The Nine Muses Μοῦσαι

1. The Nine MusesΜοῦσαι

2. The Muses • The Muses are the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne • The Muses are nymphs of the arts and sciences, inspire all artists, poets, philosophers, and musicians • Were companions of Apollo • They also preside over memory, as does their mother • Each Muse presided over a particular form of literature, art or science….

3. Calliope Eloquence and Epic poetry • Name means ‘fine voice’ • Often depicted seated with a stylus and wax tablets • Chief of the Muses • She is said to be the mother of Orpheus, Hymen and Ialemus, Rhesus and Lynus • Homer’s inspiration for Illiad and the Oddysey

4. MelpomeneTragedy • Name comes from Greek melpein, ‘to sing’, she is known to have a beautiful singing voice • Often seen with a tragedy mask, not a severed head, wearing cothurnus, she wears the crown of cypress on her head and sometimes hold a club or knife covered in blood

5. PolyhymniaRhetoric, Lyric, Oratory, Sacred Song, Agriculture and Pantomime • Serious and pensive • Seen holding a finger to her mouth, a flower, a pearl crown, holding a sceptre, resting on a pillar and veiled by a long white cloak • Inventor of the lyre • Brings fame to writers

6. ERatoLove poetry • Name derived from eros (love), and her name translates as ‘passionate’ • Represented in art with a myrtle bush, roses, holding a lyre or a bow, and sometimes with a golden arrow • Mother of Azan to Arcas

7. ClioHistory • Name derived from Greek kleos, ‘Glory’ • Had one son, Hyacinth with the Macedonian king, Pierus • Often depicted as a virgin with a laurel wreath, a trumpet, a book, and holding a parchment scroll or an overabundance of tablets

8. TerpsichoreChoral singing and dance • Said to be the mother of the Sirens to Achelous • Provides the origin of the term terpsichorean, meaning ‘relating to dance’ • Represented seated as a young woman crowned with a garland of flowers, holding a lyre, or dancing

9. EuterpeMusic • Referred to a ‘the Giver of Delight’ • Impregnated by river-god Strymon, gave birth to Rhesus who was killed by Diomedes at Troy • Sometimes credited with inventing the flute, rather than the satyr Marsyas • Depicted as a maid with a flower garland, and her flute

10. ThaliaComedy and Pastoral poetry • A rustic Muse whose name means, ‘blossoming’ • Gave birth to the Corybantes (dancers who worshipped Phygrian goddess Cybele), the father was Apollo • Portrayed with a comic mask, shephard’s staff, a wreath of ivy and wearing ankle boots • Shares her name with the Grace, Haphaestus’ daughter and a Nereid

11. UraniaAstronomy and astrology • Name means ‘heavenly’ • Can see the future in the stars • Always looks toward the heavens • Associated with the Universe and Holy Spirit • Often seen with a globe, a peg, a bar and standing on a turtle, which is a Greek symbol for silence

12. Sources • http://olympianmythology.blogspot.com/2005/03/muses.html • http://hunter.apana.org.au/~gallae/pantheon/myth/muses.htm • http://www.loggia.com/myth/muses.html • http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/MUSES.html • http://www.winterscapes.com/sannion/muses.htm • http://www.waltm.net/muse.htm • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Muses • http://www.jssgallery.org/Paintings/MFA/Apollo_and_the_Muses_2.jpg • http://www.vroma.org/images/raia_images/muse.melpomene.jpg