Muses

Nationality/Culture

Greek

Pronunciation

MYOO-siz

Alternate Names

Camenae (Roman)

Appears In

Hesiod's Theogony, Homer's Iliad

Lineage

Daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne

Character Overview

In Greek mythology , the Muses were sister goddesses of music, dance, poetry, and other artistic and intellectual pursuits. Poets and other artists often called on them for inspiration. Zeus (pronounced ZOOS), the king of the gods, was the father of the Muses. Their mother was Mnemosyne (pronounced nee-MOSS-uh-nee), goddess of memory. In his role as god of music, poetry, and dance, Apollo (pronounced uh-POL-oh) was sometimes said to be their leader. The Muses also figured in Roman mythology , although the Romans usually associated them with the four goddesses known as the Camenae (pronounced kuh-MEE-nee).

Major Myths

The Muses lived on two sacred Greek mountain peaks, Olympus (pronounced oh-LIM-puhs) and Helicon (pronounced HEL-i-kon). Originally they were three in number—Melete (pronounced MEL-i-tee, meaning Practice), Mneme (pronounced NEE-mee, meaning Memory), and Aoede (pronounced ay-EE-dee, meaning Song)—but the Greek poet Hesiod named nine Muses in his Theogony {Birth of the Gods). Ancient writers, particularly the Romans, often linked individual Muses with specific arts and sciences, but they did not agree on the functions of particular Muses. One widely recognized list identified Calliope (pronounced kuh-LYE-uh-pee) with heroic and epic poetry, Erato (pronounced AIR-uh-toh) with lyric and love poetry, Polyhymnia (pronounced pol-ee-HIM-nee-uh) with sacred songs and pantomime, Melpomene (pronounced mel-POM-uh-nee) with tragedy, Thalia (pronounced thuh-LYE-uh) with comedy, Euterpe (pronounced yoo-TUR-pee) with music played on instruments, Terpsichore (pronounced turp-SIK-uh-ree) with dancing, Clio (pronounced KLEE-oh) with history, and Urania (pronounced yoo-RAY-nee-uh) with astronomy. In myths, the Muses often punished or rewarded mortals. Hesiod claimed that they gave him knowledge and inspired him. The Odyssey tells of Demodocus (pronounced dee-MOH-duh-kuhs), a man who was blinded and then given the gift of song by one of the Muses, who claimed that song was even more precious than sight. Although the Muses could be generous, they resented mortals who questioned their supremacy in the arts. The Iliad mentions Thamyris (pronounced THAH-mi-ruhs), a poet who challenged the Muses. They made him blind and took away his ability to sing. Another myth tells of the Pierides (pronounced pye-AIR-uh-deez), nine sisters who lived in Macedonia (pronounced mas-uh-DOHN-ee-uh), north of Greece. The Pierides challenged the Muses to a contest. The Muses won and then turned their challengers into chattering birds. Some of the Muses had famous offspring. Calliope, for example, was the mother of the great musician Orpheus (pronounced OR-fee-uhs), and Clio was the mother of the beautiful Hyacinthus (pronounced high-uh-SIN-thuhs).

The Muses in Context

Poets in ancient Greece often expressed the idea that the Muses were responsible for the works that the poets had created. This may have served a specific purpose: it informed readers and listeners that the work fit within established traditional formats. At one time, for example, all traditional books—regardless of subject matter—were written with a poetic structure. Crediting the Muses as the originators of a work also reflected how ancient Greeks viewed their cultural knowledge as something that did not belong solely to the person writing it down or saying it, but to all Greeks. In addition, this may have indicated that a work was derived from a historical source, passed down from other poets or storytellers.

Key Themes and Symbols

The Muses represent creativity and the arts, with each one representing a different aspect of these things. One of the main themes of the stories of the Muses is divine inspiration—the idea that artists somehow receive their ideas, insights, and talents from a source greater than themselves. This is illustrated when others challenge the Muses to a contest of skills; since the Muses are the source of all great art, they always defeat their challengers.

The Muses in Art, Literature, and Everyday Life

The Muses appear frequently in ancient art and poetry, often in acknowledgement for helping to create the work itself. The Muses have been painted by artists such as Gustave Moreau and Johannes Vermeer. They have been called upon by writers from Homer and Virgil to William Shakespeare and Geoffrey Chaucer. The Muses have also appeared several times in movies. The 1980 musical film Xanadu features Olivia Newton-John as Terpsichore, a Muse who enters the modern world and falls in love with a commercial artist, played by Michael Beck. In the 1999 Albert Brooks film The Muse, Sharon Stone plays a woman named Sarah who may or may not be an actual Muse from Greek mythology. Three of the Muses also appear as narrating characters in the 1997 animated Disney film Hercules.

The word museum is taken from the Muses. It means “place of the Muses” and was first used for the museum of ancient Alexandria, Egypt, a center of scholarship and learning. The word “music” is also taken from these goddesses, and means “art of the Muses.” Interestingly, the Greek word for Muse may come from an older Indo-European word meaning “to think,” and even today to “muse” over something means to think deeply about it, or to meditate upon it.

Read, Write, Think, Discuss

Myths of the Muses are linked to ideas about inspiration and creativity in the arts and sciences, and place great importance upon the mind and thought processes. What do the myths of the Muses tell us about the way the ancient Greeks thought about the arts and sciences? Did they divide the arts and sciences into categories, such as emotional versus rational, like many Western cultures do? Using your library, the Internet, or other available resources, trace the development of one subject, such as history or astronomy, to identify its origins and learn how opinions about it have changed over the centuries. What were some of the social and cultural factors that may have influenced the changes?

SEE ALSO Apollo; Greek Mythology