Another minor group of goddesses in Greek mythology were the Muses. They were nine in number, and were the children of the sky god Zeus and the titan Mnemosyne. They would entertain the Olympians with songs, but each of the Muses had their own area of expertise.
The chief of the Muses was Calliope who was the muse of epic poetry. She was the mother of the demigod Orpheus, who was the greatest musician who ever lived… and the man who went down to the underworld in a failed attempted to get his beloved wife Eurydice. Anyway, it was rare to find Calliope not described without a writing tablet.
The goddess Clio was the muse of history and had the symbol of the scroll. He was the mother of the demigod Hyacinthus, who was accidentally killed by his gay lover, Apollo.
Erato was the muse was a poetry goddess too, but was more into the love of it all, so to speak.
There was also Euterpe, who was the muse of lyric poetry. Yes, the muses were very into poetry. Euterpe was a very much into the flute.
Taking a turn form poetry, Melpomene was the muse of tragedy. You’ll ususally see her holding a tragic mask in paintings.
Polyhymnia, however, was the muse of sacred poetry. If you want a modern version of that, think of the goddess of hymns and you have the gist.
On the other hand, Thalia was the muse of comedy. Does that mean she’s the funny one? In my honest opinion, no.
Terpsichore was the goddess, or muse rather, of dance and choral sining.
Last but definitly not least is the muse of astronomy, Urania, who is ususally depicted holding a globe in her hands.
No comments:
Post a Comment