Olympus
The highest mountain in Greece and the mythological home of the twelve Olympian gods. Olympus was imagined as a paradise above the clouds.
The Story of Olympus
Mount Olympus, at 2,917 meters the highest peak in Greece, was believed to be the dwelling place of the gods. Its summit was hidden by clouds, which the ancients imagined concealed golden palaces, great halls, and divine gardens.
Hephaestus built magnificent residences for each of the gods on the mountain. Zeus's palace, the grandest of all, contained the great hall where the gods assembled for feasts and councils. Hebe and Ganymede served nectar and ambrosia — the food and drink that sustained immortality.
The gates of Olympus were guarded by the Horae, goddesses of the seasons. No mortal could enter without divine invitation, and the mountain was forever wrapped in light and warmth, untouched by rain, snow, or wind. From this eternal paradise, the gods looked down upon the mortal world and intervened in its affairs — for good or ill.
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Olympic Games, first held in 776 BCE, were dedicated to Zeus and named for Olympia, a sanctuary site connected to the gods of Olympus.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Mount Olympus
🏛 placedivine, throne
The highest mountain in Greece and mythological home of the twelve Olympian gods, whose snow-covered peak was believed to pierce the boundary between earth and heaven.
Mount Ida
🏛 placeMountain above Troy where gods watched the war
Mount Ida near Troy was the mountain from which the gods observed the Trojan War and where Paris judged the beauty contest between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.
Mount Parnassus
🏛 placeMountain of Apollo and the Muses
Mount Parnassus was the mountain above Delphi sacred to Apollo and the Muses — the symbolic home of poetry, music, and artistic inspiration.
Mount Ossa
🏛 placemountain, Thessaly
A mountain in Thessaly that the Giants stacked beneath Pelion in their attempt to storm the heavens and overthrow the Olympian gods.
Ida
🏛 placegeography
A name given to sacred mountains in both Crete and the Troad, sites of divine birth and the Judgment of Paris.
Arcadia
🏛 placePastoral paradise of Pan
Arcadia was both a real mountainous region in the central Peloponnese and an idealised landscape of pastoral innocence, forever associated with Pan, nymphs, and rustic simplicity.
Pieria
🏛 placeSacred geography
The region at the foot of Mount Olympus sacred to the Muses, who were sometimes called the Pierides
Hyperborea
🏛 placeMythical paradise beyond the north wind
Hyperborea was a legendary land of perpetual sunshine and plenty beyond the north wind, where people lived in bliss for a thousand years.
Elysium
🏛 placeParadise for the blessed dead
The paradise at the edge of the world where heroes and the virtuous spent eternity in perfect happiness. Also called the Elysian Fields or the Isles of the Blessed.
Mount Pelion
🏛 placemountain, Thessaly
A forested mountain in Thessaly, home of the wise Centaur Chiron and the site of the fateful wedding of Peleus and Thetis.
Pelion
🏛 placeGeography
A forested mountain in Thessaly, home of the centaur Chiron and the site where the Argo was built
Meroe
🏛 placegeography
A distant African kingdom mentioned in Greek mythology as the land at the source of the Nile, associated with the Ethiopians.