PELION, MOUNT

Modern Greek ros Plion, mountain on the Magnesia peninsula of southeastern Thessaly, Greece, rising to 5,417 feet (1,651 m) at its highest point. Pelion peak (5,075 feet), just northeast of Vlos, has a wooded western flank overlooking a gulf whose ancient ports were Iolcus and Pagasae. In Greek mythology, two of the giants piled Mount Pelion on Ossa, another mountain in Thessaly, in order to scale Olympus, but Apollo killed the giants before they could make the attempt. Pelion was also the legendary home of Centaurs. The ship Argo of the Argonauts allegedly was built of wood from the mountain's trees.