Mount Parnon

Mount Parnon is the geographical marker for the Greek beginnings of Ron Hartman’s family history. It is mentioned not as a present-day setting for the action, but as the place that helps explain the family’s origins and Ron’s childhood in Greece.

Setting and Family History

Liz Hartman recalls that Ron was born in Greece near Mount Parnon. His father had visited the region to explore caves and was an anthropology professor at Northwestern University; there, he met Ron’s mother. The couple married and remained in Greece until Ron was nine.

Narrative Significance

Mount Parnon enters the narrative through Liz’s account of Ron’s background, linking the Hartman family to a particular region and to a life that began outside the United States. The recollection also establishes that Ron spent his first nine years in Greece, a detail Liz connects with his fluency in its language. The novel supplies no further description of the mountain or its surroundings, and no action takes place there in the cited account.