Mount Parnassus, the abode of the Muses, upon the slopes of which
lay the town of Delphi with its celebrated oracle of Apollo.
South of Phocis is Boeotia, which is a large hollow basin,
enclosed on every side by mountains, which prevent the waters
from flowing into the sea. Hence the atmosphere was damp and
thick, to which circumstance the witty Athenians attributed the
dullness of the inhabitants. Thebes was the chief city of
Boeotia. South of Boeotia lies ATTICA, which is in the form of a
triangle, having two of its sides washed by the sea and its base
united to the land. Its soil is light and dry and is better
adapted for the growth of fruit than of corn. It was
particularly celebrated for its olives, which were regarded as
the gift of Athena (Minerva), and were always under the care of
that goddess. Athens was on the western coast, between four and
five miles from its port, Piraeus. West of Attica, towards the
isthmus, is the small district of MEGARIS.

The western half of central Greece consists of WESTERN LOCRIS,
AETOLIA and ACARNANIA. These districts were less civilised than
the other countries of Greece, and were the haunts of rude robber
tribes even as late as the Peloponnesian war.

Central Greece is connected with the southern peninsula by a
narrow isthmus, on which stood the city of Corinth. So narrow is
this isthmus that the ancients regarded the peninsula as an
island, and gave to it the name of PELOPONNESUS, or the island of
Pelops, from the mythical hero of this name. Its modern name,
the MOREA, was bestowed upon it from its resemblance to the leaf
of the mulberry.