The Nine Muses Μοῦσαι
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Transcript of The Nine Muses Μοῦσαι
The Nine MusesΜοῦσαι
The Muses• The Muses are the
daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne
• The Muses are nymphs of the arts and sciences, inspire all artists, poets, philosophers, and musicians
• Were companions of Apollo• They also preside over
memory, as does their mother
• Each Muse presided over a particular form of literature, art or science….
Calliope Eloquence and Epic poetry
• Name means ‘fine voice’• Often depicted seated with
a stylus and wax tablets• Chief of the Muses• She is said to be the
mother of Orpheus, Hymen and Ialemus, Rhesus and Lynus
• Homer’s inspiration for Illiad and the Oddysey
• Name comes from Greek melpein, ‘to sing’, she is known to have a beautiful singing voice
• Often seen with a tragedy mask, not a severed head, wearing cothurnus, she wears the crown of cypress on her head and sometimes hold a club or knife covered in blood
MelpomeneTragedy
• Serious and pensive• Seen holding a finger to
her mouth, a flower, a pearl crown, holding a sceptre, resting on a pillar and veiled by a long white cloak
• Inventor of the lyre• Brings fame to writers
PolyhymniaRhetoric, Lyric, Oratory, Sacred Song, Agriculture and
Pantomime
• Name derived from eros (love), and her name translates as ‘passionate’
• Represented in art with a myrtle bush, roses, holding a lyre or a bow, and sometimes with a golden arrow
• Mother of Azan to Arcas
ERatoLove poetry
• Name derived from Greek kleos, ‘Glory’
• Had one son, Hyacinth with the Macedonian king, Pierus
• Often depicted as a virgin with a laurel wreath, a trumpet, a book, and holding a parchment scroll or an overabundance of tablets
ClioHistory
• Said to be the mother of the Sirens to Achelous
• Provides the origin of the term terpsichorean, meaning ‘relating to dance’
• Represented seated as a young woman crowned with a garland of flowers, holding a lyre, or dancing
TerpsichoreChoral singing and dance
EuterpeMusic
• Referred to a ‘the Giver of Delight’
• Impregnated by river-god Strymon, gave birth to Rhesus who was killed by Diomedes at Troy
• Sometimes credited with inventing the flute, rather than the satyr Marsyas
• Depicted as a maid with a flower garland, and her flute
ThaliaComedy and Pastoral poetry
• A rustic Muse whose name means, ‘blossoming’
• Gave birth to the Corybantes (dancers who worshipped Phygrian goddess Cybele), the father was Apollo
• Portrayed with a comic mask, shephard’s staff, a wreath of ivy and wearing ankle boots
• Shares her name with the Grace, Haphaestus’ daughter and a Nereid
UraniaAstronomy and astrology
• Name means ‘heavenly’• Can see the future in the
stars• Always looks toward the
heavens• Associated with the
Universe and Holy Spirit• Often seen with a globe, a
peg, a bar and standing on a turtle, which is a Greek symbol for silence
Sources• http://olympianmythology.blogspot.com/2005/03/muses.html• http://hunter.apana.org.au/~gallae/pantheon/myth/muses.htm• http://www.loggia.com/myth/muses.html• http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/MUSES.html• http://www.winterscapes.com/sannion/muses.htm• http://www.waltm.net/muse.htm• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Muses• http://www.jssgallery.org/Paintings/MFA/Apollo_and_the_Muses_2.jpg• http://www.vroma.org/images/raia_images/muse.melpomene.jpg