Editing Momus (section)

== In classical literature ==
{{Greek myth (personified)}}
As a sharp-tongued spirit of unfair criticism, Momus was eventually expelled from the company of the gods on [[Greek mythology#Greek pantheon|Mount Olympus]]. His name is related to {{lang|grc|μομφή}}, meaning 'blame', 'reproach', or 'disgrace'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=%CE%9C%E1%BF%B6%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%82&la=greek#lexicon|title=Greek Word Study Tool|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref> [[Hesiod]] said that Momus was a son of Night ([[Nyx (mythology)|Nyx]]), "though she lay with none", and the twin of the misery goddess [[Oizys]].<ref>Hesiod, [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/hesiod/theogony.htm ''Theogony'' 214]</ref> In the 8th century BCE epic ''[[Cypria]]'', Momus was credited with stirring up the [[Trojan War]] in order to reduce the human population.<ref>David Marsh, ''Lucian and the Latins'', University of Michigan 1998, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sLXWYW32neQC&dq=Cypria++%22Momus%22&pg=PA116 p.116]</ref> [[Sophocles]] wrote a later [[satyr play]] called ''Momos'', now almost entirely lost, which may have derived from this.<ref>Dana Ferris Sutton, "A handlist of satyr plays", ''Harvard Studies in Classical Philology'' vo.78 (1974), [https://books.google.com/books?id=VyX-xjSHMmcC&dq=Momos++Sophocles&pg=PA112 p.112]</ref>

Two of [[Aesop's fables]] feature the god. The most widely reported of these in Classical times is numbered 100 in the [[Perry Index]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mythfolklore.net/aesopica/perry/100.htm|title=MOMUS AND THE GODS|website=mythfolklore.net|access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref> There Momus is asked to judge the handiwork of three gods (who vary depending on the version): a man, a house and a bull. He found all at fault: the man because his heart was not on view to judge his thoughts; the house because it had no wheels so as to avoid troublesome neighbours; and the bull because it did not have eyes in its horns to guide it when charging.<ref>[[Francisco Rodríguez Adrados]], ''History of the Graeco-latin Fable'', Vol.3, Brill NL 2003, [https://books.google.com/books?id=BHScT2Dd3ykC&q=Momus&pg=PA131 pp.131-3]</ref> Because of it, [[Plutarch]] and [[Aristotle]] criticized Aesop's story-telling as deficient in understanding, while [[Lucian]] insisted that anyone with sense was able to sound out a man's thoughts.<ref>''Hermotimus or the Rival Philosophies'', [http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/luc/wl2/wl205.htm p.52]</ref>

As another result, Momus became a by-word for fault-finding, and the saying that if not even he could criticize something then that was the sign of its perfection. Thus a poem in the [[Greek Anthology]] remarks of statues by [[Praxiteles]] that "Momus himself will cry out, 'Father Zeus, this was perfect skill'."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.loebclassics.com/view/greek_anthology_16/1918/pb_LCL086.315.xml|title=The Greek Anthology 16|first=Jeffrey|last=Henderson|website=Loeb Classical Library|access-date=August 31, 2019}}</ref> Looking the lovely Aphrodite over, according to a second fable of Aesop's, number 455 in the Perry Index, it was light-heartedly noted that he could not find anything about her to fault except that her sandals squeaked.<ref>Adrados, pp.512-3</ref>
{{clearleft}}