Editing Muses (section)

== Mythology ==
[[File:Thalia sarcophagus Louvre Ma475.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Thalia (Muse)|Thalia]], Muse of comedy, holding a comic mask (detail from the "Muses Sarcophagus")]]
[[File:Claude Lorrain Apollo Muses.jpg|thumb|right|''Apollo and the Muses on Mount Helicon'' (1680) by [[Claude Lorrain]]]]
According to [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'' (seventh century BC), they were daughters of [[Zeus]], king of the gods, and [[Mnemosyne]], Titan goddess of memory. Hesiod in Theogony narrates that the Muses brought to people forgetfulness, that is, the forgetfulness of pain and the cessation of obligations.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Collective work by scholars and expertise|title=Επιστήμη & Ζωή|publisher=CHATZIAKOVOU S.A.|year=1980|location=Greece|pages=Vol.13, p.151|edition=Printed}}</ref>

For [[Alcman]] and [[Mimnermus]], they were even more [[Greek primordial gods|primordial]], springing from the early deities [[Uranus (mythology)|Ouranos]] and [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]]. Gaia is [[Mother goddess|Mother Earth]], an [[Mother Nature|early mother goddess]] who was worshipped at [[Delphi]] from prehistoric times, long before the site was rededicated to Apollo, possibly indicating a transfer to association with him after that time.

Sometimes the Muses are referred to as water [[nymph]]s, associated with the springs of [[Mount Helicon|Helicon]] and with [[Pieria (prefecture)|Pieris]]. It was said that the winged horse [[Pegasus]] touched his hooves to the ground on Helicon, causing four sacred springs to burst forth, from which the Muses, also known as [[pegasides]], were born.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.elysiumgates.com/mt_olympus/histpegasus.html|title=Elysium Gates - Historical Pegasus|access-date=2010-02-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616103044/http://www.elysiumgates.com/mt_olympus/histpegasus.html|archive-date=2009-06-16|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Heroides]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/heroidesamores00ovid#page/182/mode/2up 15.27]: "the daughters of Pegasus" in the English translation; [[Propertius]], ''Poems'' [https://archive.org/stream/propertiuswithen00propuoft#page/176/mode/2up 3.1.19]: "Pegasid Muses" in the English translation.</ref> [[Athena]] later tamed the horse and presented him to the Muses (compare the Roman inspiring nymphs of springs, the [[Camenae]], the [[Völva]] of [[Norse Mythology]] and also the [[apsaras]] in the mythology of classical [[India]]).

Classical writers set [[Apollo]] as their leader, {{Lang|grc-latn|Apollon Mousēgetēs}} ('Apollo Muse-leader').<ref>For example, Plato, ''Laws'' 653d.</ref> In one myth, the Muses judged a contest between Apollo and [[Marsyas]]. They also gathered the pieces of the dead body of [[Orpheus]], son of [[Calliope]], and buried them in [[Leivithra]]. In a later myth, [[Thamyris]] challenged them to a singing contest. They won and punished Thamyris by blinding him and robbing him of his singing ability.

According to a myth from [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]''—alluding to the connection of Pieria with the Muses—[[Pierus]], king of [[Macedon]], had nine daughters he named after the nine Muses, believing that their skills were a great match to the Muses. He thus challenged the Muses to a match, resulting in his daughters, the ''[[Pierides (mythology)|Pierides]]'', being turned into chattering [[jay]]s (with {{Lang|grc|κίσσα}} often erroneously translated as '[[magpie]]s'<!--Can we get a reference for jackdaws? and [[jackdaw]]s-->) for their presumption.<ref>Ovid, ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 5.677–78: "Now their previous eloquence also remained in the birds, as well as their strident chattering and their great zeal for speaking." See also [[Antoninus Liberalis]] 9.</ref>

[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] records a tradition of two generations of Muses; the first are the daughters of [[Uranus (mythology)|Ouranos]] and Gaia, the second of [[Zeus]] and [[Mnemosyne]]. Another, rarer genealogy is that they are daughters of [[Harmonia (Greek goddess)|Harmonia]] (the daughter of [[Aphrodite]] and [[Ares]]), which contradicts the myth in which they were dancing at the wedding of [[Harmonia (Greek goddess)|Harmonia]] and [[Cadmus]].

===Children===
[[Calliope]] had two sons, [[Ialemus]] and [[Orpheus]], with [[Apollo]]. In another version of the story, the father of Orpheus was [[Oeagrus]], but Apollo adopted him and taught him the skill of lyre while Calliope trained him in singing.

[[Linus of Thrace|Linus]] was said<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Pseudo-Apollodorus]]. ''Bibliotheca 1.3.2''</ref> to have been the son of Apollo and one of the Muses, either Calliope or Terpsichore or Urania. [[Rhesus of Thrace|Rhesus]] was the son of [[Strymon (mythology)|Strymon]] and Calliope or Euterpe.

The [[siren (mythology)|sirens]] were the children of [[Achelous]] and Melpomene or Terpsichore. Kleopheme was the daughter of Erato and Malos. [[Hyacinth (mythology)|Hyacinth]] was the son of Clio, according to an unpopular account.<ref name="Pseudo-Apollodorus 1.3.3">[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.3.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:book=1:chapter=3&highlight=Hyacinth 1.3.3]</ref>

[[Hymen (god)|Hymenaeus]] was assigned as Apollo's son by one of the muses, either Calliope, or Clio, or Terpsichore, or Urania. [[Corybantes]] were the children of Thalia and Apollo.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.3.4 1.3.4]</ref>

===Against the Sirens===
In the sanctuary of [[Hera]] in [[Coroneia]] was a statue created by Pythodorus of Thebes, depicting Hera holding the sirens. According to the myth, Hera persuaded the sirens to challenge the Muses to a singing contest. After the Muses won, they are said to have plucked the sirens' feathers and used them to make crowns for themselves.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D34%3Asection%3D3 Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.34.3]</ref><ref name="Lempriere">Lemprière 768.</ref> According to [[Stephanus of Byzantium]], the sirens, overwhelmed by their loss, cast off their feathers from their shoulders, turned white and then threw themselves into the sea. As a result, the nearby city was named [[Aptera, Greece|Aptera]] ("featherless") and the nearby islands were called the ''Leukai'' ("the white ones").<ref>Caroline M. Galt, "A marble fragment at Mount Holyoke College from the Cretan city of Aptera", ''Art and Archaeology'' '''6''' (1920:150).</ref> [[John Tzetzes]] recounts that after defeating the sirens, the Muses crowned themselves with the sirens' wings, except for [[Terpsichore]] who was their mother, adding that the city of Aptera named after this event.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/860#653 Tzetzes, Ad Lycophronem, 653]</ref> Furthermore, in one of his letters, [[Julian the Emperor]] mentions the Muses' victory over the sirens.<ref>[https://topostext.org/work/803#74 Julian the Emperor, Letters, 74]</ref>