Muses

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The Muses are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts in Greek mythology. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs, and myths that were related orally for centuries in these ancient cultures. They were later adopted by the Romans as a part of their pantheon. In current English usage, "muse" can refer in general to a person who inspires an artist, musician, or writer. The word "music" derives from Greek mousik: "art of the Muses".

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The Muses (Ancient Greek: Moũsai) perhaps came from the Proto-Indo-European root men- ("to think") or from root men- ("to tower, mountain") since all the most important cult-centres of the Muses were on mountains or hills.

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The Nine Muses were the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (i. e. "Memory" personified), figuring as personifications of knowledge and the arts, especially literature, dance and music:

Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Euterpe (flutes and lyric poetry), Thalia (comedy and pastoral poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Terpsichore (dance), Erato (love poetry), Polyhymnia (sacred poetry), Urania (astronomy).

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Ancient authors and their imitators invoke Muses when writing poetry, hymns or epic history. The invocation occurs near the beginning of their work. It asks for help or inspiration from the Muses, or simply invites the Muse to sing directly through the author. Besides Homer and Virgil, other famous works that included an invocation of the Muse are the first of the carmina by Catullus, Ovid's Metamorphoses and Amores, Dante's Inferno (Canto II), Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde (Book II), Shakespeare's Henry V (Act 1, Prologue), his 38th sonnet, and Milton's Paradise Lost (opening of Book 1).

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In Greek mythology, Euterpe ("rejoicing well" or "delight" from Ancient Greek eu 'well' + terpein 'to please') was one of the Muses, the daughters of Mnemosyne, fathered by Zeus. Called the "Giver of delight", when later poets assigned roles to each of the Muses, she was the muse of music. In late Classical times she was named muse of lyric poetry and depicted holding a flute. A few say she invented the aulos or double-flute, though most mythographers credit Marsyas with its invention.

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Thalia (Ancient Greek: "the joyous, the flourishing", from thállein; "to flourish, to be verdant"), also spelled Thaleia, was the goddess who presided over comedy and idyllic poetry. In this context her name means "flourishing", because the praises in her songs flourish through time. She was the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the eighth-born of the nine Muses. She was portrayed as a young woman with a joyous air, crowned with ivy, wearing boots and holding a comic mask in her hand. Many of her statues also hold a bugle and a trumpet (both used to support the actors' voices in ancient comedy), or occasionally a shepherd’s staff or a wreath of ivy.

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Urania (Ancient Greek: Ourania; meaning "heavenly" or "of heaven"), also spelt Uranus, was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy. Urania was the daughter of Zeus by Mnemosyne and also a great granddaughter of Uranus. Some accounts list her as the mother of the musician Linus by Apollo or Amphimarus, son of Poseidon, and Hymenaeus also is said to have been a son of Urania. Urania is often associated with Universal Love and the Holy Spirit. Sometimes identified as the eldest of the divine sisters, Urania inherited Zeus' majesty and power and the beauty and grace of her mother Mnemosyne. Urania dresses in a cloak embroidered with stars and keeps her eyes and attention focused on the Heavens. She is usually represented with a celestial globe to which she points with a little staff. She is able to foretell the future by the arrangement of the stars.

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Melpomene ("to sing" or "the one that is melodious"), initially the Muse of Chorus, she then became the Muse of Tragedy, for which she is best known now. Her name was derived from the Greek verb melpô or melpomai meaning "to celebrate with dance and song." She is often represented with a tragic mask and wearing the cothurnus, boots traditionally worn by tragic actors. Often, she also holds a knife or club in one hand and the tragic mask in the other.

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The Elder Muses

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THE MOUSAI TITANIDES were three or four elder Muses, ancient Titan-goddesses of music. They were named Melete (Practise), Aiode (Song), and Mneme (Memory). The last of these would have been identified with Mnemosyne (Memory), mother of the nine celebrated Olympian Muses by Zeus.

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Aoede was one of the three original (Boeotian) muses, which later expanded to five, before the Nine Olympian Muses were named. Her sisters were Melete and Mneme. She was the muse of voice and song. According to Greek mythology, she is the daughter of Zeus, the King of the Gods, and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. She lends her name to the moon Jupiter XLI, also called Aoede, which orbits the planet Jupiter.

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Melete was one of the three original (Boeotian) muses before the Nine Olympian Muses were founded. Her sisters were Aoide and Mneme. She was the muse of thought and meditation. Melete literally means "ponder" and "contemplation" in Greek. According to Pausanias in the later 2nd century AD, there were three original Muses: Aoidē ("song" or "voice"), Meletē ("practice" or "occasion"), and Mnēmē ("memory"). Together, these three form the complete picture of the preconditions of poetic art in cult practice.

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Mneme was one of the three original (Boeotian) muses, along with her sisters Aoide and Melete before Arche and Thelxinoë were identified, increasing the number to five. Later, the Nine Olympian Muses were named. She was the muse of memory.

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Links: https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/greek-vs-roman-gods

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Don't miss: https://monquotidien.playbacpresse.fr/exposes/mquo/mythologies-et-religions-1