The Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, are goddesses of the arts and were often invoked by poets. There are nine Muses, each with their own personality and symbol. The word museum and music come from muse, and many astronomical objects are named after the Muses. The names of the Muses are also used in various other contexts, such as the Clio Awards and the Renault Clio car.
In Greek mythology, the Muses are the daughters of Zeus, the chief Olympian God, and Mnemosyne, or Memoria, a Titan, and one of the three Elder Muses. The Muses are goddesses of the arts and were often regarded as a group by the Greeks, or invoked without being distinguished by name, particularly by poets. Homer, for example, opens the Odyssey with the line:
Andra me ennepe, Mousa, polutropon
what does it mean:
Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many ways
“many ways” which could mean “much travelled” or “shrewd”, both of which apply equally to Odysseus. Since then, poets such as Virgil in the Aeneid, Dante Alighieri in Inferno and John Milton in Paradise Lost have used an invocation to the Muses as an opening for their work.
The Muses were first named by Hesiod in Theogony, and their separate personalities were further developed by the Romans, but some of the roles of the different Muses overlap, depending on the source: it is not a neat and clear division of the arts into nine set off.
Calliope or Kalliope is the goddess of epic poetry. Her name means “beautiful voice” and her symbols are wax tablets and a stylus. Clio or Klio is the goddess of history. Her name means “to tell” and her symbol is a scroll or set of tablets. Erato is the goddess of lyric poetry and mime. Her name means “to love” and her symbol is a lyre. Euterpe is the goddess of lyric poetry and music. Her name means “pleasant” and she is often shown playing the double bell flute, which she is said to have invented.
Melpomene is the goddess of tragedy. Her name means “the Singer” and her symbol is the mask of tragedy. Polyhymnia (Polymnia) is the goddess of church music and pantomime, often depicted resting her chin thoughtfully on her hand. Terpsichore is the goddess of dance and choral singing. Her name means “lover of dance” and she is sometimes shown with a lyre. Talia is the goddess of comedy and pastoral poetry, not to be confused with the grace of the same name. Her name comes from the Greek word meaning “enjoyment” and her symbols are the comedy mask and the shepherd’s crook. Urania is the goddess of astronomy. Her name refers to the heavens. Her symbols are a globe and a peg.
The word museum, institution or place to conserve and exhibit valuable objects of science, history or the arts, derives from the word muse. The word music also comes from muse, as does the word mosaic, an art form in which an image or design is developed from many small, colorful pieces, often of stone or tile.
Many of the Muses are honored with names of astronomical objects. Clio is a Venusian crater. 84 Klio, 22 Kalliope, 62 Erato, 27 Euterpe, 18 Melpomene, 33 Polyhymnia, 81 Terpsichore and 23 Thalia are main belt asteroids. The name of the Muse Urania was mainly used to name astronomical observatories.
But there are other notable uses of the names of various Muses. Calliope is a type of steam organ used in fairgrounds and on riverboats. The Clio Awards honor creative excellence in advertising and design, and the Renault Clio, also called the Renault Thalia, is a subcompact car. Polyhymnia O’Keefe, known as Polly, is the protagonist of several novels by Madeleine L’Engle. The Terpsichore Dances is a famous collection of 312 dances edited by Michael Praetorius. The Urania Prize is an annual literary challenge awarded by the homonymous Italian magazine of Italian science fiction novels.
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