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In earlier times the Balkan mountains were known as the Haemus Mons. It is believed that the name is derived from a Thracian word saimon.
According to Ovid's Metamorphoses (6.87), Haemus was a son of king Boreas of Thrace, who was changed into a mountain for the crime of aspiring to divinity.
John Milton's Sylvarum Liber (Naturam non pati senium, v. 29) contains a reference to "lofty Haemus",
- Tunc etiam aërei divulsis sedibus Hæmi
- the summit even of lofty Haemus shall crumble;
Alexander Pope mentions Haemus in connection with Orpheus in his Ode for St. Cecilia's Day:
- Hark! Haemus resounds with the Bacchanals' cries.
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