The Permessus or Permessos () was a stream rising in
Mount Helicon
Mount Helicon (; ) is a mountain in the region of Thespiai in Boeotia, Greece, celebrated in Greek mythology. With an altitude of , it is located approximately from the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth. Some researchers maintain that Helicon ...
, which, after uniting with the
Olmeius
The Olmeius or Olmeios () was a stream rising in Mount Helicon, which, after uniting with the Permessus, flowed into Lake Copais near Haliartus. William Martin Leake, visiting the site in the 19th century, regarded the Kefalári as the Permessus, ...
, flowed into
Lake Copais
Lake Copais, also spelled Kopais or Kopaida (; ), was a lake in the centre of Boeotia, Greece, west of Thebes. It was first drained in the Bronze Age, and drained again in the late 19th century. It is now flat dry land and is still known as Kop ...
near
Haliartus
Haliartus or Haliartos (), also known as Ariartus, Ariartos, Hariartus, or Hariartos (Ἀρίαρτος or Ἁρίαρτος), was a town of ancient Boeotia, and one of the cities of the Boeotian League. It was situated on the southern side of La ...
.
William Martin Leake
William Martin Leake FRS (14 January 17776 January 1860) was an English soldier, spy, topographer, diplomat, antiquarian, writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He served in the British Army, spending much of his career in the Mediterrane ...
, visiting the site in the 19th century, regarded the Kefalári as the Permessus, and the river of Zagará as the Olmeius.
William Martin Leake
William Martin Leake FRS (14 January 17776 January 1860) was an English soldier, spy, topographer, diplomat, antiquarian, writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He served in the British Army, spending much of his career in the Mediterrane ...
, ''Travels in Northern Greece'', vol. ii. p. 212.
This river, apparently sacred to Apollo (patron deity of poets), is referred to in Propertius' poem (2.10.25-6) to Augustus, 'Nondum etenim Ascraeos norunt mea carmina fontes, Sed modo Permessi flumine lavit Amor.' The Permessus is also mentioned in Hesiod's
Theogony
The ''Theogony'' () is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogy, genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Homeric Greek, epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contains 1,022 lines. It is one ...
, which describes the Muses using the river to bathe in line 5, "And having bathed their silken skin in Permessos."
References
Geography of ancient Boeotia
Rivers of Greece
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