Muse

Apollo and the Nine MusesJohn Singer Sargent, 1921.

In Greek mythology, the muses (in ancient Greek μοῦσαι «mousai») are, according to the oldest writers, the inspiring divinities of the arts: each of them is related to artistic branches and knowledge. They are daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, companions in the entourage of Apollo, the Olympic god of music and patron of the fine arts, who had romances with each of them, leaving descendants. They came down to earth to whisper ideas and inspire those mortals who invoked them. In the most archaic times they were the inspiring nymphs of the fountains, in which they were worshipped. Finally, around the 8th century-century VII a. C. the worship of the nine Muses prevailed throughout the territory of Hellas, which are Calliope, Clio, Erató, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Thalia, Terpsichore and Urania. The cult of the muses was originally from Thrace and Boeotia, and they were of vital importance for the artistic development in Ancient Greece. The poets were sincere in their invocation of the Muses and truly believed themselves inspired by them, but with the imposition of Christianity in the Middle Ages, the worship of the muses and all deities had to be abandoned by the death penalty or the death penalty. exile. Although the cult of these continued.

List of Muses

Hesiod is the first to give the names of the nine, which from then on became recognized. Plutarch states that in some places the nine were called by the common name of Mneiae, 'remembrances'.

The nine canonical muses are:

• Caliceope (Καλιόπη, ‘of the beautiful voice’); eloquence, beauty and epic or heroic poetry (native song), represented with a laurel crown and carrying a lira. She was the mother of Orpheus and Reso (I pray she died in the Trojan War). Apollo's lover, who gave birth to him two sons, Orpheus and Ialemus.
• Clío (Κλει).who offers glory’); muse of history (epopeya). His function was to keep generous acts and triumphs alive. It is represented with a trumpet and an open book.
• It was (,ρατί, ‘Lovely’); muse of lyric-amorous poetry (wife song). Crowned with roses, it is represented by carrying a crib. As Apollo's lover, they had a son named Tamiris.
• Euterpe (Ε,τέρπη, ‘the very pleasant’); music museespecially the art of playing the flute. It was represented crowned with flowers.
• Melpomene (Missελπομ Muerteν Cristian, ‘the melodiosa’); muse of tragedy. Tragedy as difficult art that awakens the wit and the imagination. It is richly dressed and wearing a tragic mask as its main attribute.
• Polimnia (GENERATOR: μνα, ‘that of many hymns’); muse of sacred songs and sacred poetry (himnos). She was dressed in white.
• Talia (original λεια or ieseαλία, ‘the festive’); comedy muse and bucolic poetry. He presided over the banquets and other feasts, giving gifts of abundance.
• Terpsícore (Τεριχόρη, ‘that delights in dance’); dance muse and choral poetry. Represented with garlands. Apollo's lover, some versions state that his son Lino gave birth to Terpsícore, other versions believe it was with Urania.
• Urania (PHONELING) ‘the heavenly’); muse of astronomy, didactic poetry and the exact sciences. It is represented by carrying a globe that measures with a compass. Apolo's fourth mistress.

Homer sometimes names a Muse (singular) and other times a Muses (plural), but only once does he say there were nine. However, he does not mention any of her names.

In the IV century d. C., prior to the Middle Ages, after the rise to power of Christianity, the Edict of Thessalonica was issued, where all activity and original worship (pagan) was prohibited, by order of the Roman emperors (Christians), the worship of the muses, as of all deities, were proscribed for more than a thousand years. In a very late period, the muses (which were reduced to seven) were considered again, associating them with the so-called major arts, including history.

• The nine Muses
• 

  Caliceope

• 

  Clío

• 

  Era

• 

  Euterpe

• 

  Melpomene

• 

  Polimnia

• 

  Talia

• 

  Terpsícore

• 

  Urania

Genealogy

Apollo and the Musas(Neue Pinakothek, Munich)

The genealogy of the Muses is not the same in all sources. The most common notion is that they were daughters of Zeus, king of the Olympians, and Mnemosyne, goddess of memory, and that they were born in Pieria (Thrace), at the foot of Mount Olympus, which is why they were sometimes called Pierides, but some authors such as Alcmán, Mimnermo and Praxila considered them more primordial, daughters of Uranus and Gaea. Pausanias explains that there were two generations of Muses, the first and oldest being daughters of Uranus and Gaia and the second of Zeus and Mnemosyne.

Other versions claimed they were daughters:

• From Píero and a ninfa Pimplea (so sometimes called Pimpleas or Pimpleides) to which Cicero calls Antiope;
• From Apollo;
• Zeus and Plusia;
• From Zeus and Moneta, probably a simple translation of Mnemósine or Mneme, from which they are called Mnemonides;
• Eter and Gea.

Eupheme is considered to be the nurse of the Muses and at the foot of Mount Helicon her statue appeared next to that of Lino.

About her number

Apollo and the Musas (Borgogna Museum)

From Pausanias we know that originally three Muses were worshiped on Mount Helicon in Boeotia: Meletea ('meditation'), Mnemea ('memory') and Aedea or Aoide ('song', 'voice'). Her cult and her names were said to have been first introduced by Ephialtes and Oto. Together they formed the complete picture of the preconditions for poetic art in religious practices.

Three were also recognized in Sicyon, where one of them bore the name Polymathia, and in Delphi, where their names were identical to those of the three strings of the lyre, that is, Nete, Mese, and Hipate, or Cefiso, Apolonis and Boristenis, which were the names that characterized them as daughters of Apollo.

As daughters of Zeus and Plusia there are mentions of four Muses: Telxinoe ('delight of the heart'), Aedea, Arque ('beginning') and Meletea. Some sources, in which they are again considered daughters of Piero, mention seven muses: Neilo, Tritone, Asopus, Heptapora, Achelois, Tipoplo and Rhodia, and lastly others mention eight, which is also said to be the recognized number in Athens.

Artistic representations

In the oldest works of art there are only three Muses and their attributes are musical instruments, such as the flute, the lyre or the barbiton.

In Roman, Renaissance and Neoclassical art, each of the nine Muses received different attributes and attitudes when represented in sculptures or paintings, depending on the artistic or scientific discipline with which they were associated, which allowed them to be distinguished:

In some representations the Muses appear with feathers on their heads, alluding to the competition with the Sirens. They also appeared on occasions accompanied by Apollo.

Myths

Apollo and the Nine Musas (G, Moreau)

In the Homeric poems, the Muses are considered goddesses of music and poetry who live on Olympus. There they sing merry songs at the meals of the gods, and at Patroclus's funeral they sang lamentations. From the close relationship existing in Greece between music, poetry and dance, it can also be inferred that one of the occupations of the Muses was dancing. As they were worshiped on Mount Helicon they were naturally associated with Dionysus and dramatic poetry, and were therefore described as his companions, playmates, or nursemaids.

The power most often attributed to them is to bring to the mind of the mortal poet the events to be recounted, as well as granting him the gift of singing and giving elegance to what he recites. There is no reason to doubt that the older poets were sincere in their invocation of the Muses and that they really believed themselves to be inspired by them, but in later times, as at the present time, such invocation is mere imitation. (See “Roles in the Literature” below.)

Being goddesses of song, they are naturally related to Apollo, the god of the lyre, who also instructed bards and was mentioned alongside them even by Homer. In later times Apollo is placed in a very close relationship with them, as he is described as head of the choir of the Muses with the epithet Musageta (Μουσαγέτης).

Another characteristic of the Muses is their prophetic power, which belongs to them partly because they were considered inspirational nymphs and partly because of their relationship with Apollo, the prophetic god of Delphi. Hence, they instructed, for example, Aristeo in the art of prophecy.

Since the poets and bards drew their power from the Muses, and although the general idea is that, like the other nymphs, they were virginal divinities, some were often called their disciples or sons:

• Lino is called the son of Anphimarus and Urania, or Apollo and Caliope, or Terpsícore;
• Jacinto, son of Piero and Clío;
• Orpheus, Caliope or Clío;
• Tamiris, Erato.

Intitulate fresco Apollo. god of light, eloquence, poetry, and beautiful arts, with Urania, muse of astronomy (Cleveland Art Museum)

Although the muses do not have their own legendary cycle, some minor myths are attributed to them:

• Marsias was a frigid pastor (in other versions, a satire) who challenged Apollo to a music contest. He had found an aulos invented by Athena that he had thrown away because it made him swell his cheeks. Apollo touched his lira and Marsias this flute, and both did so well that neither Midas, whom they had invited as judge, nor the Musas could decree a victor. Then Apollo challenged Marsias to touch the reverse instrument: he turned his lire and touched, but the aulos could not touch the other way around. Then the Muses declared Apollo a victor, but Midas objected against this verdict. The Musas were mostly and refused to yield. Apollo, to punish Marsias for his pride and audacity when he challenged a god, tied him to a tree and desolated him alive, giving his blood origin to the river Marsias (in other versions, the Fauns, the Satiros and the Drades wept him so much that his tears were the ones that gave birth to the river). Then he touched the head of Midas, and the ears of Midas grew to be like a donkey.
• The Piérides They were nine daughters of King Piero de Pieria, in Thrace, very skilled in the art of singing that, proud of their talent, challenged the Musas. The nymphs of the Parnasus were appointed as judges, and as expected they failed in favor of the Musas. They punished the Pyérides by transforming them into rags, thus turning their voices into greasy.
• After being killed by Dioniso, the Musas picked up the pieces of the corpse. Orfeoand buried them at the foot of the holy Mount Olympus, where it has been said since that the nightingale sings more sweetly than in any other place.
• Tamiris, legendary singer son of Filamon and the Bolivarian nymph, challenged the Musas, demanding to be victorious to join successively with nine. The Musa beat and blinded Tamiris for their hybrids.
• The Mermaidswho also dared to compete with them, they were deprived of the feathers of their wings, which the Musas themselves set as an ornament.

Roles in society

The Greek word mousa is a common noun as well as a type of goddess: it literally means 'song' or 'poem'. The word probably derives from the Indo-European root *men-, which is also the origin of the Greek Mnemosyne, the Latin Minerva, and the words Castilian mente and museum. Or, alternatively, from *mont-, 'mountain', due to her residence on Mount Helicon, which is less likely in meaning, but more likely linguistically.

The Muses were therefore the personifications and sponsors of the representations of speeches in verse or mousike (from which "music" comes), 'art of the Muses'. In the archaic period, before books were widely available, this included almost all forms of teaching: the first Greek book on astronomy, by Thales, was written in dactylic hexameters, as were many other works of pre-Socratic philosophy. Both Plato and the Pythagoreans explicitly included philosophy as a subgenre of mousike. Herodotus, whose main means of expression was public recitation, named each of the nine books of his Histories after a different muse.

For the poet and lawgiver Solon, the Muses were "the key to the good life," bringing both prosperity and friendship. Solon sought the perpetuation of his political reforms through the establishment of the recitation of his poetry (complete with invocations to his practical Muses) by Athenian boys at each year's festivals.

Roles in Literature

Athena next to the musesof Frans Florisc. 1560).

The Muses are typically invoked at or near the beginning of an epic poem or classical Greek story. They served as an aid to an author, or as a true speaker of which the author was nothing more than the voice. Originally, the invocation of the muses was an indication that the speaker moved in the poetic tradition, according to the established formulas.

Some classic examples are:

Let us begin our song by the Helician Musas, who inhabit the great and divine mountain of the Helicon, where they form beautiful and delicious choirs on the summit, throwing to the wind their wonderful voice, with hymns to Zeus, bearer of the aegis, to Hera, to Athena, to Apolo, to Artemisa, to Poseidon, to Aphrodite, and to the remaining sacred sepe. This message to me, in the first place, was addressed to me by the goddess, the Olympic Musas, daughters born of the mighty Zeus: Clíus, Euterpe, Talia, Melpomene, Terpsícore, Eratus, Polimnia, Urania and Caliope (...) So sacred is the gift of the Musas for men! Greetings, daughters of Zeus! Grant me the spell of your song.

Hesiod, Theogonycentury VII-VIII a. C.

Tell me, Musa, man's history of many paths,
that, after destroying the sacred city of Troy,
I've been wandering around for a long time.

Homer, Odyssey I

Tell me, Musa, the causes.
or it hurts why the queen of the gods suffer so many sorrows
He pushed a man of unworthiness, to face
to so much fatigue. Is the wrath of the heart of the gods so great?

Virgil, Eneida I

Oh muses, oh high geniuses, help me!
Oh memory that points to what I saw,
Now you will see your true nobility!

Dante, The Divine Comedy, Hell II

Sing, celestial Musa, the first disobedience of man. And the fruit of that forbidden tree whose wicked delicacy brought death to the world and all our evils with the loss of Eden, until a man, greater, conquered for us the blessed mansion.

John Milton, The Lost Paradise I

Who gave me a muse of fire that transports you to the brightest sky of the imagination; princes by actors, a kingdom by theater, and kings who behold this pompous scene

William Shakespeare, prologue of Enrique V

You who gave me sound rhymes, blame yes, although bucolic, Talia

Luis de Góngora, first verses of the Polifemo and Galatea Fables

Cult of the Muses

The Valley of the Muses seen from Mount Helicón.

The worship of the Muses originally points to Thrace and Pieria on Mount Olympus, from where it was introduced to Boeotia, in such a way that the names of the mountains, caves and fountains related to their worship were likewise transferred from north to south. Near Mount Helicon, it was said that Ephialtes and Othus (the Aloadas) offered them the first sacrifices, and in the same place there was a sanctuary with their statues, the fountains Hippocrene and Aganipe (for which they were sometimes called Aganipedas ), and on Mount Leibethrion, which is related to Helicon, there was a grotto dedicated to them. It was said that Piero, a Macedonian, was one of the first to introduce the worship of the nine Muses from Thrace to Thespia, at the foot of Helicon. There was a temple and statues there, and the Thespians celebrated a solemn festival of the Muses on Helicon, called the Museia (Μουσεῖα). Mount Parnassus was likewise consecrated to them, along with the Castalia spring, near which they had a temple, and the Corycia cave, for which they were sometimes called Castalides, Corichides or Coricianas.

From Boeotia, which thus became the center of worship of the nine Muses, it later spread into the adjacent and more distant regions of Greece. For this reason there is a temple of the Muses in the Academy of Athens; sacrifices were offered to them in Sparta before going into battle; at Troezen, where their cult was introduced by Ardalo, sacrifices were offered to them along with Hypnos, the god of sleep; in Corinth they had consecrated the Pirene fountain, the fountain of Pegasus; in Rome they had an altar in common with Hercules, who was also considered a Musagete, and they owned a temple in Ambracia adorned with his statues.

The worship of the Muses used to be also related to the heroic cult of poets: both the tomb of Archilochus in Paros and those of Hesiod and Thamyris in Boeotia hosted festivals in which poetic declamations were accompanied by sacrifices to the Muses.

The sacrifices offered to them consisted of libations of water or milk and honey. The various epithets with which they were designated by the poets come mostly from the places that were consecrated to them or where they were worshipped, although some allude to the sweetness of their songs.

When Pythagoras arrived in Crotona, his first advice to the Crotonians was to build an altar to the Muses in the center of the city, to promote civic harmony and learning.

The Library of Alexandria and its circle of researchers formed around a Mouseîon ('museum' or altar of the Muses) near the tomb of Alexander the Great.

Many Enlightenment figures sought to re-establish a "Cult of the Muses" in the 18th century. A famous Masonic lodge in pre-revolutionary Paris was called Les Neuf Sœurs ('the nine sisters', that is, the nine Muses), and it was attended by Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Danton and other influential figures of the epoch. A side effect of this movement was the use of the word museum (originally, 'place of worship of the Muses') to refer to a place intended for the public display of knowledge.

Worship today

Temple of the Musas, Pythagorean Institute (Curitiba, Brazil)

The Muses are today inspiring figures in fountains and art rooms. In recent years there has been a religious phenomenon known as Hellenism, in Greece and other parts of the world, which practice the cult of the Olympic divinities and ancient scriptures, such as those of Hesiod and Homer.

Miscellaneous

• The Safo poets of Lesbos and Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz have been nicknamed the "Museum Day", in their respective times.
• Currently, the Sciences give honor to the muses, appointing most of them in species of butterflies and plants.
• The Constitution of 1920 of Gabriele D'Annunzio for the free state of Fiume was based around 9 muses and invoked Energeia (‘energy’) as “the tenth Musa”.
• In New Orleans (USA) and Guadalajara (Mexico) there are streets called in honor of the Musas.
• The muses have their equivalence in Roman mythology, "camenas" (although these had another meaning).
• The μ's group of the Love Live franchise finds its name inspired by the nine muse of Greek mythology.
• Extensive lists of video games were inspired by the muse example of it would be Fortnite that large amounts of "skins" are of the already mentioned muse.

The muses in art

Throughout history, the muses have been the object of inspiration in paintings and sculptures, especially since the Renaissance.

• Gallery of statues, reliefs and frescoes
• 
• 
• 
• 
•