(). The Muses, according to the earliest writers,
were the inspiring goddesses of song, and, according to later noticus, divinities nine Muses spread from Boeotia over other parts of Greece, and ultimately
became generally established. (Respecting the Muses conceived as nymphs see Schol. ad Theocrit. 7.92; Hesych. s. v.
s. v.
ad Virg. Eclog.
7.21.)
The genealogy of the Muses is not the same in all writers. The most common notion was, that
they were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and born in Pieria, at the foot of Mount
Olympus (ad
Pind. Nem. 3.16; ad v. Gent. 3.37), and others daughters of Pierus and
a Pimpleian nymph, whom Cicero (De Nat. Deor. 3.21) calls Antiope (Tzetz.
ad Hes. Op. et D. p. 6; Paus. l.c.), or of Apollo,
or of Zeus and Plusia, or of Zeus and Moneta, probably a mere translation of Mnemosyne or
Mneme, whence they are called Mnemonides (Orig. 3.14), or lastly of Aether and Gaea.
(Hygin. Fab. Praef.) Eupheme is called the nurse of the Muses, and at the
foot of Mount Helicon her statue stood beside that of Linus. (
With regard to the number of the Muses, we are informed that originally three were
worshipped on Mount Helicon in Boeotia, namely, Melete (meditation), Mneme (memory), and Aoede
(song); and their worship and names are said to have been first introduced by Ephialtes and
Otus. (Sympos.
9.14), and at Delphi, where their names were identical with those of the lowest, middle, and
highest chord of the lyre, viz. Nete, Mese, and Hypate (Plut. l.c.), or
Cephisso, Apollonis, and Borysthenis, which names characterise them as the daughters of
Apollo. (Tzetz. l.c. ; Arnob. 3.37; Serv. ad Virg.
Eclog. 7.21; ll. cc. ;
ll. cc.), and others,
lastly, mention eight, which is also said to have been the number recognised at Athens.
(Arnob. l.c.; De Re Publ. p. 116.) At length, however, the number nine appears to
have become established in all Greece. Homer sometimes mentions Musa only in the singular, and
sometimes Musae in the plural, and once only (l.c.) states that in some places all nine were designated by the common name Mneiae,
i. e. Remembrances.
If we now inquire into the notions entertained about the nature and character of the Muses,
we find that, in the Homeric poems, they are the goddesses of song and poetry, and live in
Olympus. (Hymn. in
Apoll. Pyth. 11), and at the funeral of Patroclus they sing lamentations. (Isthm. 8.126.) The
power which we find most frequently assigned to them, is that of bringing before the mind of
the mortal poet the events which he has to relate; and that of conferring upon him the gift of
song, and of giving gracefulness to what he utters. (ad Hom. P. 85); and the nine daughters of Pierus, who presumed
to rival the Muses, were metamorphosed into birds. (Hymn. in Lun. 20 ; Nem. iii.; Serv. ad Virg. Georg. 2.476.) Thus Linus is called a son of Amphimarus and Urania
(
The worship of the Muses points originally to Thrace and Pieria about mount Olympus, from
whence it was introduced into Boeotia, in such a ad Virg. Eclog. 10.11.)
Pierus, a Macedonian, is said to have been the first who introduced the worship of the nine Muses, from Thrace to Thespiae, at the foot of mount Helicon. (Fragm. p. 656, ed. Boeckh; De Pyth. Orac. 17.) From Boeotia,
which thus became the focus of the worship of the nine Muses, it afterwards spread into the
adjacent and more distant parts of Greece. Thus we find at Athens a temple of the Muses in the
Academy (Sat. Prol. 4; Quaest. Rom. 59; ad Soph. Oed. Col. 100; Serv. ad Virg.
Eclog. 7.21.) The various surnames by which they are designated by the poets are for the
most part derived from the places which were sacred to them or in which they were worshipped,
while some are descriptive of the sweetness of their songs.
In the most ancient works of art we find only three Muses, and their attributes are musical
instruments, such as the flute, the lyre, or the barbiton. Later artists gave to each of the
nine sisters different attributes as well as different attitudes, of which we here add a brief
account. 1. Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry, appears with a tablet and stylus, and sometimes
with a roll of paper; 2. Cleio, the Muse of history, appears in a sitting attitude, with an
open roll of paper, or an open chest of books; 3. Euterpe, the Muse of lyric poetry, with a
flute; 4. Melpomene, the Muse of tragedy, with a tragic mask, the club of Heracles, or a
sword, her head is surrounded with vine leaves, and she wears the cothurnus; 5. Terpsichore,
the Muse of choral dance and song, appears with the lyre and the plectrum; 6. Erato, the Muse
of erotic poetry and mimic imitation, sometimes, also, has the lyre; 7. Polymnia, or
Polyhymnia, the Muse of the sublime hymn, usually appears without any attribute, in a pensive
or meditating attitude; 8. Urania, the Muse of astronomy, with a staff pointing to a globe; 9.
Thaleia, the Muse of comedy and of merry or idyllic poetry, appears with the comic mask, a
shepherd's staff, or a wreath of ivy. In some representations the Muses are seen with feathers
on their heads, alluding to their contest with the Seirens. (Hirt, Mythol.
Bilderb. p. 203, &c.)