3 September 2014

Mount Elbrus: Here Zeus Had Chained Prometheus

Mount Elbrus.
Elbrus.
Эльбрус.
Postcard, 1973.

Postcard 1974.
My collection

* Mount Elbrus is a dormant volcano located in the western Caucasus mountain range, in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay–Cherkessia of Russia, near the border with Georgia. Mt. Elbrus's peak is the highest in the Caucasus Mountains and in Europe.

Elbrus has two summits, both of which are dormant volcanic domes. Mt. Elbrus (west summit) stands at 5,642 metres (18,510 ft);[2] the east summit is slightly lower at 5,621 metres (18,442 ft)

The ancients knew the mountain as Strobilus, Latin for 'pine cone', a direct loan from the ancient Greek strobilos, meaning 'a twisted object' – a long established botanical term that describes the shape of the volcano's summit. Myth held that here Zeus had chained Prometheus, the Titan who had stolen fire from the gods and given it to ancient man – likely a reference to historic volcanic activity.
- Wikipedia.

See also: The Vicinity of Mt. Elbrus.

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