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| Calliope- this first and most respectable of the muses and one
of epic poetry and eloquence, was the most assertive of the nine daughters
of Zeus and Mnemosyne. She loved to sing of heroes, wars and glorious victories
and later bore a son, Orpheus who was the sweetest singer of his age. Her
symbols were an abacus and pen and she is pictured as a stately young woman
with a gold crowned brow.
Clio- this muse of history would descend from Parnassus to visit certain men and fill them with the desire to selve into old manuscripts and search out people who could tell them of past times. Then under her patronage, they would inscribe what they thought happened. The manuscript that unfolds, the hour-glass and trumpet were her symbols. Erato- a fine and merry muse of love lyrics and marriage, in a crown of roses, she was usually pictured with a lyre. Euterpe- as the muse of lyric poetry and flute playing, she was a wild and beautiful muse, who belonged to the Dionysus escort. addicted to word-juggling and the music of the flute, which is her symbol and she is pictured playing it. Poets seem distracted because they are always listening for the sound of her flute playing, which only they can hear. Melpmene- as the muse of tragedy, her spirit informs those who write the noble cadences and those who speak the lines with sonorous voice and classic gesture. She is sometimes said to have been involved with Dionysus as well, for he is sometimes called Melpomenus, and that she wore a garland of grape vines, as he did, though another depiction is that she was a very grave muse and carried a sword. Her symbols were the tragic mask and Hercules mase. Polyhymnia- At first it was said that this muse of song and geometry, an unlikely combination, but she always taught that to create beautiful song, one must posses a firm structure and order inside and music and math have always seemed to have a certain affinity, inspired hymns and songs for the gods and heroes. Later she was depicted as a deity of knowledge and memory and finally of "small art." She was presented in a thoughtful mood and sometimes talking with her fingers as if people could express their will without speech and just gestures. Terpsichore- this lovely light-footed muse was one of dancing, she sore a wreath of laurels and also carried a lyre. They say that she could run over a meadow without bending a blade of grass and that when she leaped, her sisters had to call warning so that a hunter wouldn't think her a bird and shoot her with an arrow. Thalia- this Lady of Masks and muse of comedy started out a deity of agriculture and pastoral poetry, who supervised outdoor feasts, before landing in comedy. Her name means festivity, she wore a crown of grapevine and ivy leaves, the mask held in her left hand and staff in her right were her symbols and she had a bright playful look; wherever she went, laughter and joy went with her. Urania- this muse of astrology and astronomy was constantly worried about the future; sibyls, oracles, soothsayers and prophets came to her for inspiration. She was the mother of the two great musicians, Linus, son of Apollo and tutor of Heracles and who was killed by his impatient pupil, and Hymnaeus, daughter of Dionysus. She carried a celestial globe in one hand and a pair of compasses in the other, her symbols, with which she hoped to determine the position of the stars upon the globe. |
If you would like a
muse like any of these lovely ladies to bestow you page with inspiration,
go here.
