tls 757

[Gissing]

9A Greek stones to be heaped on Latin bones (6) ?E?I?N I suspect it might be PELION. Can anyone confirm, or correct, this?

[turnerjmw]

Yes, it will be. Ossa is the latin word for bones. There's a phrase, "to pile Pelion upon Ossa", meaning to attempt a huge but fruitless task. They were two mountains side by side in Thessaly in Ancient Greece. Two giants, Otus and Ephialtes, tried to reach heaven to overthrow the gods by piling Mt. Ossa on Mt. Olympus and Mt. Pelion on Mt. Ossa. Some said they were killed by Apollo, others said they killed each other while shooting at a hind sent by Apollo. For their wickedness they were condemned to eternal torture in Tartarus. Hence the phrase.

[Palgrave]

Thank you for this brilliant explanation

[Gissing]

Thank you, turnerjmw

[turnerjmw]

You're most welcome. Actually, though I grew up knowing the phrase as "pile Pelion upon Ossa" , I see that "heap Pelion upon Ossa" is an equally common alternative, making the connection to the clue clearer.