The Nine Muses of Greek Mythology



The Nine Muses of Greek Mythology

Introduction

The word myth has meaning of a story or an idea, on which most of the people believe but in reality that is not truth. It might be a story told in primordial culture in order to explain a belief, practice or occurrence of natural phenomena. When so many myths accumulate together, it makes basis of a 'mythology'. One of the most ancient and well known mythologies is Greek mythology.

As like in other ancient cultures, Greek mythology was used as a tool in order to explain the surroundings, environment and nature in which human being lived. They associated different myths with natural phenomena which they observed. Different myths were also connected to religion and faith in a very complex and complicated manner. These myths believed and explained the possible origins of the different gods, the origin of humanity, the origin of different features and traits of human lives, and life after the death. Ultimately myths were also used to re-tell the famous historical events so that coming generation may know about their ancestors, their lives and their explorations.

The nine Muses in Greek Mythology

According to Greek mythology, the nine Muses are goddesses of the insight of Science, Literature and the Arts which includes poetry, dance and music. These muses were believed to be blessed with magnificent artistic talents. These nine muses were superbly beautiful with utter grace and immense attraction. According to Greek mythology, these muses gifted the gods and human kind with songs, joys and dances. They made the mankind and gods to overlook their troubles. Muses were source of inspiration for writers, musicians and artist in order to achieve intellectual heights.

According to Greek mythology Zeus was the most powerful God. Muses were nine daughters of Zeus god and the female Titan Mnemosyne. The nine muses were very beautiful and each was attributing to different quality. The 'art of muses' included drama, mathematics, geography, music, science, philosophy and specially Arts. Until Renaissance and Neoclassical arts movements, the representation of different muses was not standardized, but after these moment muses were made identifiable by paintings and sculptures while holding different emblems. A brief detail about the nine muses is given below.

Calliope (Kalliope): It means “beautiful-voiced”. She was the Muse of Epic Poetry. She had two sons named Linus and Orpheus. It is believed that she was the most wise and assertive in nature among all the muses and most assertive. She was goddess of eloquence. Calliope is portrayed holding a writing tablet or holding a book, or holding or with wearing a golden crown.

Clio (Kleio): It means to make something famous or celebrate. She was the history Muse. Clio was mother of one son Hyacinth. She is described with a seated by a set of books or open scroll.

Erato: The meaning of Erato is 'lovely' or 'beloved'. She was muse of poetry and lyrics, especially the poetry related to love. Erato is represented with holding roses and ...