Urania
The Muses
As with all Greek mythology, there are different versions of
their origin and even their number varies from three to nine.
The first Muses, Melete, Mneme and Aoede (Meditation, Memory
and Song), were worshipped on Mount Helicon, but they were identified
by different names in other parts of Greece. The writer Hesiod
names the nine Muses we still know today.
For Hesiod the Muses song has the opposite effect to the Sirens’.
"For though man has sorrow and grief in his soul,
when the Muses sing, at once he forgets his dark thoughts
and remembers not his troubles."
Their parents are Zeus and Memory (Mnemosyne). Mount Helicon,
their home, was believed to be one of the most fertile mountains
in Greece. Another classical writer, Pausanias, claimed that
nothing that grew there could harm human life and even the venom
of snakes was less toxic.
When the goddess Minerva visited them she almost envies "their
good fortune in having a home and an occupation which are both
alike so pleasant".
Temples to the Muses existed all over Greece. Their name ‘mouseion’
is the origin of our word museum. They inspired both arts and
sciences. They are said to have taught the Sphinx his riddle
and the nymph Echo her music. They were associated with healing
and prophecy. They are the life affirming, joyful alternative
to the Underworld’s dark seductions.
The Muses continued to fascinate artists, poets and writers
through the centuries. The tradition of invoking their help
outlived the Ancient Greeks and their gods. They represent the
mystery of creativity and the power of the imagination.
They came to be embodied in living women, from Dante’s
Beatrice to Picasso’s many mistresses. But cut off from
their roots in the classical world and its stories, their power
waned. They seemed to have no place in a modern world where
belief is frowned upon and the concept of creativity has fallen
out of fashion. Even inspiration has been disavowed by artists
keen to claim their intellectual superiority.
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