♱ GRACE

imp. tags .ᐟ

side blogs .ᐟ

𖹭 grace's altar - original offerings, prayers, writings etc

𖹭 grace's mailbox - asks answered

𖹭 grace rambles - general religious thoughts

𖹭 scrapbook - quotes and posts that remind me of the gods even if they aren't religious

𖹭 off topic - non religious rambling

♱ drunken confessions - posts relating to/for Dionysus

♱ divinity destructed - posts relating to/for Apollon

♱ mater misericordiae - posts relating to/for Mother Mary

♱ sorrowful vespers - posts relating to saints

♱ in his image - posts relating to God

♱ desi posting - posts relating to me being desi

@grace-of-the-hearth - devotional blog for Lady Hestia

Who are they?

The Mousai or muses are the children of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and the goddesses of music, song and dance, and a source of inspiration to all poets. They are also goddesses of knowledge and remember all things that have happened. Ancient Greek vase paintings depicted the Mousai as beautiful young women with various musical instruments. Later art depicted each of the nine with their own attributes.

Mousai Titanides, Mousai Apollonides, and Olympian Mousai

The Mousai can be divided into three groups. The Mousai Titanides (elder muses), the Mousai Apollonides, and the Olypian muses. The elder muses or Mousai Titanides are 3 or 4 ancient titan-goddesses of music. These include Melete (Practice), Aiode (Song), and Mneme (Memory). Muse Mneme was later identified with Mnemosyne, the mother of the Olympian Mousai. The younger muses or Mousai Apollonides are a group of younger muses, daughters of Apollon who were honoured at the shrine of Delphoi. They include Nete, Mese, and Hypate named after the lyre's lowest, middle, and highest strings. The Olympian Mousai are the ones best known in the modern day. They are the children of Zeus and Mnemosyne. They include Kalliope, Kleio, Ourania, Thaleia, Melpomene, Polymnia, Erato, Euterpe, and Terpsichore.

The Olympian Mousai

♬ Kalliope - muse of epic poetry (beautiful voiced) ♬ Kleio - muse of history (to make famous) ♬ Ourania - muse of astronomy (heavenly) ♬ Thaleia - muse of comedy (rich festivity, blooming) ♬ Melpomene - muse of tragedy (celebrating with song) ♬ Polymnia - muse of religious hymns (many hymns) ♬ Erato - muse of erotic poetry (beloved, lovely) ♬ Euterpe - muse of lyric poetry (giving delight) ♬ Terpsichore - muse of choral song and dance (delighting in dance)

My fav literature mentions

Hesiod, Theogony 915 ff : "And again, he [Zeus] loved Mnemosyne (Memory) with the beautiful hair: and of her the nine gold-crowned Mousai (Muses) were born who delight in feasts and the pleasures of song."

Orphic Hymn 76 to the Muses (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) : "The Mousai (Muses) . . . daughters of Mnemosyne (Memory) and Zeus . . . sweetly speaking Nine . . . Kleio (Clio), and Erato who charms the sight, with thee, Euterpe, ministering delight : Thalia flourishing, Polymnia famed, Melpomene from skill in music named : Terpsikhore (Terpsichore), Ourania (Urania) heavenly bright."

Theognis, Fragment 1. 15 (trans. Gerber, Vol. Greek Elegiac) (Greek elegy C6th B.C.) : "Mousai (Muses) and Kharites (Charites, Graces), daughters of Zeus, who came once to the wedding of Kadmos (Cadmus) [and Harmonia] and sang the lovely verse, ‘What is beautiful is loved, what is not beautiful is not loved.’ This is the verse that went through your immortal lips."

Apuleius, The Golden Ass 6. 24 ff (trans. Walsh) (Roman novel C2nd A.D.) : "[At the wedding of Cupid (Eros) and Psyche (Psykhe):] Vulcanus [Hephaistos (Hephaestus)] cooked the dinner, the Horae (Seasons) brightened the scene with roses and other flowers, the Gratiae (Graces) [Kharites] diffused balsam, and the Musae (Muses), also present, sand in harmony. Apollo sang to the lyre, and Venus [Aphrodite] took to the floor to the strains of sweet music, and danced prettily. She had organized the performance so that the Musae sang in chorus, a Satyrus played the flute, and a Paniscus [a Pan] sang to the shepherd's pipes. This was how with due ceremony Psyche was wed to Cupidos (Love [Eros]."

Pindar, Dirges Fragment 139 (trans. Sandys) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) : "But in another song did three goddesses [Mousai (Muses)] lull to rest the bodies of their sons. The first of these [Terpsikhore (Terpsichore)] sang a dirge over the clear-voiced Linos (Linus) [personification of the lamentation song]; and the second [Ourania (Urania)] lamented with her latest strains Hymenaios (Hymenaeus), who was seized by Moira (Fate), when first he lay with another in wedlock; while the third [Kalliope (Calliope)] sorrowed over Ialmenos (Ialmenus), when his strength was stayed by the onset of a raging malady. But the son of Oiagros (Oeagrus) [and Kalliope], Orpheus of the golden sword."