HELICON, a mountain range in Greece, celebrated in classi cal literature as an abode of the Muses, is situated between Lake Copal's and the Gulf of Corinth. The highest summit, the present Palaeovouni (old hill), rises to the height of about 5,000 ft. On the fertile eastern slopes stood a temple and grove sacred to the Muses, and adorned with statues, which, taken by Constantine the Great to beautify his new city, were consumed there by a fire in A.D. 404. Hard by were the fountains Aganippe and Hippo crene, the latter created by the tread of the winged horse Pegasus. At the neighbouring Ascra dwelt the poet Hesiod, a fact which probably enhanced the poetic fame of the region. Pausanias de scribes Helicon as the most fertile mountain in Greece; neither poisonous plant nor serpent was to be found on it, while many of its herbs possessed miraculous virtue. His description makes it possible to reconstruct the classical topography and French excavators have discovered the temple of the Muses and a theatre.
See W. M. Leake, Travels in Northern Greece (vol. ii., ; J. G. Frazer, Pausanias, v. 15o.