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