Phylodamas. The Argives are nearly through the gates when Ganymede, from Olympus, begs Zeus to save the city, and Zeus covers Troy in cloud. The Argives draw back to the ships and praise Neoptolemus.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 10.332–410The death of ParisAs Paris limps down Ida, Hera watches from Olympus with the Seasons. Paris dies on Ida and the Nymphs wail for him. A herdsman tells Hecuba, who laments, and the Trojan women mourn him in name only.

Nonnus of Panopolis (35)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 8.0–121Book 8: Semele's pregnancy; Ares threatens to leave heavenSemele grows heavy with child and is carried off by every strain of pipes and cymbals in the hills. Envy, jealous of the unborn Dionysos, stirs up Ares, who complains of Zeus's loves and says he will leave Olympos for Thrace. Hera, still angry, meets Deceit near Mount Dicte.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 31.199–282Book 31: Hera borrows the cestus of AphroditeHera visits Aphrodite on Lebanon and, in answer to her questions, pretends to fear that Semele, Dionysos and the vine will drive her out of Olympos. She then asks to borrow Aphrodite's cestus for a day, to charm Zeus and help the Indians, who she says have always honoured Aphrodite.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 2.241–390Book 2: Typhon's boast and the first assault on ZeusTyphoeus wakes shouting threats: he will overturn the heavens, bring up Cronos and the Titans, and take Hera for his bride. Zeus laughs, and the battle opens with the Giant hurling trees and rocks against the thunderbolt.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 1.134–218Book 1: Typhon steals Zeus's thunderboltsCadmos, following the bull, comes to the cave of Arima as the mountains move against Olympos. Zeus had hidden his weapons in a cave while he went to Pluto's bed, and at his mother Earth's nod Typhoeus steals them. With his many hands he seizes stars and constellations and flings the sea's chariots and the Moon's bulls about.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 2.109–240Book 2: The nymph's lament; Victory rouses ZeusA nymph runs through every means of escape for her maidenhood, as bird, tree, spring or stone, and finds none safe. Night falls and the stars keep watch over Olympos while Zeus sits alone. Victory comes in the shape of Leto to reproach him, listing the gods who have fled and urging him to fight.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 25.80–193Book 25: The feats of Perseus and Minos set against those of DionysosThe poet continues the comparison with Perseus, setting his sea-monster, Polydectes and Andromeda against Dionysos' defeat of the Giants. He contrasts Minos' conquest of Megara, won through Scylla's love, with a victory won by hard fighting, and turns to Heracles, whose Nemean lion was matched by the boy Dionysos with his team of lions.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 2.475–630Book 2: Zeus overwhelms Typhon; the mock epitaphZeus and Typhoeus fight on equal terms, with thunder and lightning against the Giant's many hands, and the four winds join in. His heads are scorched and frozen in turn, and his mother Earth begs Helios and the winter winds to ease him. Typhoeus falls, and Zeus mocks him with a speech about the throne he wanted and offers him an empty tomb and an epitaph.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 2.631–712Book 2: Zeus rewards Cadmos; the spoils hung in OlymposEarth mourns her son while Nature closes the rents in the ground and the stars return to their paths. Zeus calls Cadmos, promises him Harmonia and a wedding feast, warns him against offending Ares, and tells him where his brothers and sister now are. Zeus returns to Olympos, where the spoils of the Giant are hung in the vestibule.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 27.241–341Book 27: Zeus' council of the gods on OlymposOn Olympos Zeus appeals to Apollo, Athena and Hephaistos to defend Dionysos, reminding each of their ties to him, and complains that Hera, Athena and Ares seem to side with Deriades. The gods depart: Apollo, Athena and Hephaistos go to help Dionysos, while Hera leads Ares and Hydaspes to the other side, with Deo supporting her.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 47.594–741Book 47: Dionysos fights Perseus; Hermes ends the war; Argos honours the godPerseus and Dionysos trade boasts and fight, and Hera fights unrecognised. Dionysos grows to touch the sky, but Perseus turns Ariadne to stone with the Gorgon's head. As Dionysos is about to sack Argos, Hermes restrains him, promises that Ariadne will be placed among the stars and reconciles the two sons of Zeus. Hera returns to Olympos and Melampus persuades the Argives to honour Dionysos with a festival.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 1.409–534Book 1: Cadmos pipes to Typhon and wins back the sinewsDisguised as a herdsman, Cadmos plays on his reeds, and Typhoeus comes laughing and boasts of what he will do to heaven. Cadmos says he could do better on the harp if only he had the sinews, and Typhoeus fetches them and gives them to him. Cadmos hides them and goes on playing to the entranced Giant.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 13.1–82Book 13: Iris summons Dionysos to the Indian warZeus sends Iris to Rheia to tell Dionysos that he must drive out Deriades and the Indians and teach all nations the rites of the vine. She reminds him that Hermes, Apollo and Zeus himself had to labour for heaven. Pyrrhichos is sent to gather the host, and the poet begins the catalogue with the Boeotians led by Actaion.

23 more passages of Nonnus of Panopolis that name Mount Olympus

Lycophron (1)

Lycophron, Alexandra 541–693Alexandra 541–693: Quarrelling cousins, the leaders' settlements in the West, and one man's wanderingsThe men at the banquet first tear at each other with jeers and then, as cousins, take up the spear, and two pairs fall, Hades receiving one pair while the other brothers are welcomed to Olympos on alternate days, undying and dead. Cassandra foretells the wanderings of many other leaders, among them Cepheus and Praxandrus, a leader who founds Argyrippa while his comrades are turned into birds, men who sail to the Gymnesian rocks as slingers, and others who reach Iberia and Libya. One man, the sole survivor of his friends, is carried past the one-eyed lion, Charybdis, enchanting nightingales and a dragoness who turns men into swine, and at last goes down to the dark plain of the dead to consult the ancient seer.

Mount Olympus in the ancient sources

Hesiod (12)

Homer (34)

Apollodorus (1)

Pindar (3)

Euripides (1)

Apollonius Rhodius (2)

Aristophanes (1)

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Ovid (1)

Pausanias (3)

Quintus Smyrnaeus (9)

Nonnus of Panopolis (35)

Lycophron (1)