The creativity of any great musician or artist cannot be imagined without the presence of a muse that inspires him. So, Raphael created his immortal works when Fornarina was next to him, Michelangelo admired Vittoria Colonna, and Sandro Botticelli immortalized the beauty of Simonetta Vespucci. Today we offer to talk about the muses of Ancient Greece, a list and description of which will be given in our article.
Who are muses
The inhabitants of Hellas believed that every area of life has its patroness. Muses not only symbolized the hidden virtues of human nature, but also contributed to their manifestation. According to classical mythology, the supreme god Zeus and the daughter of the titans Mnemozin became the parents of nine daughters. Mnemosyne was the goddess of memory, and her 9 daughters began to be called muses, which in Greek means "thinking." The ancient Greeks believed that these amazing creatures live on Mount Parnassus, where they dance and sing to the sounds of the Apollo lyre.
Clio
This muse of Ancient Greece everywhere appeared with a parchment scroll or writing board. She recorded all the events in order to save them for posterity. It was about her that the ancient Greek historian Diodorus wrote:
The greatest of muses inspires love for the past.
The myth of the conflict that occurred between Clio and the goddess Aphrodite has survived to our times. The patroness of history was not familiar with such a feeling as love, and therefore condemned the goddess of beauty, the former wife of the god Hephaestus, for her tender affection for the young god Dionysus. Aphrodite did not tolerate. She told her son Eros to fire two arrows, one of which kindled love, and the second - killed her. The first arrow fell into Clio's muse, the second went to Pieron. After Clea experienced the suffering of unrequited love, she had never condemned anyone.
Melpomene
This muse of Ancient Greece was associated with tragic events. Two daughters of Melpomene were owners of magical voices. They decided to challenge other muses, but lost. To punish them, Zeus turned the girls into sirens (those same sirens that almost killed the Argonauts). After these events, Melpomene vowed for ages to regret their fate, as well as the fate of those people who challenge Heaven. Since then, this muse appeared only in the theatrical mantle, and its symbol was the mournful mask that she holds in her hand. By the way, in the hands of this muse is a sword punishing for insolence.
Waist
The Muse of Ancient Greece Thalia was the patroness of comedies. She never accepted her sister Melpomene's belief that punishment is always inevitable. That is why differences between sisters often arose. It is customary to portray a waist with a wreath of ivy on her head and with a comedy mask in her hands. This muse is characterized by optimism and cheerfulness. Thalia and Melpomene were a peculiar reflection of the way of thinking of the Greeks, who believed that the world is only a theater of the gods, where people get only the performance of the roles prescribed by them.
Polygynia
She was considered the patroness of speakers. The inhabitants of Hellas called her the muse of faith, who managed to find reflection in music. The ardor of the speaker’s speeches and the interest of the audience depended on the favor of this particular creation. Before the performance, it was necessary to ask Polygynia for help. Then she condescended to the asker and endowed him with the gift of eloquence. The main attribute of this daughter of Zeus was the lyre.
Eutherpa
The muse of poetry and lyrics differed from their sisters in an incredibly subtle perception of poetry. When she read her poems to the gods of Olympus, Orpheus himself accompanied her. For him, this beautiful and feminine muse of Ancient Greece became a real savior of the soul. Usually Euterpe was portrayed surrounded by forest nymphs, and her attributes were a wreath of fresh flowers and a flute.
Terpsichore
Her inhabitants of Hellas called the muse of dance, which is performed in the same rhythm with heartbeats. The perfection of this art of ancient Greek muse symbolized the absolute harmony of human movements and emotions with nature. Terpsichore was usually depicted in a light tunic with a lyre in his hands. The head of the muse was decorated with a wreath of ivy.
Erato
A description of the Muse of Ancient Greece by the name of Erato says that she patronizes love poetry. The song performed by this muse tells us that there is no power that could separate two hearts that love each other. This muse poets called for help when the source of their inspiration ran out. What does Erato look like? Usually she was depicted with a tambourine or lyre in her hands, on her head was a wreath of roses, symbolizing endless love.
Calliope
The name of this muse can be translated as “beautiful-voiced”, and therefore it is quite obvious that she was the patroness of poetry, though not lyrical, but epic. Calliope was the eldest of the nine daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus. Typically, the Greeks depicted a beautiful muse in the pose of a dreamer, in whose hands was a wax tablet and a stylus with which she wrote.
Urania
The ninth muse of Ancient Greece was rightfully considered the inhabitants of Hellas wise. In her hands she held a globe and a compass. By the way, the name of this muse was given in honor of the heavenly god Uranus, who was known long before Zeus. It may seem strange that the patroness of science is associated with muses. However, Pythagoras compared the dimensional proportions of the sounds of music with the distances separating the celestial bodies. That is, this scientist argued that it is almost impossible to achieve harmony in one without knowing the other.