Mount Olympus Case Study

Image of Mount Olympus with regional flora

FAUNA AND FLORA

• Mount Olympus, as well as the environment surrounding it, is the home to an unprecedented number of flora types in Greece, with around 1700 species and subspecies. It hosts about 25% of the total Greek flora.
• The fauna of Mount Olympus includes a large variety, ranging from common mammals to endangered and native species.
• Most mammals that live near Olympus are situated in the Olympus national park, home to over one hundred species of birds and thirty-two species of mammals (previously more, as some species that formerly lived in the region has disappeared from the area as time passed).

Mount Olympus

Whether it's the majestic, towering mountain of Greece, or its mythological parallel as the great home of the gods, Mount Olympus is a vital landmark to Greece.

Image displaying the rockier sides of the Olympus mountains

HISTORY AND FORMATION

• The formation of Mount Olympus began 200 million years ago, with undersea sedimentary rocks. A multitude of geological events that ensued (being uplifted, eroded, bent and folded) allowed the surfacing of what is now known as ‘Mount Olympus’.
• The depressions and plateaus within and atop Olympus were created by glaciers from about one million years ago.
• A 4.1-kilometre-long glacier, named the ‘Blue Glacier’ is the highest area of the Olympic mountains.
• The last survey taken in 1982 describes 266 glaciers and permanent ice lands being present in the Olympic mountains, stretching over 46 square kilometres.

WHERE IS IT LOCATED?

• Mt Olympus is a mountain, part of the Olympus massif (massif, a compact collection of mountains).
• It is located on the border of Thessaly and Macedonia, near the gulf of Thérmai in the Aegean Sea. Its highest peak, Mytikas, stands at 2198 metres.
• It is the tallest mountain in Greece.

Image of Mount Olympus surrounded by clouds, presumably in/near Summer

CLIMATE AND WEATHER

• Mount Olympus, being near the Aegean Sea and on the border Thessaly and Macedonia, is a Mediterranean mountain. This means that Summers are usually dry and warm, while Winters are cold and humid (at least at the foot of the mountain).
• The peaks of the mountain are typically enveloped in snow for seven-or-so months, melting as Summer approaches. However, rain and snow are not rare, even in Summer.
• The increase in elevation results in lower temperatures, as for every ascending 100 meters, the average temperature is to drop by half to one degree Celsius.

Oil painting depicting the gods' banquet atop Mount Olympus

CULTURAL AND MYTHOLOGICAL VALUE

• Mount Olympus was built as a sign of triumph after the Titanomachy, a battle between the gods, Olympians and Titans. As the gods and Olympians had emerged victorious, they created a new home, shrouded in fog and clouds to obscure themselves from mortal eyes.
• It was an immortal paradise, an utopia of the gods who feasted, celebrated, quarrelled and socialised amongst themselves.
• As Greek mythology popularised and spread across the empires, the name ‘Mount Olympus’ more often referred to the mythical imagery than the actual mountain.

Map of Greece, indicating the location of the Olympic mountains and other prominent places