Hesiod and the Valley of the Muses Wallace, Paul W Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Spring 1974; 15, 1; ProQuest pg. 5

Hesiod and the Valley of the Muses 
Paul W. Wallace 

H ESIOD lived at Askra in the Valley of the Muses, in a remote 
and secluded district among the foothills of Mt Helikon in 
southwest Boiotia.1 Hesiod has rather a lot to say about his 

homeland; in fact, few Greek authors have given so much detail about 
the places where they themselves lived. In later antiquity travellers 
also made their way to the old poet's homeland, where festivals and 
games were held in honor of the Muses. As a result of so much 
attention, the Valley of the Muses has received more notice in the 
literature than would be expected for such an out-of-the-way place, 
but though the area has been visited and discussed by learned travel­
lers from the seventeenth century to the present, the identification of 
the sites is still uncertain and the general topography of the area 
still unclear. This study attempts, by considering the ancient refer­
ences against the actual Valley of the Muses (PLATE 1, fig. 1), to recon­
struct the topography of Hesiod's homeland. The evidence is, in my 
opinion, generally sufficient for identifying his immediate environ­
ment. 

References in ancient literature are made to the following places in 
or in the vicinity of the Valley of the Muses. 

1. Villages: ASKRA, KERESSOS, DONAKON, LEONTARNE 
II. Rivers and springs: AGANIPPE, HIPPOKRENE, LAMOS, PERMESSOS, 

OLMEIOS 
III. Mountains: HELIKON, LIBETHRION 
IV. Sanctuaries: SANCTUARY OF THE MUSES, ALTAR OF ZEUS, SANC­

TUARY OF MNEMOSYNE 

I. Villages 

The situation of Askra can be determined with a greater degree 
of probability than can that of the other cities. Hesiod himself men-

1 lowe thanks to Sterling Dow, who provided the impetus for this study by inviting me 
to give a talk on "matters related to Hesiod." Thanks are also due to William M. Calder 
III for his careful reading of the manuscript and suggestions, and to Walter T. Hinkle, a 
student at Dartmouth College, for supplying the photographs for PLATE 3, figs. 5 and 6. 

5 



6 HESIOD AND THE VALLEY OF THE MUSES 

tions his hometown. His father, he said (Op. 639f), left Aiolian Kyme 
and 

VaCCaTO 8' ayx' 'EAtlcwvoc Ot~Vpii £v~ KWfLrJ, 

.i1CKPrJ, XELfLa KaKfj, {}EPEt apyaAET/, ovoE 1TOT' £c{}Afj. 

Hesiod's lines give very little topographical information, since "near 
Helikon" could describe equally well a number of sites. Nor does the 
reference to the severe climate help us to discover the location of 
Askra, for no ancient site in this general vicinity is particularly bad in 
reference to the extremes of heat and cold, although nearly every 
writer who speaks of Hesiod's home feels called upon to defend the 
poet's condemnation. Attempts to locate Askra have instead been 
based usually on the texts of Pausanias and Strabo. Pausanias goes 
from Thespiai (9.26.6) to Helikon. After extolling the qualities of 
Helikon (9.28), he mentions Askra (9.29.1,2), and proceeds to describe 
the dedications in the Sanctuary of the Muses. Pausanias quotes from 
the Atthis of Hegesinus (FGrHist 331 F 1), who speaks of .i1CKP7JV, ij {}' 
'EAtKWVOC EXEt 1T(~8a 1TtOaKoEvTa. As for his own visit, Pausanias says 
"A \ I:' \' ~, " ~ \ H" '1:' \ " I , I L1.CKpTJC fLEV OTJ 1TVpyOC EtC E1T EfLov Kat al\l\o OVOEV EI\Et1TETO EC fLVTJfLTJV. 

But perhaps the fullest account of the location of Askra is Strabo 
9 2 25 ' I:' \ ~ t.::\ , , \ \. "A \ , "E' ~ I • 
•• : EV OE TrJ I'YEC1TtEWV Ecn Kat 7J L1.CKPTJ K(XTa TO 1TpOC I\tKWVa fLEpOC, 7J 

TOU 'Hnooov 1TaTplc £V OEgdf yap £cn TOU 'EAtKWVOC, £c/>' vtfTJAou Kat 
" "I - a - ~ , TpaXEoc T01TOV KEtfLEVTJ, a1TExovca TWV ~EC1TtWV ocov TETTapaKovTcx 

CTCXO{OVC. 

The descriptions given by Pausanias and Strabo are perfectly suited 
to a site called Pyrgaki (PLATE 1, fig. 2), about four kilometers west of 
the modern village ofPanagia (MAP 1). As one looks toward Helikon, 
Pyrgaki is, as Strabo says, on the right and is about forty stadia (ca. 
7 kilometers) distant from Thespiai, modern Eremokastro. The hill is 
an essential part of the Valley of the Muses, as we should expect from 
Pausanias' account, and the lonely tower on its summit is very likely 
the same one the topographer saw (PLATE 2, fig. 3). Leake was the first 
to identify Askra with the hill Pyrgaki, and his identification has been 
accepted almost unanimously by all subsequent travellers.2 Indeed 

2 W. M. Leake, Travels in Northern Greece II (London 1835) 491ff; H. N. Uirichs, Reisen und 
Forschungen in Griechenland II (Berlin 1863) 94f; A. Conze, Philologus 19 (1863) 181; C. Bursian, 
Geographie von Griechenland I (Leipzig 1862) 237; W. Vischer, Erinnerungen und Eindrucke 
aus Griechenland (Basel 1857) 555; the best description in English of the tower and walls on 
pyrgaki is by J. G. Frazer, Pausanias's DeScription ofGreeceB V (London 19l3) 150; H. Hitzig 
and H. Bliimner, Des Pausanias Beschreibung von Griechenland III (Leipzig 1907) 479; F. G. 



o 
! 

PAUL W. WALLACE 

:..--:; 
~:;. , 

"'0//11 

"'/;Ilfl/lllll
lill 

• The'q)_~iai~_~Tl_ll'~_Pi~_~~ R_"~" 

Map 1. THE HALIARTIA AND THE THESPIAKE 

Pyrgaki is the obvious choice for Askra, whether one has in mind the 
descriptions ofPausanias and Strabo or the verses of Hesiod. Only the 
descriptions of harshness and inhospitality are inappropriate to the 
hill Pyrgaki. Since the alleged unfavorable climate of Askra is the one 
fact topographers, ancient and modern, have stressed, it would seem 
proper now to look at the problem more closely. For in the case of 

Welcker, Tagebuch einer Griechischen Reise II (Berlin 1865) 34-36; for a full description of the 
tower at Pyrgaki, see G. Roux, "Le val des muses et les musees chez les auteurs anciens," 
BCH 78 (1954) 45-48; E. D. Clarke, Travels4 VII, pt.2 sec.3 (London 1818) 137ff, thought 
Askra was at the village of Zagara (now Evangelistria). For different opinions on the 
identification of Askra: E. Kirsten and W. Kraiker, Griechenlandkunde5 I (Heidelberg 1967) 
238f with map at I 241 and bibliography at II 875; E. Meyer, "Askra," Der Kleine Pauly I 
(1964) 648; Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Die Ilias und Homer (Berlin 1916) 407 n.1, 
thought that Askra "lag siidlich vom Helikon." As for the identification of Pyrgaki with 
Askra, Wilamowitz noted that Lolling, "der einzige, der den Berg erstiegen zu haben 
scheint," disagreed. Wilamowitz does not say where he found Lolling's opinion, but he 
probably took it from Baedeker's Griechenland (Leipzig 1883) 148, which was based on 
Lolling's manuscript. But the Baedeker merely says that the tower hardly dates to the 
heroic period. See also infra n. I2. 

7 



8 HESIOD AND THE VALLEY OF THE MUSES 

Askra we have an excellent example of the wayan error can be 
perpetuated through centuries, passed on from one generation of 
scholars to another. 

The bad repute of Askra is apparently due only to the denigration 
of Hesiod. Many of the travellers who have visited the Valley of the 
Muses have been at pains to prove Hesiod right and to point out the 
climatic disadvantages of Askra. Bursian3 thought that ceder Ort war 
durch seine hohe Lage dem Winde sehr ausgesetzt und zur Winters­
zeit, wo die ganze Gegend von hier bis nach Thespiae hin oft wochen­
lang mit Schnee bedeckt ist, sehr rauh, im Sommer, weil der erfri­
schende seewind keinen Zugang hat, sehr heiss;" and Sinclair,4 who 
surely never visited the site, in his commentary on the Erga speaks of 
Askra as a "lofty and isolated district, difficult of access, and exposed 
to extremes of cold and heat." 

Strabo (9.2.35) carried the denigration of Askra one step further, by 
insisting that a site so described by Hesiod must also be infertile. In 
the Catalogue of Ships Homer (ll. 2.507) speaks of "Arne rich in vines," 
but since there was no known Arne in historical Boiotia, Zenodotus 
attempted to emend the text of Homer to read 7TOAVC'T(j,CPVAOV .t4.CKpTJV 
for 7TOAVC7'eXCPVAOV 11pvTJv. Strabo comments on Zenodotus' emenda­
tion and is quick to point out that no one who has read Hesiod could 
possibly call Askra "rich in vines." Askra actually is a delightful site 
with as pleasant and refreshing a situation as a Greek city could have. 
The land about, especially to the east, south and southwest, is rich and 
productive, well-watered, and supports a great number of healthy 
vineyards (PLATE 2, fig. 4). That Strabo's opinion of Askra's fertility 
was erroneous was clearly stated by Ulrichs:5 '\venn Strabo behaup­
tet, die benachbarte Stadt Ascra k6nne nicht zugleich rauh und 
traubenreich heissen, so vergass er dabei, dass ungeachtet der rauhen 
Anh6he, auf der dieselbe erbaut war, die Felder unter ihr sehr 
fruchtbar, durch viele Quellen bewassert, weniger dem Winde 
ausgesetzt und gegen die Morgen- und Mittagssonne offen sind." 
Leake,6 though he admitted that there might be some truth in 
Hesiod's description of Askra, noted that the town was "surrounded 
with beautiful scenery, with delightful summer-retreats, and with 

3 op.cit. (supra n.2) 237. Vischer, op.cit. (supra n.Z) 555, says about the same. 
4 T. W. Sinclair, ed. and comm., Hesiod, Works and Days (London 1932) 66. 
s op.cit. (supra n.2) 88. 
G op.cit. (supra n.Z) 491ff. 



PAUL W. WALLACE 9 

fertile plains, enjoying a mild climate during the winter." Frazer,? 
who quotes Leake's observations, brings back the wind and the snow 
and insists on a disagreeable climate for Askra, even though he him­
self had not visited the site: "However, the summit of the hill is ex­
posed to every wind that blows, and in winter the whole neighbour­
hood as far as Thespiae and even farther is said to be often buried 

under deep snow for weeks together." In 1928 O. DaviesS argued 
against identifying Pyrgaki with Askra, but then proceeded to locate 
the ancient town at the bottom of the same hill on the east, <Csince 
there is no room on the top of the hill for more than a dozen 
houses ... " Of course the city would never have stood on the hill 
itself. The summit of the hill, defended by a polygonal wall encircling 
the tower, would have been used only as a final refuge in case of siege. 
This seems obvious to us now, but still it needed to be said, especially 
since some, like Frazer (whose discussion inspired Davies' note), 
asserted that the disagreeable nature of Askra was due to its situation 
on a high and windy hill. In the summer of 1970 I examined the area 
about Pyrgaki. At the base of the hill on the southeast I found the 
greatest concentration of pottery. The tower itself, dated to Hellenistic 
times,9 was probably a lookout and could have held only a small 
number of men. 

Why is Hesiod so hard on his hometown, especially since what he 
says is simply untrue? We cannot now say whether Hesiod's bitter 
description represented some real personal hostility or was merely a 
literary device. Leake thought that <Cit was less, perhaps, upon its 
intrinsic defects, than upon a comparison of it with the delightful 
Asiatic Aeolis ... that Hesiod founded his condemnation of Ascra." 
Detienne10 seems to think that Askra was to Hesiod an example of 
the age: <CAncree dans l'age de fer, Ascra est aux antipodes de l'age 
d' or, l'age des eclats de fete, des doux festins ... Sur tous les plans, 
Ascra est une terre d'Hyhris." 

The almost universal identification of Askra with Pyrgakill has, 

7 op.cit. (supra n.2) 150. 
8 O. Davies, "Ascra," CR 42 (1928) 62. 
9 Roux, op.cit. (supra n.2) 47. 
10 M. Detienne, Crise agraire et attitude religieuse chez Hesiode (Bruxelles 1963) 38, 39. 
11 The identification of Askra with pyrgaki was strengthened by the discovery in the 

Valley of the Muses of an inscription (IG VII 1883, 1884) recording the death of a young 
woman, Kallityche. who was buried in the "Askraian plain." This epitaph was found built 
in the church of Agios Loukas at the foot of Pyrgaki. See Conze, op.cit. (supra n.2) 181. 



10 HESIOD AND THE VALLEY OF THE MUSES 

however, recently been challenged by an eminent topographer, Ernst 
Kirsten. Alfred Philippson12 in his great study of the physical geog­
raphy of Greece accepted the traditional identification of Askra with 
Pyrgaki, but Kirsten in his Beitdige to the same work identified Askra 
with ruins near Xeronomi (see MAP 1), basing his opinion on a frag­
ment derived perhaps from Plutarch (Proclus) which seems to locate 
Askra south of Helikon. Kirsten does not deal directly with the text in 
question but is content to accept it second hand from Wilamowitz's 
discussion of it in his commentary on the Erga.13 The text has not 
generally been used in discussions of Askra, though Plutarch's 
opinion (if the fragment is Plutarch's)14 should carry weight, since he is 
usually regarded as knowledgeable in the geography of his native 
Boiotia. Along with the now familiar statements concerning Askra's 
bad climate, the text (fr.82 Sandbach, LCL Moralia XV pp.182f) reads: 
K - \ 'S' t \ \ t('\ (\ Q I:"Y t" \ 11K - >, • 

H'T(U /LEV OUV UTTEp 'T'Y]V OOOV 'Y]V fJctOLsOUCLV OL ETTL 'TO .LY.lOUCELOV aTTLOV'TEC 'Y] 

"II - 1:" tE' - , , -' I \ () '\ .t-1CKP'Y]. 'TOU 0 I\LKWVOC EKKEL/LEVOU 'TOLC ctVE/LOLC, KaL ctv/LctC'Tac /LEV 

, I,,, , ()' I:' ' ~, " , - '''11 , 
aVaTTaUl\aC EXOV'TOC EV EpH OVC'Y]VE/LOV 0 OV'TOC EV XH/LWVL, 'T'Y]V .t-1CKP'Y]V EV 

'Tip /LEOJ/L{3ptvip KEt/L€V'YJV 'Tot) opOVC ••• I am not sure what importance 
should be given to this evidence or how it should be interpreted. A 
location south of Helikon (ev 'Tip /LEC'Y]/L{3PLVip) would place Askra com­
pletely outside of the Valley of the Muses, thereby conflicting with 
all the other evidence we have. One would be inclined to think that 
Proclus (or his excerpters) had not excerpted his source with accuracy. 
In any case, it will be noted that Xeronomi is not really south of 
Helikon either, and is therefore no more suitable for the text in 
question than is Pyrgaki. If one were to insist on the accuracy of the 
fragment from Plutarch, it would be necessary to find a site for Askra 

12 A. Philippson, Die griechischen Landschaften, ed. with appendix by E. Kirsten, I (Frank­
furt 1951) 452, 672, 718 n.82. Others who disagree with the traditional identification of 
Askra are cited supra n.2 ad fin. 

13 U. Wilamowitz, ed. and comm., Hesiodos: Erga (Berlin 1928) 115. Wilamowitz thought 
that Perses had now inherited the family property and that Hesiod had left Askra. Hesiod 
is now in better circumstances, and his denigration of Askra is therefore a cut at Perses. See 
also Wilamowitz's discussion in his Ilias und Homer (supra n.Z). 

14 Since Plutarch's name is mentioned later in the fragment, the quotation given here 
perhaps should not be attributed to Plutarch. Plutarch is quoted in reference to Askra's 
being uninhabited, and the context suggests that Plutarch was referring to the time of 
Aristotle (fr.565 Rose). Only careful investigation of the pottery sequence on Pyrgaki 
could prove whether or not the hill was deserted as early as the time of Aristotle. The 
existence of the Hellenistic tower on top does not of course mean that a village also existed 
on the hill in Hellenistic times. 



PAUL W. WALLACE 11 

somewhere along the coast of the Corinthian Gulf, which, as far as I 
know, no one has been willing to do. 

Kirsten himself does not mention having visited Xeronomi. The 
existence of antiquities at the village are known from the account 
given by Leake15 of his visit there. He saw "a large ruined church, 
composed of fragnlents of Hellenic architecture, and tnany ancient 

squared blocks of the white stone of the neighbouring mountains." 
He also saw some grave monuments. Leake suggests no ancient name 
for the place. We cannot even be certain that an ancient city once 
stood at Xeronomi, for ancient blocks can of course be brought from 
elsewhere. And in this case they could easily have come from Tatiza, 
a town only two kilometers or so to the north of Xeronomi. 

At Tatiza Leake16 saw a ruined church and the enclosure for a foun­
tain built of ancient stones, and he noted that "in the corn-fields above 
are many remains of former habitations." Recent discoveries17 have 
proved beyond question that an ancient settlement once stood at 
Tatiza. In the last few years deep plowing in the area has turned up 
ancient blocks, foundations, two grave stelai and, most interesting of 
all, fragments of a circular structure which had been surmounted 
with an entablature. Leake thought Tatiza might have been Dona­
kon1s (Paus. 9.31.7) and that the spring might have been the fountain 
of Narkissos. The ancient blocks at Xeronomi could easily have been 
carried over from the ancient site at Tatiza. Pausanias is the only 
ancient author to mention Donakon, and all he says is fEJEC1TtEWV OE EV 
rfj yfj L10vaKuw €CTtV dvofLa~6fLEVoc, which is scarcely enough to locate 
the ancient site. 

The evidence is just as tenuous for the location of Leontarne; that 
such a site even existed is by no means certain. Leontarne is mentioned 
by Lycophron (Alex. 645 J1€OVTapV7]C 7TCXYOVC) and by the scholiast on 
Homer, Iliad 2.507b as a gloss on J:1pv7]V EXOV: ETEpa DE ~ J1€OVTapV7], ~ 
tm6 T6v rEALKwva, &1T6 TOV aVTCJ()L AEOVTOC. The site was so called, says 

15 op.cit. (supra n.2) 501f. 
16 op.cit. (supra n.2) 500f. Also see E. Dodwell, A Tour through Greece I (London 1819) 257, 

and C. Wheler, A Journey into Greece (London 1682) 471. Dodwell saw at Tatiza "several 
large blocks of stone and foundations." Wheler, who called the town Tadza, also identified 
it as Donakon and noted "some marks of Antiquity." 

17 Deltion 21 (1966) B.1 Chr. 202 and pl. 207a. 
18 The identification is accepted by Bursian, op.cit. (supra n.2) 242; Frazer, op.cit. (supra 

n.2) 159; and N. D. Papachatzis, IIavcav{ov 'E;\'M.Soc II(;pL~yrJCLc V (publ. privately 1969) 190 
n.2. 



12 HESIOD AND THE VALLEY OF THE MUSES 

Eustathius (270.33), because there a lion snatched away the lamb 
which Adrastos was sacrificing or because there Herakles was sup­
posed to have killed the Helikonian lion (schol. on Theoc. ld. 13.6). 
Few have even tried to find a site for Leontarne. Bursian19 thought 
that Leontarne might possibly have been at Palaiopanagia 
(Palaiopyrgos), and Ulrichs20 suggested Neokhori, Tatiza or Palaio­
pyrgos. 

The mention of Palaiopyrgos brings us to the site most commonly 
chosen for ancient Keressos.21 Keressos served as a fortress for the 
people of Thespiai, and history records two instances of a siege of the 
city, viZ' by the Thessalians under Lattamyas (Plut. Vit.Cam. 19 and 
de Herod.mal. 33) and by the Thebans under Epameinondas22 (Paus. 
9.14.1-4). The only topographical information Pausanias gives on the 
location of Keressos is (9.14.2): €C'TL S~ €XVPOv xwp{ov J KepT)ccOc €V 7"fj 
B€C'rrdwv. Pausanias (9.14.3) records an oracle which associates Keressos 
with Leuktra. Leuktra was the home of Skedasos and his two daugh­
ters, who had been molested by two Lakedaimonians. The oracle 
foretold the fall of Keressos when the Lakedaimonians fell in recom­
pense. This citadel, which had withstood the siege of the Thessalians, 
fell before Epameinondas. I cannot say whether the association of 
Keressos with Leuktra has any topographical significance. 

Ulrichs23 mentions in passing that some blocks which he saw at 
Eremokastro might have been remains of Keressos, but any fortifica­
tion on Eremokastro must surely have been connected somehow 
with Thespiai. The site most topographers have chosen for Keressos 
is a hill which rises three or four kilometers to the west of the modern 
village of Panagia (MAP 2). The hill is to the east of the stream which 
descends from the chapel Agios Christos. Different names in recent 
years have been attached to the hill: Palaiopyrgos (from a mediaeval 
tower on its summit), Palaiopanagia and Agios Taxiarchis. Wheler24 

called the site Panagia; the present village of that name apparently 
did not yet exist. Wheler identified the site as Keressos, and Leake, as 

19 op.cit. (supra n;2) 237. See also Wrede, RE 12 (1925) 2038. 
20 op.cit. (supra n.2) 88, 89 n.26, 92 n.42. 
21 For the pre-Greek form of the name, see August Fick, Vorgriechische Ortsnamen (Gottin­

gen 1905) 81. Also see IG VII 1926, 1927, 2033. 
22 For the date of the Thessalian invasion, see P. Guillon, Le Bouclier d'Heracles (Aix-en­

Provence 1963) 69f, 95-97, and P. Cloche, Thebes de Beotie (Paris ca. 1953) 18. 
23 op.cit. (supra n.2) 87. 
24 op.cit. (supra n.16) 476. 



PAUL W. WALLACE 13 

well as most other topographers, agreed with him.25 Ulrichs26 

describes the antiquities which he saw at Palaiopyrgos: "Unfern dieses 
Thurmes ... entdeckte ich zwei Stucke von alten polygonen Mauern 
und weiter abwarts eine ebenfalls antike Substruction aus grossen 
Quadern." Papachatzis27 argues that Palaiopyrgos is too easy of 
approach to have been Keressos. For the Boiotians to withstand the 

siege of the Thessalians, they must have had better natural fortifica­
tion than the hill at Palaiopyrgos would have provided. Papachatzis' 

Map 2. THE VALLEY OF THE MUSES 

choice for Keressos is therefore the rocky and difficult hill Pyrgaki,28 
though he locates Askra at the foot. Papachatzis thinks that Keressos 
was the name applied to the hill itself, which was used as an acropolis 
by the people of Askra as well as by the other inhabitants of the 
Valley of the Muses. 

25 Leake, op.cit. (supra n.2) 490; Bursian, op.cit. (supra n.2) 238; Frazer, op.cit. (supra n.2) 
53f; Conze, op.cit. (supra n.2) Taf. IV; M. P. Decharme, "Notice sur les ruines de l'hieron des 
muses dans l'Helicon," ArchMiss SER.II 4 (1867) 174; Roux (supra n.2) 22 and fig.I. 

26 op.cit. (supra n.2) 92. 
27 op.cit. (supra n.18) 95 n.3, 172 n.2. 
28 Kirsten, op.cit. (supra n.12) 741 no.144, also identifies Pyrgaki as Keressos, but he does 

not argue his choice. Philippson himself (p.452) thought that Keressos was at Palaiopyrgos. 



14 HESIOD AND THE VALLEY OF THE MUSES 

Neochori has also been suggested as a possibility for Keressos. 
Leake29 speaks of the "ruins of an ancient city" which Wheler3° ob­
served above Neochori and where Wheler found an inscription 
(IG VII 1862) mentioning Thespiai. Leake was more inclined to regard 
this site as Keressos, since it was "more centrical with regard to the 
Thespice, whereas Paleopanaghia [Palaiopyrgos] is on the extremity of 
the district very near Ascra, and has not the advantage of being 
backed by Mt. Helicon, from which it is quite separated." 

A recent discussion of the location of Keressos was made by R. J. 
Buck,31 who locates the citadel at a hill called Listi, two kilometers 
north of Mavromati. Buck bases his arguments on his assumptions 
concerning the forces and purpose of Lattamyas. But his arguments 
seem to me to apply equally well to Palaiopyrgos, especially since we 
know so little of Lattamyas' campaign. 

In short, on the evidence now available, definite identification can­
not be made for the sites of Donakon, Leontarne and Keressos, but 
the sites discussed above are at least possibilities. 

II. Rivers and Springs 

In the area of the Valley of the Muses the following rivers or springs 
are mentioned in ancient literature: Aganippe, Hippokrene, Lamos, 
Permessos, Olmeios. Every discussion on the streams and springs of 
the valley must begin with the text of Hesiod, where he describes the 
bathing places of the Muses (Theog. 5-7): 

1\' , 'n A Kat TE I\OEccaJLEvaL TEpEva xpoa EpJLTjCCOLO 

~ "I7T7TOV KP~VTjC ~ 'O,\JLELOU {a8EOLO 
, I fE'\..... " , 

aKpOTaTC[J I\LKWVa XOPOVC EVE7TOLTjcaVTO. 

The importance of this text does not lie in its topographical details, 
since it does not really give any, but in its fame, since all later visitors 
to the valley had it in mind when they came to describe the area. 
As Pausanias approaches the Valley of the Muses from Thespiai, he 
mentions first (9.28) Mt Helikon, then the Muses and Askra (9.29.1-4), 
and then Aganippe (9.29.5): €V fE'\LKWVL of: 7TPOC TO &'\COC l6VTL TWV 

116 A " A"'A' 'e I ~ '1' , .l.YlOVCWV EV apLCTEpq. JLEV Tj yaVL7T7TTj 1TTjYTj - vyaTEpa DE E LvaL TTjV 

29 op.cit. (supra 0.2) 499f. 

30 op.cit. (supra 0.16) 47l. 
31 "The Site of Ceressus," Teiresias Supp!. 1 (1972) 31-40. 



PAUL W. \VALLACE 15 

'A I ~ T ~ , I • ~ <;> , ''i' • T ' " yaVt7T7TT]V TOV EPfLT]CCOV I\EYOVCL, pEL OE Kat OVTOC 0 EPfLT]CCOC 7TEpt TOV 

(E'\LKwva. He then speaks of the "straight road" to the grove, as if to 
reach Aganippe he was obliged to turn off the main way. Pausanias 
next proceeds to describe the offerings in the valley, apparently 
moving from east to west. When he has finished at the western end, 
he turns to the sites which he wants to mention on the mountain 

itself. As for Hippokrene (9.31.3): €7Tavaf3aVTL oE cTaoLa &170 TOV aAcovc 

I '" " • ~ "1 " 'P . h' If TOVTOV WC HKOCLV ECTLV T] TOV 7T7TOV KaI\OVfLEVT] KpT]VT]. ausamas Imse 
climbed to the spring, for he saw there a lead tablet engraved with 
Hesiod's Erga. Pausanias concludes his mention of the area with the 
remark (9.31.7), €7T~ oE aKpCf Tfj KOpVcpfj TOV 'EALKWVOC 7ToTafLoc Oll 
fLEyac €CT~V <> AafLoc. Strabo (9.2.25) mentions Hippokrene, but he does 
not locate it more specifically than the area of Helikon. Strabo's 
observations (9.2.19) on the Permessos and Olmeios Rivers have 
created considerable difficulties for the topographer: Ka~ <> IIEPfLT]CCOC 

<:" "'0' " ~fE' ~ QI', '\''\ " " OE Kat 0 I\fLELOC, EK TOV I\LKWVOC cVfLfJal\f\OVTEC al\l\7]I\OLC, HC T7]V aVT7]V 

" , I 'T7 .1.", ~ fA' I " EfL7TL7TTOVCL I\LfLv7]v T7]V nW7TaLOa TOV I\LapTOV 7T1\7]CLOV. 

Aganippe is identified almost unanimously32 with a spring which 
welled up by the now dismantled church and convent of Agios 
Nikolaos on the south side of the valley, on the left as one enters the 
valley from Thespiai, which tallies well with Pausanias' description. 
Almost the only dissenting voice was Leake,33 who identified the 
stream from Agios Christos with Aganippe, because he assumed, on 
the strength of an inscription he found at Agios Nikolaos (IG VII 1776), 
that the Grove of the Muses was at the site of Agios Nikolaos and that 
Pausanias, proceeding from Askra to the Mouseion, would have had 
this stream on his left. The Sanctuary of the Muses was not, however, 
at the church of Agios Nikolaos. But in any case, Pausanias does not 
seem to be moving physically from Askra to the Sanctuary of the 
Muses. He speaks of Askra as he approaches the valley, through which 
he proceeds directly to the Sanctuary of the Muses. Pausanias probably 
did not climb the deserted hill. Too many statues and works of art 
awaited him in the valley for him to waste a couple of hours climbing 
a hill which had nothing but a tower. 

32 Vischer, op.cit. (supra n.2) 554; Clarke, op.cit. (supra n.2) 125; Conze, op.cit. (supra n.2) 
183; Frazer, op.cit. (supra n.2) 152f; Decharme, op.cit. (supra 11.25) 175; Philippson, op.cit. 
(supra n.12) 453; Papachatzis, op.cit. (supra n.18) 175fn.1. 

33 op.cit. (supra 11.2) 492f. Dodwell, op.cit. (supra n.16) 257, suggested the spring at Tatiza 
for Aganippe. 



16 HESIOD AND THE VALLEY OF THE MUSES 

A river Lamos is mentioned only by Pausanias34 (9.31.7). The 
passage was emended to read 'OAluOC by Leake,35 who gives good 
reasons for his emendation: HI have no hesitation in making the 
emendation here proposed, for on comparing the words of Pausanias 
with those of the Scholiast on Hesiod (0 'OAJLEt21C 7TOTCXJLOC €CTtV €V 
'EA£KWV£ KCXTCt. T21 aKpov atiToiJ), it is evident that the latter refers to the 
same river intended by Pausanias, and that both authors had in view 
the words 'AKpoTaTcp <EALKWVL in Hesiod." Leake must be right. In an 
uncial manuscript the reading would be close: OAMIOC OI\AMOC. 
Nevertheless, the majority of the scholars who have noticed the prob­
lem have not accepted Leake's emendation.36 If we were to accept the 
existence of a river called Lamos, the Zagara stream would be a good 
candidate, for it is in the general area which Pausanias has just been 
describing and begins on the top of the mountain; but it is more 
likely that Pausanias, with Hesiod's verse in mind, simply wrote 
'OAJLLOC without identifying it with any river which he himself had 
seen in the area. 

Hippokrene, says Pausanias, is twenty stadia (ca. 3! kilometers) 
above the Valley of the Muses. This description coincides well with 
the location of the spring now called Kryopegadi, just below the 
summit of Mt Zagaras on the north side. The first to identify Kryo­
pegadi with Hippokrene was Ulrichs, and his identification is now 
accepted by everyone.37 Leake38 mentions Kryopegadi, but his whole 
account of the valley is confused because of his mistaken notion that 
the grove was at Agios Nikolaos. Earlier travellers became enraptured 
by the mere thought of the spring of poetic inspiration. William 

3' In the fifth century Nonnus (Dion. 9.28; 47.678) also mentioned the Lamos, but his 
reference seems to me derivative and unimportant; in any case, it does not help topo­
graphically. 

3. op.at. (supra n.2) 498 n.3. 
36 The emendation was accepted by Bursian, op.cit. (supra n.2) 233 n.3, and Frazer, op.cit. 

(supra n.2) I 605 and V 159, but rejected by Ulrichs, op.cit. (supra n.2) 93 n.43, Kirsten 
("Olmeios," RE 17 [1936] 2490), Geiger ("Lamos," RE 12 [1925] 566), Hitzig-Bliimner, 
op.cit. (supra n.2) 488, Papachatzis, op.cit. (supra n.18) 190, and by F. Spiro (Teubner) and 
W. H. S. Jones (Loeb) in their editions. Ulrichs identified the Lamos with the Archontitsa. 

37 Ulrichs, op.cit. (supra n.2) 97-99; Vischer, op.cit. (supra n.2) 557; Welcker, op.cit. (supra 
n.2) 38f; Decharme, op.at. (supra n.25) 177f; Bursian, op.cit. (supra n.2) 239f; Conze, op.cit. 
(supra n.2) 184f; Frazer, op.cit. (supra n.2) 158; Hitzig-Bliimner, op.cit. (supra n.2) 487; 
Philippson, op.cit. (supra n.12) 453; Papachatzis, op.cit. (supra n.18) 189 n.1; A. R. Burn, 
"Helikon in History," BSA 44 (1949) 322f. 

38 op.Cit. (supra n.2) 493f. 



WALLACE PLA TE 1 

Figllre 1. VALLEY OJ' I'HF ]\]LSES .\:'-ID HELIKO:'-l l'ROM ASKR.\ (PYRCAKI) 

PERMFSSOS R. LOWER LEFT 

Figure 2. ASKRA (PYItGAKI) !'RO:v! THE VALLEY Ol' THE \oh'SES 



PLATE 2 WALLACE 

Figure 3. ASKRA (PYRGAKI), TOWER FROM S. 

Figure 4. VALLEY OF THE MCSES A);,O THE A.RCHO:-.JTITSA R. FROI\I 

ASKRA (PYRGAKI) 



\VALLACE PLATE 3 

Figure 5. GLADE OF HIPPOKREl\IE (KRYOPEGADI) AND VIEW TOWARD 

KOPAIS FROM N. SPRING IS BFHI;\ID TREES ();\I LEFT 

Figure 6. HIPPOKRENE SPRING (KRYOPEGADI) 



PLATE 4 WALLACE 

Figure 7. VIEW TOWARD KOPAIC BASIN AND HALIARTOS FROM 

ASKRA (PYRGAKI) 

Figure H. MT LIBETHRION (KOl:PHOSPITHARI) FRO~1 ASKRA (PYRGAKI) 



PAUL W. WALLACE 17 

Lithgow39 saw the mountain from a distance as he sailed toward 

Salonika in 1609: 

Here it was sayd the nine Muses haunted: but as for the Fountaine 
Helicon [i.e. Hippokrene], I leave that to be searched, and seene by 
the imagination of Poets; for ifit had bene objected to my sight, like 
an insatiable drunkard, I should have drunke up the streames of 
Poesie, to have enlarged my dry poeticall Sun scoarch'd veine. 

Another seventeenth-century traveller, George Wheler,40 made an 
attempt to find the great fountain but was hindered by snow: 

And as to the Fountain Hippocrene, the famous haunt of the nine 
Sisters, it was then frozen up, if it were where I guess'd it to have 
been. So that were I a poet, and never so great a Votary of those 
Heliconian Deities, I might be excused from making Verses in their 
praise, having neither their presence to excite, nor their liquor to 
inspire me. For having gone two or three Miles forwards on the top, 
till I came to the Snow, my further proceedings that way were hin­
dred; only alighting I made shift to clamber up the Rocks somewhat 
higher, until I came to look down into a place encompassed round 
with the tops of Mountains; so that the inclosed space seemed to me 
to be a Lake frozen. and covered with Snow. But my Guide telling me 
he passed that way once in the Summer time with Monsieur Nantueil, 
the French Embassador, and then saw it a very pleasant green Valley, 
covered with Flowers, having a very good Fountain in the middle of 
it; I am much inclin'd to think the Hippocrene was there, and there 
also in ancient times the delicious Grove of the Muses. 

Probably the most famous description of Hippokrene Spring is J. G. 
Frazer's,u though he himself did not climb to the fountain: 

To reach the far-famed Hippocrene (,the Horse's Fount') from the 
sanctuary of the Muses we ascend the steep eastern side of Mt. 
Helicon (Zagara), over moss-grown rocks, through a thick forest of 
tall firs. After a toilsome ascent of about two hours we emerge from 
the wood upon a tiny open glade of circular shape, covered with 
loose stones and overgrown with grass and ferns. All around rises the 
dark fir-wood. Here, in the glade, is Hippocrene, now called Kryo­
pegadi or 'cold spring'. It is a well with a triangular opening, enclosed 

39 William Lithgow, The Total! Discourse of the Rare Adventures, and Paineful! Peregrinations 

(Lyon 1632) 106f. 
40 op.cit. (supra 11.16) 478. 
41 op.cit. (supra D.2) V 158. 



18 HESIOD AND THE VALLEY OF THE MUSES 

by ancient masonry. The clear, ice-cold water stands at a depth of 
about 10 feet below the coping of the well. But it is possible to climb 
down to the water by means of foot-holes cut in the side, or by hold­
ing on to the sturdy ivy, which, growing from a rock in the water, 
mantles the sides of the well. The coldness and clearness of the water 
of this perennial spring are famous in the neighbourhood, especially 
among the herdsmen, who love to fill their skin-bottles at it. 

When I climbed to the fountain in May 1973 the water was indeed 
exceedingly cold; its taste, however, was so foul that we drank it only 
because nothing else was available. 

Nonetheless, Hippokrene is a delightful place and well worth the 
effort it takes to visit it. Situated just below the brow of the mountain 
in a coppice of fir trees (PLATE 3, figs. 5, 6), the fountain is far from the 
bustle and noise of humanity. It is easy for one who has just been re­
freshed from the fountain after climbing Helikon to see spiritual 
parallels CAP 9.230): 

~I '"I.. , , "(J "'~,,, , , , " 
OV7'WC Kat cOo.ptT)C 7TOVOC op wC' T)v 0 ap e7T aKpov 

, " " II '''' , 7'epJLa JLOI\T/c, apvcT/ tepwwv xa pt7'ac. 

The location of the Permessos and the Olmeios Rivers, as said above, 
constitutes a grave difficulty for the topographer. If one enters the 
valley with only the verses of Hesiod in his head, he will have little 
trouble in finding suitable candidates for the Permessos and Olmeios. 
From Hesiod's verses we should expect to find these rivers in the 
Valley of the Muses, where in fact fine perennial streams do flow. 
What better candidate for the famous Permessos than the Archon­
titsa, the stream which flows through the middle of the valley, the 
stream which no visitor, ancient or modern, could fail to observe? It is 
only when one begins to look at the other ancient references that the 
trouble begins. Strabo clearly says that the Permessos and the Olmeios 
flow together and discharge into the Kopaic Lake, which the streams 
in the Valley of the Muses do not do. The scholiast on Hesiod, Theogony 
5 gives the same evidence as Strabo: llepf-LT)c6c ••• €JLfMAAet OE elc 7'~V 
v .. "" ' , '" , \" • ~ a ~, \ " ,~ nW7Tawa MJLVT)V. 7'ac oe 7TT)yac eXEL ev 7'T/ltYec7TLaKT/ XWPC! Kat a7T aV7'T)c 

• ~. 'V"", " \ • '0' \ '" fE" ~ ~ pEL ELC 7'T)V nW7Tawa I\Lf-LVT)V. Keu 0 I\JLEWC 7T07'aJLOC ecnv ev I\tKWVt 7'T)C 

BOLW7'lac Ka7'U 7'6 CXKpOV alhoiJ. The evidence ofStrabo and the scholiast 
has caused topographers to avoid the obvious and to look for streams 



PAUL W. WALLACE 19 

which flow into the Kopais. Two alternatives are at hand, as is gener­
ally the case in topography. Just to the north of the ridge of which 
Askra and Palaiopyrgos are a part the land begins to slope off toward 
the Kopaic Basin (PLATE 4, fig. 7). Near the town Mavromati a spring 
called Kephalari comes to the surface and flows to the north to the 
basin. Just before it reaches the basin it is joined by another stream 

from the west. This latter stream begins as a runnel from high up on 
Mt Helikon; it flows to the west of a ridge which separates it from the 
Valley of the Muses and continues to the northeast until it joins the 
Kephalari stream. The stream from Helikon is called the Zagara 
stream, the name of the mountain before it was renamed Helikon. 
Leake42 was the first to discuss the problem in detail. He identified the 
Permessos with the Kephalari and the Olmeios with the Zagara 
stream. But Leake admits later43 that these identifications may not be 
right, since both Strabo and the scholiast seem to derive their in­
formation from Zenodotus, who lived in Ephesus in the time of 
Ptolemy II and who does not seem to have good first-hand knowledge 
of Greek topography. Since both Strabo and the scholiast mention 
Zenodotus in the immediate context, Leake's assumption that 
Zenodotus is the authority for the location given by Strabo and the 
scholiast is surely correct. How much of Greece Strabo himself 
actually saw is unknown; for the composition of his Geography, how­
ever, there is no doubt that he relied very heavily on secondary 
material, and he is always ready to name his sources.44 The association 
of the Permessos and Olmeios Rivers with the Kopaic Basin rests, 
therefore, only on the authority of Zenodotus. Leake45 says that it is 
possible that the names Permessos and Olmeios had been lost from 
the time of Hesiod to that of Zenodotus and Pausanias, and that 
Zenodotus and Pausanias did not really know where the rivers were. 
Leake therefore allows that the Kephalari may have been the Per­
messos and the Archontitsa the Olmeios. 

The Archontitsa is such an important presence in the Valley of the 
Muses that it is difficult not to identify it with one of the rivers of the 
tradition (MAP 2). Frazer returned to the Archontitsa-Permessos 

42 op.cit. (supra n.1) 111f. 
43 op.cit. (supra n.1) 496ff. 
44 For Strabo's sources and method of composition, see E. Honigmann, "Strabon," RE 4 A 

(1931) 90-147, and W. Aiy, Strabon von Amaseia. Untermchungen uber Text, Aufbau und 
Quellen der Geographika (Bonn 1957). 

45 op.cit. (supra n.1) 499 and 50l. 



20 HESIOD AND THE VALLEY OF THE MUSES 

identification, and this is the popular view today.46 Leake's theory in­
volving the Zagara and the Kephalari streams, however, has recently 
been revived. Ernst Kirsten47 argued for identifying the Zagara 
stream with the Permessos and the Kephalari stream with the 
Olmeios. Kirsten's identifications are also accepted by West48 in his 
recent commentary on the Theogony. Some of the evidence for the 
location of these rivers undoubtedly points to the area north of Askra 
and Palaiopyrgos, but this evidence (Strab. 9.2.19 and schol. on Hes. 
Theog. 5) is weak. The other evidence for these rivers suggests a 
location within the Valley of the Muses. Hesiod himself speaks of 
them as if they are in the immediate vicinity. The ancient sources like 
to associate the Permessos with the Aganippe spring: Pausanias 
(9.29.5) records the tradition that Aganippe was the daughter of 
Permessos, and Callimachus (fr.696 Pfeiffer) said that Aganippe was 
the source of the Per mess os : Callimachus Aganippem fontem esse dicit 
Permessi jluminis. The Aganippe spring seems to be rather firmly 
located within the valley; the association of the Permessos with it 
gives some support to the placement of the Permessos within the 
valley also. Pausanias' description (9.29.5) is also quite appropriate for 
the Archontitsa, for that stream does indeed flow, literally, "around 
Helikon," for it flows east from the Valley of the Muses, then at 
Neochori bends around to the south and southwest, and finally is 
diffused in the plain near Thisbe. A dedicatory inscription (IG VII 
1855) found in the valley proves that in the fourth or fifth century at 
least the Permessos was thought to be in the Valley of the Muses: 
n€PP/'JCCOLO 7T€Aac 'a8€ov [7ToTa,uoLo]. Such conflicting evidence ob­
viously makes it impossible to be certain about the identification of 
the Permessos and Olmeios rivers, but the evidence of Zenodotus 
seems to me to carry less assurance than the combined opinion of the 
other sources. In this case our instincts are probably right: the Per­
messos and the Olmeios Rivers ought to be in the Valley of the Muses. 

The topographers who have looked for these rivers in the valley 
have generally been content to identify the Permessos. Almost no one 
suggests a candidate for the Olmeios,49 though an excellent candidate 

46 Frazer, op.cit. (supra n.2) 150f, 153; Philippson, op.cit. (supra n.12) 453; Hitzig-BlUmner, 
op.cit. (supra n.2) 480f; Papachatzis. op.cit. (supra n.18) 176 n.l; Roux, op.cit. (supra n.2) 
figs. 1 and 10; Clarke, op.cit. (supra n.2) 125f. 

47 E. Kirsten, "Olmeios," RE 17 (1936) 2490 and id. "Permessos," RE 19 (1938) 868-72. 
48 M. L. West, ed. and camm., Hesiod, Theogony (Oxford 1966) 154, n. on vS. 
49 Decharme, op.cit. (supra n.25) 178-80 and map facing 180, identifies the Oimeios with 

the Archontitsa. 



PAUL W. WALLACE 21 

is at hand. The three most prominent streams in the Valley of the 
Muses are the Archontitsa, the spring at Agios Nikolaos, and the 
stream which flows down from Agios Christos. If the Archontitsa was 
the Permessos, and if the fountain at Agios Nikolaos was the Aganippe, 
the stream from Agios Christos must have been the Olmeios River. 

III. The Mountains 

The most important mountain in this part of Boiotia is of course Mt 
Helikon. The ancients had proper names for other mountains in the 
vicinity, the closest to the Valley of the Muses, besides Helikon, being 
Mt Libethrion. Pausanias (9.34.4) says that Mt Libethrion was forty 
stadia (ca. 7 kilometers) from Koroneia. Though Mt Libethrion cannot 
be identified with absolute certainty, the most likely candidate is the 
ridge, now called Kouphospithari,50 which runs along the south side 
of the Kopais between Koroneia and Haliartos (PLATE 4, fig.8). The 
most prominent peak (860 m.), which rises above the village Evan­
gelistria, is almost exactly 7 kilometers from the site of ancient 
Koroneia. A great number of the place names about the region of the 
Valley of the Muses are duplicated in the Pieria region of Makedonia 
east ofMt Olympos. The Thracians who were then said to inhabit this 
part of Makedonia were supposed to have moved to the Valley of the 
Muses (Paus. 9.29.3, 4; 9.30.4-11; Strab. 9.2.25). Libethrion and Helikon 
were names reportedly brought in by the Thracians. Strabo (9.2.25) 
speaks of a cave sanctified to the Leibethrides nymphs. 

The name Helikon referred essentially to the same peaks and foot­
hills in antiquity that it does now. It rose above the Corinthian Gulf 
and is mentioned in connection with places as far west as Mychos 
Harbor in Phokis and Lebadeia, as far north as Koroneia, and as far 
east as Onchestos (Strab. 9.2.25, 29, 33, 38). Philippson51 estimated that 
Helikon covered about 800 sq. km. The mountain's structure is also 
interesting. The corridors or troughs which run parallel to the whole 
range have not been without significance in the events which history 
brought to pass in the area. A. R. Burn52 has suggested that the 

so Philippson, op.cit. (supra n.12) 450f. See also Bursian, op.cit. (supra n.2) 236 n.2. Papa­
chatzis, op.cit. (supra n.18) 204 n.2, and L. Ross, Wanderullgen in Griechenland I (Halle 1851) 
33, identify Libethrion with Palaiovouna. 

61 op.cit. (supra n.12) 435. 
62 op.cit. (supra n.37) 322f. 



22 HESIOD AND THE VALLEY OF THE MUSES 

geological nature of Helikon may have been responsible for the 
Thracians' choice of the Valley of the Muses for their sanctuary. The 
Helikon of Hesiod and of the Valley of the Muses (PLATE 1, fig. 1), 
however, is the peak now called Zagaras (1526 m.), a peak which is 
about 10 kilometers to the northeast of Palaiovouna, the highest 
point (1748 m.) of the Helikon range. 

Mt Helikon certainly seems to merit the praise Pausanias lavished 
on it. Now at least it is one of the most beautiful mountains in Greece. 
Remote from traffic and cities, the mountain still has that pastoral 
and rustic character which we expect Hesiod's Helikon to have. 

IV. The Sanctuaries 

Leake, as mentioned above, and some of the other early travellers53 

to the Valley of the Muses thought that the Sanctuary of the Muses 
was located near the church and monastery of Agios Nikolaos. 
Decharme54 was apparently the first to locate the sanctuary around 
the churches of Agia Trias, Agios Konstantinos and Agia Ekaterina. 
He was convinced by the abundance of ancient blocks and inscriptions 
in the area, whereas at Agios Nikolaos there was little beyond the 
inscription which Leake found. 

Excavation settled the problem once and for all. Stamatakis began 
excavation in 1882.55 He succeeded in uncovering the altar of the 
Muses (then called the "temple" of the Muses) and in locating the 
theater, though he did not excavate the latter. The fullest excavations 
took place under Jamot of the French School in Athens from 1888 to 
1890. Jamot uncovered the theater and a stoa, and explored more 
completely the altar. Only brief reports of these early campaigns 
were published, however, and the world had to wait till 1954 for an 
account of even modest proportions to appear.56 

The Valley of the Muses must have been regarded as a holy place, 
even though the worship of the Muses had long ceased to exist. There 
was a remarkable concentration of churches in the valley, at least 
seven in the valley proper (MAP 2). All of the churches except one 

53 Leake, op.cit. (supra n.2) 492f; Ulrichs, op.cit. (supra n.2) 89-91; Clarke, op.cit. (supra 
n.2) 125; Bursian, op.cit. (supra n.2) 239. 

54 op.cit. (supra n.25) 170f. 
55 Praktika (1882) 66f. 
56 Roux, op.cit. (supra n.2) 22-48. See also BCH 46 (1922) 217-18 n.6 for Jamot's work. 



PAUL W. WALLACE 23 

were dismantled by the archaeologists in order to retrieve the ancient 
materials built into them. Shrines have now been built on their sites 
to the appropriate saints. Only the church of Agia Paraskeve is still 
standing. In the early 1960's Agia Paraskeve was renovated, and the 
neighboring villages now and then hold mass and panegyries 
there.57 

Some have thought that the saints to whom the churches were 
dedicated had a particular significance :58 "Le nom de Constantin fait 
peine a entendre en pareil endroit. C' est lui Ie premier qui a viole Ie 
sanctuaire des Muses, qui a enleve leurs statues pour les transporter a 
Constantinople, ou elles furent plus tard consumees dans un incendie. 
11 ne s' est pas contente de les detruire; il a rem place leur divinite par 
la sienne. Les noms d'Hag. Trias et de Hag. Catherina conviennent 
mieux aux souvenirs que rappellent ces ruines; on peut voir, dans Ie 
premier, la tradition du nombre ternaire des Muses; dans Ie 
second, celIe de leur virginite." According to Pausanias (9.29.2) there 
were originally only three Muses: Melete, Mneme and Aoide. At any 
rate, since Constantine removed the statues of the Muses to Con­
stantinople (Euseb. de Vita Constant. 3.54; Sozom. Hist.Eccl. 2.5; Zosim. 
2.21, 5.24), it is surely not coincidental that a chapel was built to him 
above the Muses' ancient sanctuary. 

Agios Nikolaos is usually the successor of Poseidon in Greece,59 but 
there is little evidence that Poseidon was among the gods worshipped 
in the valley, though Hymn.Hom.Pos. 22.3 and Etym.Magn. 547.15ff 
(Gaisford) suggest that he may have been.60 That Poseidon was per­
haps worshipped in the area was suggested by Bursian,61 who thought 
the god could have been the predecessor of Agios Elias above 
Hippokrene. The passage might well refer, however, to the 
sanctuary of Poseidon at Onchestos (Hymn. Hom.Ap. 3.229-38; Strab. 
9.2.33). 

The altar of Zeus (f3WJ-LOV EptdhvEOC Kpov{wvoc) which Hesiod 
(Theog. 4) mentions, has often been identified with the ancient struc­
ture, later made into a chapel of Agios Elias, on the summit of 

07 Papachatzis, op.cit. (supra n.18) 167. 

58 Decharme, op.cit. (supra n.25) 171. 
69 J. c. Lawson, Modern Greek Folklore and Ancient Greek Religion (Cambridge 1910; repro 

New York 1964) 75-77. 
60 For Poseidon in Boiotia, see L. R. Farnell, The Cults of the Greek States IV (Oxford 1907) 

78f. 
61 op.cit. (supra n.2) 239 n.4. 



24 HESIOD AND THE VALLEY OF THE MUSES 

Zagaras above Hippokrene.62 There is no evidence at all for this 
identification; Agios or Prophetes Elias in fact generally followed the 
worship of Helios.63 Though the summit of the mountain certainly 
seems an appropriate place for the altar of the chief god, the ancient 
structure preserved there now may actually have been a watchtower 
to maintain surveillance over the Corinthian Gulf. Hesiod's bomos was 
perhaps only an ash altar. 

Hesiod's words about Mnemosyne (Theog. 53-55) have been inter­
preted64 to mean that Mnemosyne also had a cult in the valley. 
Support was given to this suggestion by the discovery, in a church at 
Palaiopanagia, of a herm (IG VII 1782), probably of the third century 
B.C., consisting of the one word Mvap.ocvvac. Where this cult was 
located, if indeed it existed at all, we now have no way of knowing. 

In conclusion, we can identify with a high degree of probability a 
number of the ancient places in the Valley of the Muses. The identity 
of Mt Libethrion, of Mt Helikon proper and of the Sanctuary of the 
Muses is rather obvious. The location of Askra is fairly decided. We 
can also feel reasonably secure in the identification of the Aganippe 
and Hippokrene springs and of the Permessos and Olmeios Rivers. 
But Keressos, Donakon and Leontarne, the Altar of Zeus and the 
Sanctuary of Mnemosyne, cannot now and probably will never be 
definitely located. Nonetheless, it is a pleasure to realize that we can 
still discover a number of those sites most closely associated with the 
homeland of the old poet of Askra. The attempt to restore this ancient 
locality would surely have been regarded with sympathy by one who, 
in spite of his apparent dislike for his home town, had no desire to 
leave it and could boast of having journeyed to no city more distant 
from it than Chalkis (Op. 646-62), who advised his brother to marry a 
local girl (Op. 700) and to be a good neighbor (Op. 342-51), and whose 
counsel to the seafaring trader, even in the most propitious season, 
was: c1TC:v8ELV 0' OTTt TaXtCTa 7TCXAtV otKoVOE vEEc(Jat (Op. 673). 

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT ALBANY 

August, 1973 

62 Frazer, op.cit. (supra n.2) 158; Vischer, op.cit. (supra n.2) 557; Ulrichs, op.cit. (supra n.2) 
99; Bursian, op.cit. (supra n.2) 239; Hitzig-Bllimner, op.cit. (supra n.2) 487; Welcker, op.cit. 
(supra n.2) 38. 

63 Lawson, op.cit. (supra n.59) 44f; M. Hamilton, Greek Saints and their Festivals (London 
1910) 19-23. 

64 West, op.cit. (supra n.48) 174f.