Greek Muses
The nine Muses are all sisters, the daughters of Zeus
and Mnemosyne, or Memory. Each one of the Muses represents a different
human art, and, according to Greek myth, they inspire artists to be
able to create new music, paintings,
or plays. Even historians have
their own muse, Clio, who helps them tell stories. We get the English
word "music" from the Muses.
This is a list of the nine Muses:
Calliope - Music
Clio - History
Erato - Love Poetry and Mime
Euterpe - Lyric Poetry
Melpomene - Tragedy
Polyhymnia - Religious Hymns
Terpsichore - Choirs and Dancing
Thalia - Comedy
Urania - Astronomy
To find out more about the Muses, check out these books from Amazon.com or from your library:
D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths, by Edgar and Ingri D'Aulaire.
Greek Religion, by Walter Burkert (reprinted 1987). By a leading expert, for adults. He has sections on each of the Greek gods, and discusses their deeper meanings, and their function in Greek society.
Music and the Muses: The Culture of Mousike in the Classical Athenian City, by Penelope Murray and Peter Wilson (2004).
