The Muses of Greek Mythology
Creative people such as artists, writers and musicians often use phrases such as “I need a visit from my muse” or “my muse was the inspiration for this poem (or other work of art).” The idea and concept of the modern day muse comes from ancient mythology. Greece’s most powerful God, Zeus had many children but nine of his daughters, were unique from the others because they were the muses. Each of the nine daughters possessed unique and divine powers and a love of knowledge. Each sister was beautiful in her own way and all of them were very smart and clever. Each sister had her own favorite subject which she supported. In the ancient mythology of Greece these nine sisters were patrons of the arts and sciences. The sisters were worshipped as goddesses and had temples built in their honor in Greece where people worshipped. The muses shared knowledge with mortals in the form of oral myths and poems and in the lyrics of ancient songs.
History and Lineage
The Muses were called the Mnemoides (which means the daughters of Mnemosyne or Mneme. Mneme was a member of a group of three muses a generation older than the nine sisters. These three muses were worshiped according to the historian, Pausania at Mount Helicaon. (Bell, 1991) Mneme was joined by two other muses named Melete and Aoide. Kerenyi (1951) has suggested that similar to the historian Hesiod's practice, that the muses three names meant: “Melete for ‘practicing,’ Mneme, ‘remembering,’ and Aoide, ‘singing.’” (p. 104) The three characteristics are considered the foundation of poetic literature and the music arts. In ancient times knowledge was passed from one person to another verbally so memory and practice (or study) needed to be done. Songs were the way that verbal knowledge about art, music, history and science because it was easier to remember details by singing. It mus have been less boring too. In other words practice, memory and song are the foundation for poetic literature and art. (Kerenyi, 1951, p. 284) This original Mnemosyne (or Mneme) was the daughter of Gaia and Uranus. Zeus fell in love with her and after that she gave birth to nine daughters. (Finkekbergm 1998, p. 48)
The Nine Muses
The nine muses were also talented in the arts and sciences; Apollodorus wrote that they “inspired poets, who could not sing without their inspiration.” The poems were told to an audience by the poets so the poets required not only inspiration but also a good memory. “When the Greek bard, improvising from memory (with thousands of formulae in his head) invokes the Muse(s), he prays not for inspired lyricism but for an inspired memory.” (Apollodorus, 1997, notes on p. 24) Here is an example of one of Hesiod’s invocations to the Muses. Hesiod wrote it at the beginning of the Theogony from line 1 to line 115.
Tell me now, you Muses who have your homes on Olympus--you are gods, and attend all things and know all things, but we hear only the report and have no knowledge--tell me who were the leaders of the Danaans and their rulers. (Apollodorus, 1997, notes on p. 24)
(See the appendices A and B)
Clio is the muse of history. She is usually pictured with a chest full of books or with a scroll. The laurel wreath is also one of her symbols. (ETAF) She was said to be the mother of Hyacinthus, Linus and Hymenaeus and other poets and musicians. (Bell, 1991, p. 130) The writers may have meant she really was their mother or figuratively speaking she was their mother. Interestingly the god Apollo was said to have fathered children by all nine of the muses depending on who was telling the story. He was the main patron of the Muses. (See appendix C)
Thalia is the muse of comedy and she has the emblem of a comic mask. Some ancient writers, Hesiod, Apollodorus and Putarch, said that she gave birth to Apollo’s son named Corybantos. (Bell, 1991, p. 414.) (See appendix E)
Erato is the muse of “love poetry and mimic imitation. The emblem she is most often pictured with is the musical instrument the cithara which is part of the lyre family of instruments. (Bell, 1991, p. 185) It is similar to a modern day guitar.
Euterpe is often drawn with the ancient instrument an aulos, a flute. She is thought of as the “well-pleasing’ muse. (ETAF, n.d.) She is the muse of song and elegiac poetry. The elegy is a type of lament or the type of poetry written to memorialize a great person or event. Elegiac poems were written with a particular rhyme scheme: (Propertius, 2002, p. 3) It was said that Rhesus was her son and the Strymon River was his father.
Polyhyminia is patron of hymns and can be identified because she wore a veil. “Poly” in Greek means many; so her name means roughly ‘many hymns.” (Langenscheidt Std. Dictionary)
Calliope is the muse of epic poetry. She is pictured with a stylus and tablet for writing or with a scroll. Many poets of the time were said to be her son while the father was Zeus or Apollo depending on the ancient person writing her history. Orpheus the most famous poet of all time was said to be one of her sons. She was also said to have “taught Achilles how to cheer his friends by singing at banquets.” (Bell, 1991, p.101
Terpsichore is the muse of choral singing and dancing. “Although the emphasis as regards the constituents of the Muses' idiom is placed differently in epic and choral poetry, both proceed oth proceed from the traditional idea of divine inspiration whose essentials are taken for granted in both genres.” (Finkelberg , p. 163
Urania is very easy to identify because she is pictured with a celestial sphere which has written on it a map of the sky and she has a staff which she uses as a pointer. Urania is the muse of astronomy and the planet Uranus is named after her.
Melpomene is the muse of tragedy. Her name means singing.
Appearance in Greek Art and Literature
Joseph Campbell described how Hesiod explained the role of the muses. Also he describes sacred bowls that depict the muses.
Hesiod in 8th Century Greece wrote of the nine muses and their parents, Zeus and Mnemosyne (memory). Born of Memory, they cause the soul to remember its forgotten higher estate, where, at the summit of the eightfold noble path of return there is discovered the very god of light represented in the Pietroasa bowl (an Orphic Sacramental Bowl; Rumania, 3rd or 4th century A.D. and addressed in the Orphic hymns of the Sanctum of the Winged Serpent: Orphic bowl, 2nd or 3rd century) (Campbell, 1968, p. 104.
Campbell (1968) also explains how the Music of the Spheres grew from the muses to Middle Age Christianity. Now the Music of the Spheres is often thought of as a New Age phenomenon.
The muses were worshipped in ancient Greece. People prayed to them and asked them for support. Sacred temples were built for them. Their figures were drawn on ceramic vessels and their figures were also sculpted. The following is how Aristides explained the words Alcam used to invoke ‘the Muse.’
“ After quoting an invocation made by Alcman, the orator Aristides paraphrases the poet's words as to the reason for his addressing the Muse: 'He also adds this, that the poet needs the Muse herself at the beginning, in order that he should be made active (enerqos) by her.’”' (Finkelberg, 1998, p. 163) In Greek ‘energos” is an adjective that means active. (Langenscheidt Std. Dictionary)
Muses were connected to nature; the forests, mountains and rivers. They were said to father children by rivers and were able to have other magical activities that mortals could not do. Muses acted as the protectors and nurturers of artists. They granted singing abilities and the talent for playing musical instruments. Muses were not patient with the characteristic of vanity. Therefore, one of the main qualities of poets and artists of antiquity was a cleanness of thoughts and aspirations. Poets have always asked for help, benediction and inspiration of muses, to manage passing sacred divine characters in their works. That is why muses are related to principle of soul clearing. They are often considered to be a connective filament between divine and people. Muses were also named breadwinners and companions of Dionysus, as they participated in his harvest festivals. Talking of their spiritual concept we might say that they are related to sacred force of mystic enthusiasm, internal fire and inspiration, that allows overcoming all barriers on the way to fulfilling o a heart dream and bears ability to set everything on fire around by its light.
Modern words and institutions
A contemporary museum is a modern place that is dedicated to gathering knowledge, understanding it and sharing it. This sounds like the same part that muses played in the ancient world. In fact the word ‘museum’ is derived from the word ‘muse.’ The ancient Greek word for museum was ‘mouseîon’ and it meant the “shrine of the muses.” (ETAF, N.d.) Places in ancient Greece devoted to learning were considered sacred meditation, memory, muse, museum, and amuse. I studied the names of the muses to find words that might be hidden in their ancient Greek names. Urania is easy because Uranus the planet is named after her. Erotic is a modern word from the muse named Erato. She was occupied with the causes of love, the giving of love and the receiving of love therefore it is not surprising that ‘erotic’ is from her name. Melpomene is similar to her mother’s name that means memory but the roots for melody and poem seem to be in her name. She is the muse of tragedy and the ancient tragic theater was performed with music and poetry. Polyhymnia’s name has the word hymn and hymn is a very common word for songs sung in churches today. Terpechore was the muse of choral singing and dancing so it is possible that chorus and choral are both from the second syllable of her name. A word that is used millions of times every day in English is the word ‘music.’ The word music is derived from the ancient word ‘muses.” (ETAF)
What part, if any, do they play in your life?
Before I worked on the research for this paper I could not think of a single way the ancient muses had anything to do with my life. I learned that I had been wrong and I am surprised at how the muses are a part of my life. The main way is that I say a little prayer asking for help or inspiration when I am starting a difficult project or I feel overwhelmed. This is the same act of invoking the muses that the ancient poets did to ask for strong memories so they could remember every part of their stories. I study and I am learning. I go to museums and places were knowledge is gathered and shared like museums and libraries and even art galleries. So in an important way the muses are part of my life as I try to learn about the world. From the book by Joseph Campbell I learned that music for the spheres is music asking for divine inspiration. I often have to study while listening to music so that I am able to concentrate on my studies. This may be a way of using music as a way to ask for divine inspiration.
References
Apollodorus. (1976). Gods and Heroes of the Greeks: The Library of Apollodorus (M. Simpson, Trans.). Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com
Bell, R.E. (1991). Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary. New York, NY: Oxford Paperback Reference.
Bulloch, W. (1985). "Hellenistic poetry". In P.E. Easterling; Bernard M.W. Knox (eds.). The Hellenistic Period and the Empire. The Cambridge History of Classical Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–81
Campbell, J. (1968). Creative Mythology: The Masks of God. New York, NY: Penquin Books.
Kekényi, C. (1931). The Gods of the Greeks. London: Thames & Hudson. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com 1951, p.104 and note 284.
Finkelberg, M. (1998). The Birth of Literary Fiction in Ancient Greece. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com
Propertius, S. (2002). Propertius in Love: The Elegies (D. R. Slavitt, Trans.). Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com
ETAF (Exploring the Arts Foundation).What’s a Muse? Electricka, (n.d.) Muse of the WorldWide Web© Exploring the Arts Foundation. Web. http://electricka.com/etaf/muses/mythology/comparative_mythology/whats_a_muse/whats_a_muse.htm
Appendices
Appencix A
The Nine Muses on a Roman Sa Sarcophagus known as the "Muses Sarcophagus", representing the nine Muses and their attributes. Marble, first half of the 2nd century AD, found by the Via Ostiense. Albani Collection (was Musei Capitolini as the time) seized by Napoleon Bonaparte; exchanged in 1815. Photographer: Jastrow (2006) Wikiepedia Commons
Appendix B.
Drawing of the above marble sarcophagus.
The Nine Muses From left to right: Clio, Thalia, Erato, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, Calliope, Terpsichore, Urania, and Melpomene Drawing of a sarcophagus at the Louvre Museum. From the Meyers Konversationslexikon 1888; uploaded (Jan. 15, 2006) for Wikipedia Commons
Appendix C
A muse (maybe Clio) reading a scroll she may have found in the chest in front of her. Muse reading a scroll (Attic red-figure lekythos, Boeotia c. 435–425 BC) (Note Mount Helicon is located in Boeotia.)
At the Louvre, Collection of Collection of Samuel Jean de Pozzi, 1919
Photographer: Jastrow (2006) Wikipedia Commons
Appendix D
Melpomene and Polyhymnia
Palace of the Fine Arts, Mexico
Photographer: Alberto Real. Wikipedia Commons
Appendix E
Thalia holding her trademark comic mask
Detail from the “Muses Sacrophagus” Marble first half othe 2nd century AD
Albani Collection, then in the Musei Capitolini; seized during the French Revolution then exchanged according to the Tolentino Treaty, 1815
Photographer: Jastrow (2006) Wikipedia commons
