The traditional concept of the Muse since the times of the birth of the
Greek myths is one of an ethereal female who gives inspiration and knowledge
unconditionally to the male poet/artist. As the meaning of the word, Muse,
changes with cultural influence, Memory, the mother of the Muses, is forgotten
with the image of the Muse becoming a female form used primarily by men
for access to knowledge and power.
In Greek mythology, there are nine Muses, daughters of Mnesonyme or Memory,
each of whom presides over a specific art or science and inspires (literally
meaning "to breathe into") artists and poets her mother's memories so that
the past is not forgotten.2 Originally, the Muse was a triad, the Triple
Goddess3 of Goddess religions.
Through the misunderstanding and misuse of the Muse in patriarchal society,
the true meaning and original purpose of the Muse has been forgotten or
disguised. Since the Romantic era, no other artistic period has used the image
of the Muse so heavily as the Surrealist movement. This movement includes
artists such as Man Ray, Diego Rivera, Max Ernst, Andre Breton. The Surrealists
were interested in exploring the subconscious world. Since they saw this
Surrealist world as more in tune with the feminine, they sought to access this
world through the feminine aspect, the anima of Jungian psychology, which can
also be seen as a kind of Muse, conveying the female qualities associated with
creativity and inspiration.
However, most of these men found the Muse outside of themselves in real-life
women: their lovers or friends who were artists themselves. These women were
in the a position of split role, of being objectified women as Muse by the male
artists and working as artists in their own right.
Most of these women underwent a trying transitory period during which they
integrated themselves as artist, woman, and source of their own inspiration.
Leonora Carrington was declared incurable insane for 17 months of her life
after being separated from Max Ernst.4 She later wrote Down Below,5 a story
about how she found her true integrated voice during this period of "insanity".
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