Editing Erato

{{Short description|Muse of erotic and lyric poetry in Greek mythology}}
{{Other uses|Erato (mythology)|Erato Records|Erato (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| name = Erato
| image = Erato monte calvo.jpg
| caption = Roman statue of Erato (2nd century AD), playing the kithara or lyre
| god_of = Goddess of erotic and lyrical poetry
| symbols = Lyre, kithara
| member_of = the [[Muses]]
| abode = [[Mount Olympus]]
| parents = [[Zeus]] and [[Mnemosyne]]
| siblings = [[Euterpe]], [[Polyhymnia]], [[Urania]], [[Clio]], [[Calliope]], [[Thalia (Muse)|Thalia]], [[Terpsichore]], [[Melpomene]] and [[Zeus#Offspring|several paternal half-siblings]]
| consort = Malus (Μάλος)
| children = Cleophema
}}
[[File:Palestra grande di pompei, affreschi di Moregine, primo triclinio , IV stile, epoca neroniana, le muse 04 erato.jpg|thumb|right|Erato on an antique fresco from [[Pompeii]]]]
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Erato''' ({{IPAc-en|'|Er|@|t|oU}}; {{langx|grc|Ἐρατώ}}) is one of the Greek [[Muses]], the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. The name would mean "desired" or "lovely", if derived from the same root as [[Eros]], as [[Apollonius of Rhodes]] playfully suggested in the invocation to Erato that begins Book III of his ''[[Argonautica]]''.<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius Rhodius]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/830/830-h/830-h.htm#2H_4_0005 3.1–5]</ref>

== Function ==
Erato is the Muse of lyric poetry, particularly erotic poetry, and mimic imitation. In the [[Orphism (religion)|Orphic hymn]] to the Muses, it is Erato who charms the sight. Since the [[Renaissance]] she has mostly been shown with a wreath of [[Myrtus communis|myrtle]] and [[rose]]s, holding a [[lyre]], or a small [[kithara]], a musical instrument often associated with [[Apollo]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last1=Cartwright|first1=Mark|title=Kithara|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Kithara/|access-date=15 April 2016|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|date=24 June 2012}}</ref> In [[Simon Vouet]]'s representations, two turtle-doves are eating seeds at her feet. She is sometimes depicted holding a golden arrow, symbolizing "eros", the feeling she inspires in everybody; at times she is accompanied by [[Eros]], holding a torch.

== Family ==
In [[Family tree of the Greek gods|Hesiod's genealogy]], Erato is the daughter of [[Zeus]] and the [[Titans|Titaness]] [[Mnemosyne]], and the sister to [[Calliope]], [[Clio]], [[Euterpe]], [[Melpomene]], [[Polyhymnia]], [[Terpsichore]], [[Thalia (Muse)|Thalia]] and [[Urania]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' 53 ff., 78, 915 ff.; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], 1.3.1; [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca historica]]'' 4.7.1</ref>

Her father gave Erato to Malus (eponym of [[Cape Maleas|Malea]]), as a bride and by him became the mother of Cleophema who bore [[Aegle (mythology)|Aegle]] ([[Coronis (lover of Apollo)|Coronis]]) by [[Phlegyas]].<ref name="Isyllus, Hymn to Asclepius">[[Isyllus]], ''Hymn to Asclepius'' [http://www.attalus.org/poetry/paeans.html#F 128.37 ff.]</ref>

== Development ==
[[File:erato.jpg|thumb|left|''Erato'' by [[Simon Vouet]]]]
Erato was named with the other muses in [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]''. She was also invoked at the beginning of a lost poem, ''Rhadine'' ({{lang|grc|Ῥαδινή}}), that was referred to and briefly quoted by [[Strabo]].<ref>In ''Geography'' 8.3.20; Strabo's attribution of the poem to [[Stesichorus]] was refuted by H. J. Rose, "Stesichoros and the Rhadine-Fragment", ''The Classical Quarterly'' '''26'''.2 (April 1932), pp. 88–92.</ref> The love story of [[Rhadine]] made her supposed tomb on the island of [[Samos]] a pilgrimage site for star-crossed lovers in the time of [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Graeciae Descriptio'' 7.5.13</ref> and Erato has linked again with love in [[Plato]]'s ''[[Phaedrus (dialogue)|Phaedrus]]'';<ref>[[Plato]], ''[[Phaedrus (dialogue)|Phaedrus]]'' 259</ref> nevertheless, even in the third century BC, when Apollonius wrote, the Muses were not yet as inextricably linked to specific types of poetry as they became.<ref>Richard Hunter, editor. ''Jason and the Golden Fleece'' (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), p. 66 note.</ref>

Erato is also invoked at the start of book 7 of [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', which marks the beginning of the second half or "Iliadic" section of the poem.

==See also==
* [[Muses in popular culture]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* Pseudo-Apollodorus. ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|The Library]]''. Translated by Sir James George Frazer. 2 vols. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version] and [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text] at the Perseus Digital Library.
*[[Apollonius of Rhodes|Apollonius Rhodius]], ''Argonautica''. Translated by Robert Cooper Seaton. R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 1. London: William Heinemann. 1912. [https://topostext.org/work/126 Online version at the Topos Text Project].
* Apollonius Rhodius  ''Argonautica''. George W. Mooney, ed. London. Longmans, Green. 1912. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0227 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Diodorus Siculus]]. ''The Library of History''. Translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather]]. 12 vols. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's web site at the University of Chicago].
* Diodorus Siculus. ''Bibliotheca Historica''. Vol 1–2. Immanel Bekker, Ludwig Dindorf and Friedrich Vogel, eds. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner. 1888–1890. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Hesiod]]. ''Theogony''. In ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' with an English translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann. 1914. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version] and [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0129 Greek text] at the Perseus Digital Library.
*[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]. ''Description of Greece''. English translation by W. H. S. Jones. 4 vols. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann. 1918. {{ISBN|0-674-99328-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' 3 vols. Leipzig: Teubner. 1903. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Strabo]], ''The Geography of Strabo.'' Edition by H. L. Jones. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann. 1924. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Strabo, ''Geographica'', translated and edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0197 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].

== Further reading ==

* Van Aken, A. R. A. (1961). {{lang|nl|Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie}}. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
* Bartelink, G. J. M. (1988). {{lang|nl|Prisma van de mythologie}}. Utrecht: Het Spectrum.
* Cooper, J. C., ed. (1997). ''Brewer's Book of Myth and Legend''. Oxford: Helicon.
* Lurker, Manfred (2004). ''Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Demons''. London: Routledge.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Erato}}
* [http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/MousaErato.html Theoi.com – Erato]
* [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-007210 Warburg Institute Iconographic Database]

{{Muses}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Muses (mythology)]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek poetry]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek erotic literature]]
[[Category:Children of Zeus]]
[[Category:Greek goddesses]]
[[Category:Music and singing goddesses]]
[[Category:Wisdom goddesses]]
[[Category:Music in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses characters]]