![]() ![]() “And once they (the Muses) taught Hesiod fine singing, as he tended his lambs below holy Helicon…. This is clearly reflected by Hesiod, who claimed that he was taught to sing by the Muses themselves, It was from the Muses that the artists of ancient Greece and Rome received their inspiration. At any rate, many later writers followed Hesiod’s example.Īs mentioned earlier, the Muses had an important role in Classical mythology, serving as the patron goddesses of the various arts. ![]() It seems that it was here that Hesiod was born and raised, and hence not entirely surprising that he chose the mountain as the home of the Muses. The legendary Furies of ancient Greek mythologyĪpollo and the Muses on Mount Helicon.The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon.According to scholars, Hesiod’s father was from Cyme, an Aeolian city on the coast of Asia Minor, but relocated to Ascra, a village on the eastern side of Mount Helicon. Helicon is a mountain located in Boeotia, between Lake Kopais and the Gulf of Corinth. Nevertheless, one of their favorite haunts was Mount Helicon, as evident in the first lines of his Theogony, “From the Muses of Helicon let us begin our singing, that haunt Helicon’s great and holy mountain, and dance on their soft feet round the violet-dark spring and the altar of the mighty son of Kronos”. Later on, however, a Macedonian by the name of Pierus of Emathia established the worship of the Nine Muses and changed their names to the ones we know of today.Īs for the abode of the Muses, Hesiod mentions that they live on Mount Olympus. The Greek traveler and geographer Pausanias, for instance, wrote that originally, there were three Muses – Melete (Practice or Meditation), Mneme (Memory), and Aoede (Song), and that their worship was established by the giants Otus and Ephialtes, known also as the Aloadae, after their step-father, Aloeus. In addition, while the number of Muses is traditionally said to be nine, the sources differ from one another once more. For instance, the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus refers to the Muses as the daughters of Ouranos and Gaia, while Homer, in the Odyssey, mentions that the Muses were born of Zeus, without making any reference to Mnemosyne. Mnemosyne is also considered to be the inventor of language and words, and also a goddess of time.Īlthough Hesiod’s version of the myth is the most popular one, it is not the only one explaining how the Muses came into being. Therefore, Mnemosyne’s connection with the Muses is quite relevant. In particular, she is associated with the rote memorization that was necessary to preserve the myths and histories of the ancient Greek before the invention of writing. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that this goddess, who was the daughter of Ouranos and Gaia, was in charge of memory and remembrance. It is rather apt that Hesiod refers to Mnemosyne as the mother of the Muses. The Nine Muses on a 2 nd century Roman sarcophagus. And when the time came, as the months passed away and the seasons turned about, and the long tale of days was completed, she bore nine daughters – all of one mind, their carefree hearts set on song”. Hesiod provides more detail in another part of his Theogony, “Nine nights Zeus the resourceful lay with her (Memory), going up to her holy bed far away from the immortals. In this work, Hesiod wrote “Again, he (Zeus) took love of Memory with her beautiful hair, from whom the Muses with their golden diadems were born to him, nine of them, whose pleasure is in feasts and the delights of song”. One version of the origin of the Nine Muses is found in Hesiod’s Theogony. This is reflected in the word ‘museum’, derived from the Greek mouseion, which originally meant ‘temple or shrine of the Muses’. Today, the domain of the Muses has been extended to include all aspects of art, literature, and science. Therefore, the Nine Muses were considered to be the personification of the literary arts, music, and visual arts, and each of them oversaw a particular aspect of the arts. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed that these goddesses granted inspiration to those involved in creative work, such as poets, musicians, and artists. According to Classical mythology, the Nine Muses are the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (or Memory). ![]()
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