The Folds of Olympus - by Jason König

Book Synopsis

A cultural and literary history of mountains in classical antiquity

The mountainous character of the Mediterranean was a crucial factor in the history of the ancient Greek and Roman world. The Folds of Olympus is a cultural and literary history that explores the important role mountains played in Greek and Roman religious, military, and economic life, as well as in the identity of communities over a millennium--from Homer to the early Christian saints. Aimed at readers of ancient history and literature as well as those interested in mountains and the environment, the book offers a powerful account of the landscape at the heart of much Greek and Roman culture.

Jason König charts the importance of mountains in religion and pilgrimage, the aesthetic vision of mountains in art and literature, the place of mountains in conquest and warfare, and representations of mountain life. He shows how mountains were central to the way in which the inhabitants of the ancient Mediterranean understood the boundaries between the divine and the human, and the limits of human knowledge and control. He also argues that there is more continuity than normally assumed between ancient descriptions of mountains and modern accounts of the picturesque and the sublime.

Offering a unique perspective on the history of classical culture, The Folds of Olympus is also a resoundingly original contribution to the literature on mountains.

Review Quotes

"The Folds of Olympus is a handsome and well-written contribution to the recent uptake of interest in the representation of the mountain in various areas of cultural and literary scholarship."---International Journal of the Classical Tradition, William M. Barton

"The Folds of Olympus shows König's mastery of material vast enough to be the subjects and substance of countless seminars in Classical studies. This grasp of ancient history and culture is matched by König's knowledge and love of the physical side of his subject."---Gerald Lalonde, The Past

"[An] enchanting love letter, a sonorous ode to nature. . . .This thorough, meticulous, and excellently written book informs the reader on basically every aspect of Greek and Roman imagination and experience of mountains."---Andrej Petrovic, Greece and Rome

"[W]onderfully rich and stimulating."---John Taylor, Classics for All

"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year"

"Longlisted for the Runciman Award, Anglo-Hellenic League"

"One need look no further than König's The Folds of Olympus for what is surely the most readable, comprehensive account of mountains in ancient Greek and Roman culture. Based on firsthand experience, wide-ranging research, and profound insights, the book takes readers on a journey up slopes, atop summits, and across vistas of mountain geographies around the Mediterranean and beyond."-- "Choice"

"Shortlisted for the London Hellenic Prize, London Hellenic Society"

"The best and most comprehensive treatment of classical mountains to date. . . . [E]ssential reading."---Dan Hooley, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

About the Author

Jason König is Professor of Classics at the University of St Andrews. He is the author of Athletics and Literature in the Roman Empire and Saints and Symposiasts: The Literature of Food and the Symposium in Greco-Roman and Early Christian Culture, and the coeditor of Mountain Dialogues from Antiquity to Modernity, among other books.