Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—P

Pelion

Heaping Ossa upon Pelion. Adding difficulty to difficulty, embarassment to embarrassment, etc. When the giants tried to scale heaven, they placed Mount Ossa upon Mount Pelion for a scaling ladder.

“Ter sunt conati imponere Pelio Ossam”

Virgil: Georgics, i. 281.

A noteworthy hexameter verse. The i of “conati” does not elide, nor yet the o of “Pelio.”

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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