Did anyone in Ancient Greece ever try to climb Mt Olympus?

by theodolite
Iphikrates

I can't cite any evidence for this, but Mt Olympus would undoubtedly have been used as pasture for goats, as a refuge in times of war, etc. It seems very unlikely that no one would ever have tried to reach one of its summits. Mt Olympus is not so high that you'd need special equipment to reach the top (2919m).

The broader question here, really, is how the Greeks could believe the gods were existing supernatural beings while simultaneously being aware that their "home" was just a barren rock summit in Thessaly. The Romans similarly believed that Lake Avernus was the gate to the Underworld, while at the same time building nice summer homes alongside the picturesque lake.

This has everything to do with the remarkable doublethink that underlies ancient religious thought. The gods are invoked as a moving force, as the object of ritual, and as a physical presence, but the extent to which people really believed in them is impossible to know.

Searocksandtrees