photograph, Marc Garangerĭifferentiation is a matter rather of mythological systematization than of cult and began with the 8th-century- bce poet Hesiod, who mentioned the names of Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia (Polyhymnia), Urania, and Calliope, who was their chief. 1971, by French Reproduction Rights, Inc. Courtesy of the Musee National d'Art Moderne, Paris permission S.P.A.D.E.M. The Muses, oil painting by Maurice Denis, 1893 in the National Museum of Modern Art, Paris. Probably, to begin with, the Muses were one of those vague collections of deities, undifferentiated within the group, which are characteristic of certain, probably early, strata of Greek religion. There were nine Muses as early as Homer’s Odyssey, and Homer invokes either a Muse or the Muses collectively from time to time. They probably were originally the patron goddesses of poets (who in early times were also musicians, providing their own accompaniments), although later their range was extended to include all liberal arts and sciences-hence, their connection with such institutions as the Museum ( Mouseion, seat of the Muses) at Alexandria, Egypt.
Very little is known of their cult, but they had a festival every four years at Thespiae, near Helicon, and a contest ( Museia), presumably-or at least at first-in singing and playing. They were born in Pieria, at the foot of Mount Olympus. Muse, Greek Mousa or Moisa, Latin Musa, in Greco-Roman religion and mythology, any of a group of sister goddesses of obscure but ancient origin, the chief centre of whose cult was Mount Helicon in Boeotia, Greece. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!.Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them! Saving Earth Britannica Presents Earth’s To-Do List for the 21st Century.Britannica Beyond We’ve created a new place where questions are at the center of learning.100 Women Britannica celebrates the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, highlighting suffragists and history-making politicians.
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