Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of de ...
, the Pierian Spring of Macedonia was sacred to the Pierides and the
Muses
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
. As the metaphorical source of knowledge of art and science, it was popularized by a couplet in
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
's 1711 poem "
An Essay on Criticism
''An Essay on Criticism'' is one of the first major poems written by the English writer Alexander Pope (1688–1744), published in 1711. It is the source of the famous quotations "To err is human; to forgive, divine", "A little learning is a da ...
": "A little learning is a dang'rous thing; / Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring."
The Pierian spring is sometimes confused with the Castalian Spring.
Leivithra
Leibethra or Libethra, in the modern pronunciation Leivithra ( gr, Λείβηθρα or Λίβηθρα) was an ancient Macedonian city at the foot of Mount Olympus, near the present settlement of Skotina. Archaeologists have discovered tombs ther ...
in Pieria, a region of ancient Macedonia, also the location of
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus (; el, Όλυμπος, Ólympos, also , ) is the highest mountain in Greece. It is part of the Olympus massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located in the Olympus Range on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, be ...
, and believed to be the home and the seat of worship of
Orpheus
Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with Jaso ...
. The Muses "were said to have frolicked about the Pierian springs soon after their birth". The spring is believed to be a fountain of knowledge that inspires whoever drinks from it.
The name of the spring comes from the Pierides, the gaggle of girls (daughters of King Pierus) who sought a contest with the Muses. When they lost, they were turned into magpies.
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the t ...
tells this tale after explaining the origin of the Heliconian spring in his 8 AD narrative poem ''
Metamorphoses
The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the w ...
''V. The metamorphoses into magpies comes at the end of the book:
The greatest of our number ended thus her learned songs; and with concordant voice the chosen Nymphs adjudged the Deities, on Helicon who dwell, should be proclaimed the victors. But the vanquished nine began to scatter their abuse; to whom rejoined the goddess; 'Since it seems a trifling thing that you should suffer a deserved defeat, and you must add unmerited abuse to heighten your offence, and since by this appears the end of our endurance, we shall certainly proceed to punish you according to the limit of our wrath.' But these Emathian sisters laughed to scorn our threatening words; and as they tried to speak, and made great clamour, and with shameless hands made threatening gestures, suddenly stiff quills sprouted from out their finger-nails, and plumes spread over their stretched arms; and they could see the mouth of each companion growing out into a rigid beak.And thus new birds were added to the forest.While they made complaint, these Magpies that defile our groves, moving their stretched-out arms, began to float, suspended in the air. And since that time their ancient eloquence, their screaming notes, their tiresome zeal of speech have all remained.http://www.theoi.com/Text/OvidMetamorphoses5.html#6,
62Project Gutenberg's The Satyricon
An early reference to the Pierian spring is found in the ''
Satyricon
The ''Satyricon'', ''Satyricon'' ''liber'' (''The Book of Satyrlike Adventures''), or ''Satyrica'', is a Latin work of fiction believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as Titus Petro ...
Lines 215 to 232 of Pope's poem read:
:"A little learning is a dang'rous thing;
:Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
:There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
:And drinking largely sobers us again.
:Fir'd at first sight with what the Muse imparts,
:In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts,
:While from the bounded level of our mind
:Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind;
:But more advanc'd, behold with strange surprise
:New distant scenes of endless science rise!
:So pleas'd at first the towering Alps we try,
:Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky,
:Th' eternal snows appear already past,
:And the first clouds and mountains seem the last;
:But, those attain'd, we tremble to survey
:The growing labours of the lengthen'd way,
:Th' increasing prospects tire our wand'ring eyes,
:Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise!"
Later references
The opening stanza appears in
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and ...
's 1953 novel ''
Fahrenheit 451
''Fahrenheit 451'' is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. Often regarded as one of his best works, ''Fahrenheit 451'' presents an American society where books have been personified and outlawed and "firemen" burn any that ...
'', as Fire Captain Beatty chastizes
Guy Montag
Guy Montag is a fictional character and the protagonist in Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel ''Fahrenheit 451'' (1953). He is depicted living in a futuristic town where he works as a "fireman" whose job is to burn books and the buildings they are f ...
, the protagonist, about reading books, which are forbidden in the society of the novel.
In his poem "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley",
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works include ...
refers to Pierian "roses" in a critique of the cheap aesthetic of his time, which in his opinion has replaced a true appreciation of art and knowledge:
Sir William Jones
Sir William Jones (28 September 1746 – 27 April 1794) was a British philologist, a puisne judge on the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William in Bengal, and a scholar of ancient India. He is particularly known for his proposition of the ...
(1746–1794) also made reference to "the fam'd Pierian rill" (a brook or rivulet) in his 1763 poem about the origin of chess, " Caissa".
Henry Miller
Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...
mentions the Pierian Spring in '' Moloch: or, This Gentile World'', written in 1927-28 and published posthumously in 1992.
In the 1986
David Cronenberg
David Paul Cronenberg (born March 15, 1943) is a Canadian film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror genre, with his films exploring visceral bodily transformation ...
film '' The Fly'', the protagonist Seth Brundle succumbs to madness and disease as the result of a science experiment. He rants at the short-sightedness of his lover, proclaiming "drink deep, or taste not the plasma spring!".
In the 2018 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Nikolai says "A little learning is a dangerous thing, drink deep or taste not the Pieran Spring, so goes the poem. I understand it's meaning". Referring to the journey ahead, leading to the finale of the Aether Zombies storyline.
See also
*
Muses in popular culture
Representations or analogues of one or more of the nine Muses of Greek mythology have appeared in many different modern fictional works.
The list of Muses comprises:
# Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry
# Clio, the Muse of history
# Erato, the ...
Spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season), a season of the year
* Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy
* Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water
* Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a h ...