SISTERS. YOU GOTTA love ‘em. Or at the very least you have to worship them, for without nine classical sisters, there would be no creative inspiration and no intellectual activity. Come to think of it, maybe that is what’s wrong with the world today: No one’s talking to the Muses.
Hesiod did. In fact, it was Hesiod (circa 700 BCE) who claimed that they appeared to him, and who was the first to reveal their names, doing so in his long-ish poem Theogony, which also reveals the origin of the gods and is a standard of Greek mythology. A good guy, Hesiod, he always said he could not have written without the help of these nine sisters. So maybe we really are wrong about that patronizing behind-every-great-man-is-a-woman thing: Maybe it takes nine women per man, and they must all be sisters. I’m just saying.
Looking for some help, inspiration-wise, with all your intellectual pursuits? Get yourself a Muse and put up a shrine. You have nine sisters to choose from; or do as Hesiod did, and enlist the whole pack. Here they are, in order of their considered importance.
•CALLIOPE (kuh-LIE-ah-pee)
Considered the chief of the nine, and called “Maxima” by Ovid, she is the Muse of epic poetry, and has been thanked by no less than Ovid while writing the Aeneid, and by Dante during the penning of his Purgatorio. The mother of the most famous of Muse offspring, Calliope (left) gave birth to Orpheus, whose music, played on his lyre, enchanted wild beasts, trees and even rocks. She is usually depicted with a scroll, tablet or stylus.
•URANIA (you-RAIN-ee-ah)
The Muse of astronomy, you can see Urania in paintings (including the one at the top of this page), pointing to a globe. Milton covers her in Paradise Lost, but she’s also believed to have inspired Moses, as well as several other Hebrew prophets.
•CLIO (Kly-oh)
The Muse of history (right), Clio was the mother of Linus, himself the inventor of rhythm and melody–sound familiar? Think Charlie Brown–she is frequently seen holding a scroll.
•TERPSICHORE (turp-SICK-uh-ree)
The Muse of the dance. You’ll see her doing that, or sometimes merely holding a lyre in her arms.
•MELPOMENE (mell-POM-in-ee)
The Muse of tragedy, she gets very dramatic, indeed, frequently posing with the tragic mask, but sometimes also bringing along a dagger, and pointing it toward herself. We all know this girl.
•THALIA (Thuh-LYE-ah)
The Muse of comedy and pastoral poetry. Images abound of her with the comic mask and/or the rustic shepherd’s crook.
•EUTERPE (you-TURP-ee)
The inventor of the double flute, she is the Muse of lyric poetry. A single mother, like several of her sisters (note: none of the Muses married. Hmmm…) Euterpe is the mother of Rhesus, one of the early casualties in the Trojan War.
•ERATO (AIR-a-toe)
Erato is perhaps the most surprising of the sisters: While she is the Muse of erotic poetry, there is no scandal attached to her name.
•POLYHYMNIA (polly-HIM-nee-ah)
The Muse of sacred songs (as in hymns), Polyhymnia (left) is said to have given birth to Triptolemus, who invented farming. Now, if you think Polyhymnia or any of the Muses are to be messed with, a word of advice: Think of them as your (much) older sisters, and don’t. History is full of stories of those who did, and all of them end badly.
Consider Pierus, King of Macedonia, who foolishly not only named all his daughters for the Muses, but then let the girls challenge their namesakes to a singing contest. Teaching them humility, the Muses not only trounced the girls in the challenge, but then turned them into a gaggle of nattering magpies.
The Sirens of Titan, those half-bird, half-woman seductresses, also challenged the super sisters, only to have their feathers plucked and made into crowns. Thamyris, a mythic poet, foolishly claimed to be better at composing poetry than the sisters. His debt? He lost it all: his ability to write, speak and–oooops–see.
Don’t think the Muses have any place in your current life? Think again when you next start off to the museum.—Marion Roach Smith
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How do we know all this stuff? We read. For this, we read What Are the Seven Wonders of the World? By Peter d’Epiro and Mary Desmond Pinkowish, Anchor books, a division of Random House. (By the way, that’s Euterpe with Urania, left.)
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Marion: Thanks for adding nine women to my female collection.
I promise not to mess with any or all. Love.
Welcome, Wayne; nice to see you here. Marion will be stopping back shortly to say a proper hello…for now, I will have to do.
Dear Wayne: I am delighted to see you here. Reading up on your muses, are you? How wonderful. They are worth the love, as well as the respect. Please keep visiting us. Much love right back.
I’m doing a report on the Nine Muses in my English class and found your site very helpful. Just wanted to say thanks.
Thanks Alyssa, and welcome. Hope to see you again soon!
My sister is the oldest one and I the youngest one. There is a middle child but she’s lost in the woods and we are waiting for her to wake up and smell the real world!
Now my oldest sister is really one of a kind, and kind she is to every one who she sees whether at the local pharmacy or the doctor’s office to her job, Heidi is known as the tornado that brings energy and joy to so many. I’m thankful to have a sister as her in my life.
Hello, Margaret!
Just discovered your exquisite website while looking around for the Muses! Looks like Calliope for me, for openers! :-)
Thanks!
:-)