The Muses
by Aracely Santillanes
The Muses were nine goddesses of the arts and science. The Greeks believed the Muses lived on Mount Olympus with their leader, the god Apollo. The Muses remained young and beautiful forever. They could see into the future which few other gods could do. They also had the ability to vanish grief and sorrow. The muses had pleasing melodic voices and often sang as a chorus. Artists called on the Muses for inspiration before beginning to work. Any one or all the Muses could be asked for assistance even though each governed a special art or science.
Not only their number but their parentage varied among the most ancient writers. Most commonly they were called the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (memory.)
The Muses were not only divine singers, destined to entertain the immortals, they were the patrons of all intellectual activities: everything that freed man from physical reality and gave him access to eternal truth. As civilization progressed, their domain was extended to eloquence, persuasion, wisdom, knowledge of the past and laws of the world, mathematics, astronomy: all came within their province.
Their numbers varied over time. Originally there were three. The nine muses finally established in the worship and imagination of the Greeks were: Calliope, for epic and heroic poetry; Euterpe, for music and lyric poetry; Melpomene for tragedy; Polyhymnia, for songs or hymns to the gods; Terpsichore for dance; Thalia for comedy; Urania for astronomy, and two others. Their leader was Hyperion.
Source Book: The New Book of Knowledge
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