Muses/Mousai/Musae- the goddesses of literature, science, knowledge, music, song, dance and art. They were usually nine in number and thought to be daughters of Zeus and the Titaness of memory, Mnemosyne. In other traditions they were the daughters of Ouranos and Gaia, or Apollo, or Harmonia, daughter of Aphrodite and Ares. They were named Kleio/Cleio/Clio, Euterpe, Thaleia/Thalia, Terpsikhore/Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia/Polymnia, Ourania,/Urania, Melpomene and Kalliope/Calliope.
Apollo was said to be their leader and they usually accompanied him. He was said to be father to three of the Muses, either Kephiso/Cephisso, Apollonis and Borysthenis, or Nete, Mese, Hypate (the chords on a lyre).
There were additionally three or four others, usually said to be the daughters of Ouranos and Gaia, they were Melete (Practice/Occasion/Thought/Meditation), Aoide/Aoede (Song/Tune), and Mneme (Memory), or Melete, Aiode, Arkhe, and Thelxinoe. The Roman Varro described them as ' one who is born from the movement of water, another who makes sound by striking the air, and a third who is embodied only in the human voice.'
Clio was the Muse of history, she was depicted with scrolls, and was sometimes said to be mother to Hymenaios/Hymenaeus, the god of weddings and an Erote. Sometimes he was a son of Calliope or Terpsichore with Apollo. Apollodorus says that Aphrodite made her fall in love with the mortal Pieros/Pierus, king of Macedon, or king Oebalus of Sparta, or king Amyclas because she had chided Aphrodite over her affair with Adonis, the result was a son, Hyacinthus/Hyakinthos/Hyacinth. This son was a lover of Apollo's, killed by a discus thrown by Apollo, it was either an accident or it said that Zephyrus, the west wind who was jealous of their love, blew the discus at him.
Euterpe was the Muse of lyric poetry/music. She was depicted with the aulos/double-flute. She may have had a son, Rhesos/Rhesus, with the river god Strymon, though his mother is also given to be Calliope or Terpsichore. Homer said his father was Eioneus/Deioneus, the father-in-law of Ixion whom Ixion murdered. He was a Thracian king who fought on the side of the Trojans during the Trojan War. He was murdered in his tent and Diomedes and Odysseus stole his horses.
Thalia was the Muse of comedy and bucolic/idyllic poetry, and she was depicted with a comic mask, a shepherd's crook and a wreath of ivy. Sometimes she had boots and a bugle/trumpet. With Apollo she was sometimes said to be mother to the Corybantes/Korybantes, seven/nine men who danced with shield and spear. Alternatively, Apollo had them with the nymph Rhetia, or Zeus fathered them with Calliope.
Terpsichore was the Muse of choral song and dance and depicted with a lyre. She was sometimes given as the mother of the Sirens with the river god Achelous/Akheloios, alternatively their mother was Melpomene, the princess Sterope, or Gaia. Some authors say Hera persuaded them to challenge the Muses to a singing contest, they did so and lost and the Muses plucked their feathers and they fell into the sea. Alternatively, they died when Odysseus heard their singing but escaped their lure. She was also given a son with Apollo, Linus/Linos, though he was more likely a son of Calliope.
Erato was the Muse of erotic poetry/lyrical poetry/love poetry and depicted with a lyre or kithara/cithara (a professional version of the lyre) and a wreath of myrtle and roses. Sometimes she held the golden arrow of Eros or was accompanied by Eros. In one story Zeus gave her to Malos and with him she had a daughter, Kleophema/Cleophema. She may have married Phlegyas, a son of Ares, and with him had Coronis/Koronis, Apollo's lover who became mother to Asclepius, and was killed by Artemis for betraying Apollo.
Polyhymnia was the Muse of religious hymns, sacred poetry, eloquence, agriculture, and pantomine. She was depicted as looking serious and meditative, cloaked with a veil, usually with one finger to her mouth. Nonnus says that at Harmonia's wedding she spoke with her hands and eyes rather than her voice.
Urania was the Muse of astronomy and was depicted holding a globe and being cloaked with the stars. Sometimes Linus/Linos and Hymenaeus were said to be her sons, with Apollo.
Melpomene was the Muse of tragedy and was depicted with the tragic mask, a sword/knife/club, cothurnus boots and a wreath of ivy or cypress. Sometimes she was said to be mother to the Sirens.
Calliope was the Muse of epic poetry and was depicted with a tablet and stylus or scroll, a book, or a lyre and she was crowned. The oldest and wisest of the Muses she was mother to the infamous, tragic poet Orpheus, with Apollo, and possibly Linus/Linos too. Orpheus was torn apart by Maenads, though his head remained singing and it floated with his lyre to Lesbos where it was enshrined. The Muses gathered up his body and buried it beneath Mt.Olympus and put his lyre in the heavens. His head prophesised until his father silenced it. Linus/Linos taught Orpheus and Heracles music, he was killed by Heracles with his own lyre for scolding him too often. Alternatively, their father is sometimes given to be King Oeagrus of Thrace who may have been a son of Ares or Pierus, or a descendant of Atlas and a son of Charops/Charopus, a loyal follower of Dionysus. Calliope married him. With Ares she may have been mother to Mygdon, Edonus, Biston, and Odomantus/Odomas.
The Muses accompanied Apollo, Dionysus and the Charites.
When Thamyris boasted that he could sing better than them they punished him by blinding him and turning him mute.
When King Pierus boasted that his nine daughter, the Pierides, could sing better than the Muses, the Muses entered a contest with them and when the girls lost they turned them into birds.
The Thracian king Pyreneus lured them into his palace promising them shelter but once they were within he tried to trap them. They escaped by turning into birds, insane he tried to leap after them and fell to his death.
They judged the contest between Apollo and the satyr Marsyas. Apollo played the lyre and Marsyas the flute Athena had invented and discarded, when Apollo played his lyre upside down and Marsyas could not do the same, the Muses awarded victory to Apollo and he flayed Marsyas alive. Alternatively, Apollo sung alongside his lyre and Marsyas could not do the same.
They awarded the hunter Crotus/Krotus who a satyr and companion of theirs and a hunter and musician, a place in the heavens as Saggitarius.
Apollodorus says that they taught the sphinx her infamous riddle.
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