According to myth, the nine Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, lived in a flowery valley, bursting with birdsong. There, in the shadow of noble Mt Helicon, the Mouseia were organised every five years, festivals dedicated to the ones who, using a laurel staff, gave the gift of poetry to Hesiod. Artists from all over Greece arrived in the 3rd century to compete in kithara, aulos, salpinx, epic and satirical poetry, rhapsodies, acting, and tragedy, while the tripods commemorating their victories stood in the sanctuary of the valley, proclaiming their name. Although the passage of time has dispersed of any trace of the small temple, the theatre, and the Ionian stoa that once defined glory and honour, votive columns, inscription, and fragments of statues still bear witness to everything that occurred in this place.