Mount Olympus, seen between Larissa and Baba - Illustration from Views of Greece by Edward Dodwell

Mount Olympus, seen between Larissa and Baba is an illustration from the collection Views in Greece from Drawings published by Edward Dodwell in 1821.

Mount Olympus, seen between Larissa and Baba, rises majestically on the horizon. Considered the home of the gods in Greek mythology, its snow-capped peaks and steep slopes inspire a sense of grandeur and mystery, dominating the surrounding landscape.

The literal transcription of the notice accompanying this plate is reproduced below:

Mount Olympus forms a gigantic mass and occupies a space of very great extent. Its southern part, which this view represents, constitutes the frontier of Thessaly, while its northern base embraces the plain of Pieria and the territory of Macedonia. To the west, it pushes out branches towards Mount Othrys, where its last hillocks merge with the first hills of India, which stand on the coast of the Adriatic in the midst of the tempests and storms, which relentlessly haunt the Acroceraunian rocks. Its summit ridges offer a great number of serrations, which caused Homer to give it the epithet of Τζξιληφακές; and as it is never entirely clear of snow, Hesiod describes it by the characteristic attribute of νιφάδες; while its winding valleys and thick forests have been given the epithets of ΀εδινοί and λιγυβρόχοι. It still retains its ancient name, which is pronounced Olympos.

The small range of hills, which hides the view of the foot of Mount Olympus, is an offshoot of Mount Ossa, which is not as high as Pelion, and is much lower than Olympus. It rises gradually to a point which appeared to me to be 5,000 feet above the plain, but I speak of it only by conjecture.

The famous Valley of Tempe displays all its charms over the space contained between Ossa and Olympus; and the river Peneus, emerging from the narrow channel in which it is imprisoned between these two mountains, rolls its waters majestically across the plain of Pieria, and loses itself in the Thermaic Gulf, a few miles from Tempe.