Editing Urania

{{Short description|Muse of astronomy in Greek mythology}}
{{other uses}}
{{distinguish|Aphrodite Urania}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox deity
|type = Greek
|name = Urania
|image = Palestra grande di pompei, affreschi di Moregine, primo triclinio , IV stile, epoca neroniana, le muse 06 urania.jpg
|caption = Urania on an antique fresco from [[Pompeii]]
|god_of = Goddess of Astronomy
|member_of = the [[Muses]]
|symbols = Globe
|abode = [[Mount Olympus]]
|parents = [[Zeus]] and [[Mnemosyne]]
|siblings = [[Euterpe]], [[Polyhymnia]], [[Calliope]], [[Clio]], [[Erato]], [[Thalia (Muse)|Thalia]], [[Terpsichore]], [[Melpomene]] and [[Zeus#Offspring|several paternal half-siblings]]
|consort = [[Apollo]], [[Hermes]], [[Amphimarus]]
|children = [[Linus of Thrace|Linus]], [[Hymen (god)|Hymen]]
}}

'''Urania''' ({{IPAc-en|j|ʊəˈr|eɪ|n|i|ə}} {{respell|yoor|AY|nee|ə}}; {{langx|grc| {{math|Οὐρανία}} |Ouranía}}; modern Greek shortened name {{lang|el| {{math|Ράνια}} }} ''Ránia''; meaning "heavenly" or "of heaven") was, in [[Greek mythology]], the [[Muses|muse]] of [[astronomy]] and [[astrology]]. Urania is the goddess of astronomy and stars, her attributes being the globe and [[Compass (drawing tool)|compass]].

The muse ''Urania'' is sometimes confused with ''[[Aphrodite Urania]]'' ("heavenly [[Aphrodite]]") because of their similar name.

== Family ==
Urania was the daughter of [[Zeus]] by [[Mnemosyne]] and also a great-granddaughter of [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:63-103 78]; [[Ovid]], ''[[Fasti (poem)|Fasti]]'' 5.55</ref> Some accounts list her as the mother of the musician [[Linus (mythology)|Linus]]<ref>Suidas ''s.v.'' Linos</ref> by [[Apollo]]<ref>Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=urania-bio-1 s.v. Urania (1)]; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#161 161]</ref> or [[Hermes]]<ref>[https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/lambda/568 Suda, lambda, 568]</ref> or [[Amphimarus]],<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:9.29.6 9.29.6]</ref> son of [[Poseidon]]. [[Hymen (god)|Hymenaeus]] is also said to have been a son of Urania.<ref>[[Catullus]] lxi. 2.</ref>

== Function and representation ==
[[File:Allegorical Portrait of Urania, Muse of Astronomy by Louis Tocqué.jpg|left|thumb|Urania depicted with a celestial globe with stars above her head. ''Allegorical Portrait of Urania, Muse of Astronomy'' by [[Louis Tocqué]]'''.''']]

Urania is often associated with Universal Love. Sometimes identified as the eldest of the divine sisters, Urania inherited Zeus' majesty and power and the beauty and grace of her mother [[Mnemosyne]].

Urania dresses in a cloak embroidered with stars and keeps her eyes and attention focused on the [[Heaven]]s. She is usually represented with a [[celestial globe]] to which she points with a little staff,<ref>Hirt, ''Mythol. Bilderb.'' p. 210.</ref> and depicted in [[modern art]] with stars above her head. She is able to foretell the future by the arrangement of the stars.<ref>[[Statius]], ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'' 8.548 ff.</ref>

== Urania as Muse ==
[[File:Urania Pio-Clementino Inv293.jpg|thumb|Urania, a restored Roman copy after a Greek original of the 4th century BC, [[Hadrian's Villa]].]]
Those who are most concerned with philosophy and the heavens are dearest to her. Those who have been instructed by her she raises aloft to heaven, for it is a fact that imagination and the power of thought lift men's souls to heavenly heights.<ref>[[Diodorus]], 4.7.1</ref><blockquote>''Urania, o'er her star-bespangled lyre,''<br />''With touch of majesty diffused her soul;''<br />''A thousand tones, that in the breast inspire,''<br />''Exalted feelings, o er the wires'gan roll—''<br />''How at the call of Jove the mist unfurled,''<br />''And o'er the swelling vault—the glowing sky,''<br />''The new-born stars hung out their lamps on high,''<br />''And rolled their mighty orbs to music's sweetest sound.''</blockquote><blockquote>—From ''An Ode To Music'' by [[James Gates Percival|James G. Percival]]</blockquote>During the [[Renaissance]], Urania began to be considered the Muse for Christian poets.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dolloff |first1=Matthew |title=Mediating the muse : Milton and the metamorphoses of Urania |journal=The University of Texas Libraries |date=August 2006 |pages=14 |url=https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/4538a78e-3f82-4b4a-a192-3abaa8ebe0e5/content |access-date=6 November 2024}}</ref> In the invocation to Book 7 of [[John Milton]]'s [[Epic poetry|epic poem]] ''[[Paradise Lost]]'', the poet invokes Urania to aid his narration of the creation of the cosmos, though he cautions that it is "[t]he meaning, not the name I call" (7.5)

== In popular culture ==
[[File:Farcot and Carrier-Belleuse Conical Mystery Clock.jpg|thumb|A monumental [[conical pendulum]] clock by [[Eugène Farcot]] depicting the Greek goddess, 1862.]]

=== Urania in Astronomy and Navigation ===
* The planet [[Uranus]], though mostly named after the [[Uranus (mythology)|Greek god personifying the sky]], is also indirectly named after Urania.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Wood |first1 = Janet |date = 31 January 2007 |title = Nuclear Power |isbn = 9780863416682 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y20F8Yt6UcMC&pg=PA1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Uranus, Neptune and Pluto |url=https://sites.uni.edu/morgans/astro/course/Notes/section4/new21.html}}</ref>
* Urania is the namesake for [[Observatory|astronomical observatories]] in [[Berlin]], [[Budapest]], [[Bucharest Observatory|Bucharest]], [[Urania (Vienna)|Vienna]], [[Zürich]], [[Antwerp]], and [[Uraniborg]] on the island of [[Hven]]. The [[asteroid belt|main belt]] [[asteroid]] [[30 Urania|(30)&nbsp;Urania]] was also named after her.
* The official seal of the [[U.S. Naval Observatory]] portrays Urania. Hr. Ms. ''Urania'' is a sail training vessel for the [[Royal Netherlands Naval College]]. There has been a ''Hr. Ms. Urania'' in the Royal Netherlands Navy since 1832.
* Urania is featured on the seal of the [[Royal Astronomical Society of Canada]], as well of its motto: ''Quo ducit Urania'' ("Where Urania leads").

=== Other uses of "Urania" ===
* ''Urania'' is the name traditionally given to the eighth book of [[Herodotus]]' ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]''.
* [[Aphrodite Urania]] (heavenly [[Aphrodite]]) is often an epithet given to Aphrodite in contrast with her more earthy aspect [[Aphrodite Pandemos]] (Aphrodite for all people).]<ref>{{cite web |title=Aphrodite Titles & Epithets |url=https://www.theoi.com/Cult/AphroditeTitles.html#Poetic |website=Theoi |access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref>
* Urania is the muse for books&nbsp;7 and 9  of ''[[Paradise Lost]]''.

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

== References ==
{{Reflist|25em}}

== Sources ==
* [[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca Historica|Library of History]], Volume III: Books 4.59-8'', translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather|C. H. Oldfather]], [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 340, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 1939. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99375-4}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL340/1939/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press]. [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version by Bill Thayer].
* [[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].
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus, Gaius Julius]], ''[[Fabulae]]'', in ''The Myths of Hyginus'', edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at ToposText].
* [[Ovid]], ''[[Fasti (poem)|Ovid's Fasti]]: With an English translation by Sir James George Frazer'', London, William Heinemann Ltd.; Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1959. [https://archive.org/stream/ovidsfasti00oviduoft#page/n5/mode/2up Internet Archive].
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]], ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.04.0104 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
{{DGRBM|wstitle=Urania 1.}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Urania}}
* [http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/MousaOurania.html Urania: Goddess Muse of Astronomy], Theoi Project
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/619096/Urania ''Britannica'' Online Encyclopedia]
* [https://iconographic.warburg.sas.ac.uk/category/vpc-taxonomy-006999 Warburg Institute Iconographic Database]

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

[[Category:Muses (mythology)]]
[[Category:Children of Zeus]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek astronomy]]
[[Category:Wisdom goddesses]]
[[Category:Music and singing goddesses]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses characters]]
[[Category:Female lovers of Apollo]]
[[Category:Women of Hermes]]