Free-lance Muse

1. Free-lance Muse

2. What is a Muse? 1.Classical Mythology. a. Any of a number of sister goddesses, originally given as Aoede (song), Melete (meditation), and Mneme (memory), but latterly and more commonly as the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne who presided over various arts: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (lyric poetry), Euterpe (music), Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia (religious music), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), and Urania (astronomy); identified by the Romans with the Camenae. b. Any goddess presiding over a particular art. 2.(sometimes lowercase ) the goddess or the power regarded as inspiring a poet, artist, thinker, or the like. 3.(lowercase ) the genius or powers characteristic of a poet

3. Word History: The Muse has inspired English poetry since Chaucer invoked her in 1374. Muse comes from Latin Mūsa, from Greek Mousa. There are Greek dialect forms mōsa and moisa, and all three come from an original *montya. As to the further origins of this form, a clue is provided by the name of Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory and mother of the Muses. Her name is the Greek noun mnēmosunē "memory," which comes from *mnā-, an extended form of the Greek and Indo-European root *men-, "to think." The reconstructed form *montya that is the ancestor of Greek Mousa could then mean something like "having mental power." (I took this from dictionary.com’s “word history.”)

8. The Free-Lance Muse *Imagine you are a free-lance muse, looking for work. In recent years you have had to supplement your life with various odd jobs- inspiring an ad executive at Nissan in Japan, writing political manifestos for the recent Presidential battle. You’re tired and sad, and want a real poet. *Write a job description for the poet you want to inspire. *At least 15 lines. *Things to consider: -think about what it means to be a poet. -think about the social, cultural, and political implications of being a poet, to notice that to be a poet is not just a matter of mastering technique.