However, we chose it for a reason: in this order, the initials of the Muses form an acronym (“TUM PECCET”) which students used for many centuries to remember the names of the goddesses. The order in which we presented the Muses here is not the order they are usually given in.
In “The Theogony,” Hesiod tells us that there were nine Muses – and most authors, especially since Roman times, abide by his account. However, the names he cites for them – Melete (“Study”), Mneme (“Memory”), and Aoide (“Song”) – sound too modern to believe him. According to Plutarch, one of the Sicyonian Muses was called Polymatheia, or “The One of Much Learning.” Pausanias, a Greek geographer from the second century, claims that there were originally three Heliconian Muses as well. The Three MusesĪt both Delphi and Sicyon, there were no more than three Muses. However, they are most often either three (probably in earlier reports) or nine (following Hesiod and maybe Homer). There are various accounts of five, seven and even eight Muses. They are: Calliope, muse of eloquence and heroic poetry Clio, muse of history Érato, muse of lyric and erotic poetry Euterpe, muse of music Melpomene, muse of tragedy Polymnia, muse of sacred poetry Terpsichore, muse of dance Talia, muse of comedy and festivity and Urania, muse of astronomy.Depending on the region where they were celebrated, both the names and the number of Muses varied. They are nine muses and each one is linked to some scientific or artistic component. The Muses inspired the names of the museums, but do you know who these creatures were? Museum, from the Greek Moiseum, means Temple of the Muses, and in Alexandria, already in antiquity, this designation was used for places that served to the study of the art and the sciences, fields connected to these mythological beings. Initially, the muses were created to celebrate the victory of the gods over the Titans, in the so-called Titanomachy.Ĭonsidered deities of spring, over time their importance increased until they became goddesses – and responsible for human inspiration. The ancient Greeks believed that their work was inspired and helped directly by the Muse of the art in which they fit.įor this reason, all epic poems, for example, typically begin with a request from the author to the muse Calliope, so that she inspires him.įrom the from the relationship of Mnemósine with Zeus the Muses were born: Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polymnia, Terpsichore, Talia and Urania. Represented with a comic mask, and may still use a crown of ivy. Thalia, Muse of Comedy, Jean Marc Nattier, 1739, Mildred Anna Williams Collection Thalia – The Comedy This article contains a video explaining the 9 muses.