Editing Terpsichore

{{Short description|Muse of dancing and chorus in Greek mythology}}
{{other uses}}
{{Infobox deity
|type = Greek
|name = Terpsichore
|image = Terpsichore from Villa Adriana (Prado E-41) 01.jpg
|caption = Greek statue of Terpsichore from [[Hadrian's villa]], presently at the [[Prado Museum]] ([[Madrid]])
|god_of = Goddess of Dance and Chorus
|symbols = Lyre
|member_of = the [[Muses]]
|abode = [[Mount Olympus]]
|parents = [[Zeus]] and [[Mnemosyne]]
|siblings = [[Euterpe]], [[Polyhymnia]], [[Urania]], [[Clio]], [[Erato]], [[Thalia (Muse)|Thalia]], [[Calliope]], [[Melpomene]] and [[Zeus#Offspring|several paternal half-siblings]]
|consort = [[Apollo]], [[Achelous]], [[Ares]]
|children = [[Linus of Thrace|Linus]], [[Biston]], the [[Siren (mythology)|Sirens]]
}}
[[File:Palestra grande di pompei, affreschi di Moregine, primo triclinio , IV stile, epoca neroniana, le muse 02 tersicore.jpg|thumb|Terpsichore on an antique fresco from [[Pompeii]]]]

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Terpsichore''' ({{IPAc-en|t|ɚ|p|ˈ|s|ɪ|k|ər|iː}}; {{langx|grc|Τερψιχόρη}}, "delight in dancing") is one of the nine [[Muses]] and goddess of [[dance]] and [[Greek chorus|chorus]]. She lends her name to the word "[[wikt:terpsichorean|terpsichorean]]", which means "of or relating to dance".

== Appearance ==
Terpsichore is usually depicted sitting down, holding a [[lyre]], accompanying the dancers' choirs with her music. Her name comes from the [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] words τέρπω ("delight") and χoρός ("dance").

== Family ==
According to [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]'', [[Zeus]] lay with the [[Titans|Titan]] [[Mnemosyne]] each night for nine nights in [[Piera]], producing the nine Muses.<ref>Gantz, p. 54; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:53-62 53&ndash;62], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:901-937 915&ndash;7].</ref>

According to [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], Terpsichore was the mother of the [[Siren (mythology)|Sirens]] by the river god [[Achelous]].<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [https://archive.org/details/argonautica00apoluoft/page/354/mode/2up?view=theater 4.893 (pp. 354, 355)]; so too [[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://archive.org/details/dionysiaca01nonnuoft/page/452/mode/2up?view=theater 13.313&ndash;5 (pp. 452, 453)]; [[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]], ''Chiliades,'' [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html#14 1.14], line 338 & 348.</ref> The ''[[Etymologicum Magnum]]'' mentions her as the mother of the [[Thracians|Thracian]] king [[Biston]] by [[Ares]].<ref>''[[Etymologicum Magnum]]'', [https://archive.org/details/etymologikontome00etymuoft/page/n109/mode/2up?view=theater 197.59 (p. 179)].</ref> According to the Byzantine scholar [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]], Terpsichore was the mother of the Thracian king [[Rhesus of Thrace|Rhesus]] by the river god [[Strymon (mythology)|Strymon]].<ref>[[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]] on [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' p. 817.{{verify source|date=June 2023}}</ref>

==In culture==
[[File:Terpsichore.jpg|thumb|right|''Terpsichore, Muse of Music and ballet'', an oil-on-canvas painting by [[Jean-Marc Nattier]] (1739)]]

===Historical===
* The British 32-gun [[frigate]] {{HMS|Terpsichore (1785)}} commanded by Captain Bowen participated in the [[Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1797)]].

===Literature===
* When ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|The Histories]]'' of [[Herodotus]] were divided by later editors into nine books, each book was named after a Muse. Terpsichore was the name of the fifth book.

===Music and dance===
* [[Terpsichore (1612)|''Terpsichore'' (1612)]] is the title of a large collection of dance tunes collected by [[Michael Praetorius]], some originating with [[Pierre-Francisque Caroubel]] and some later adapted for wind ensemble by Bob Margolis.
* Terpsichore is also found in [[François Couperin]]'s "Second Ordre" from the ''Pièces de clavecin.''
* The third version (HWV 8c) of [[Handel]]'s opera ''[[Il pastor fido (Handel)|Il pastor fido]]'' (1712) includes a new prologue written in 1734 titled ''[[Terpsicore]].''
* The eighteenth century French dancer and courtesan [[Marie-Madeleine Guimard]] named the private theater in her private palace (1766) the Temple of Terpsichore.

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

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''Apollonius Rhodius: the Argonautica'', translated by Robert Cooper Seaton, W. Heinemann, 1912. [https://archive.org/details/argonautica00apoluoft/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].
* ''[[Etymologicum Magnum]]'', edited by Friderici Sylburgii, Leipzig, J. A. G. Weigel, 1816. [https://archive.org/details/etymologikontome00etymuoft/page/2/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].
* [[Timothy Gantz|Gantz, Timothy]], ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5360-9}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5362-3}} (Vol. 2).
* [[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 Ltd., 1914. [http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]. [https://archive.org/details/hesiodhomerichym00hesiuoft/page/78/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Terpsichore}}
*[https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-8291 Warburg Institute Iconographic Database]

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

[[Category:Muses (mythology)]]
[[Category:Music and singing goddesses]]
[[Category:Women of Ares]]
[[Category:Women of Apollo]]
[[Category:Children of Zeus]]
[[Category:Greek mythology of Thrace]]
[[Category:Dance in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses characters]]
[[Category:Dance goddesses]]
[[Category:Wisdom goddesses]]
[[Category:Music in Greek mythology]]