Polyhymnia
Template:Short description Template:Infobox deity
Polyhymnia (Template:IPAc-en; Template:Langx), alternatively Polymnia (Πολύμνια), is, in Greek mythology, the Muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn, dance and eloquence, as well as agriculture and pantomime.
Etymology
[edit]Polyhymnia name comes from the Greek words "poly", meaning "many", and "hymnos", which means "praise".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Appearance
[edit]Polyhymnia is depicted as serious, pensive and meditative, and often holding a finger to her mouth, dressed in a long cloak and veil and resting her elbow on a pillar. Polyhymnia is also sometimes credited as being the Muse of geometry and meditation.<ref name="talesbeyondbelief">Template:Cite web</ref>
In Bibliotheca historica, Diodorus Siculus wrote, "Polyhymnia, because by her great (polle) praises (humnesis) she brings distinction to writers whose works have won for them immortal fame...".<ref>Diodorus Siculus Library of History (Books III - VIII). Translated by Oldfather, C. H. Loeb Classical Library Volumes 303 and 340. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1935.</ref>
Family
[edit]As one of the Muses, Polyhymnia is the daughter of Zeus and the Titaness Mnemosyne. She was also described as the mother of Triptolemus by Cheimarrhoos, son of Ares,<ref>Scholia on Hesiod, Works and Days, 1, p. 28</ref> and of the musician Orpheus by Apollo.<ref>Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.23</ref>
Dedications
[edit]On Mount Parnassus, there was a spring sacred to the Muses. It was said to flow between two big rocks above Delphi, then down into a large square basin. The water was used by the Pythia, who were priests and priestesses, for oracular purposes including divination.<ref name="talesbeyondbelief"/>
In popular culture
[edit]- In astronomy, there are ten asteroids named after the Muses, and moons named after another two. The one named after Polyhymnia is a main belt asteroid discovered by Jean Chacornac, a French astronomer, in 1854.<ref name="talesbeyondbelief"/>
- Polyhymnia appears in Dante's Divine Comedy: Paradiso. Canto XXIII, line 56, and is referenced in modern works of fiction.
Gallery
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Polyhymnia, Friedrich Ochs, 1857
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Polyhymnia, Milano
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Polyhymnia, Giovanni Baglione, 1620
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Polyhymnia, Francesco del Cossa, 1455 – 1460
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Polyhymnia, Giuseppe Fagnani, 1869
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Cast of Polyhymnia, Pushkin Museum, Moscow
-Friedrich_Ochs-Sanssouci-Mittlerer_Lustgarten_Steffen_Heilfort.JPG){kind=link}
See also
[edit]- Muses in popular culture
- Asteroid 33 Polyhymnia
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site
- Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
External links
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- Primary sources and basic information concerning Polyhymnia
- Polyhymnia in painting
- Warburg Institute Iconographic Database