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The Muses were nine goddesses presiding over the Arts and the Sciences
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Apollo and the Muses on Mount Helicon by Claude Lorrain (1860). Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
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The Creation of the Muses
The Muses were nine very intelligent, beautiful and careless divinities. Each Muse was responsible for a different literary or poetic genre. They were created by Zeus, the King of the Gods, who secretly laid for nine nights with Mnemosyne, the Titaness of memory.
The Role of the Muses and Apollo
The Muses were brought to life to make the world disremember the evil and relieve the sorrows and to praise the gods, and especially the Olympian Gods' victory over their ancestors, the Titans. Apollo was the main teacher of the Muses. They were usually accompanying him and the Graces on their strolls and loved singing and dancing on soft feet on laurel leaves, while Apollo was playing the lyre.
The Home of the Muses
Home of the Muses was Mount Helicon in Central Greece, a mountain that was sacred to the Greek god Apollo, the Greek god of the music, the light and the sun. Their most significant sanctuary was in Pieria, close toMount Olympus. For this reason, they were often called Pierides.
Interesting Facts about the Muses
It were the Muses who unveiled the Greek shepherd Hesiod the origins and genealogies of the ancient Greek gods and then blessed and inspired him to write his famous epic poem, the Theogony.
The Muses may have had Mnemosyne, the goddess of Memory, as their mother-however, their mission was to make people actually forget their sorrows and don't think about their cares.
Modern words deriving from the god Muses: Museum, Music
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Greek pronunciation
English pronunciation
