Info: Muses

The muses (600 Musa) are a group of goddesses of inspiration from Greek myth. Usually, they are considered to be daughters of Zeus, and responsible in some way for human art and creativity. A number of astronomical bodies in our Solar System are named after them.

The classical nine muses with which most people are familiar with are the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. They are said to speak to those who perform their respective crafts improvisationally. They are as follows:

There is a separate trio of muses that were worshipped on Mount Helicon in Boetia:

And later, a quartet of muses that were the children of Zeus and Plusia which has some overlap with the Boetian muses:

And then, for completeness, some Greek writers listed the nine muses as:

There is a trio of muses that were said to be the daughters of 1862 Apollo, the Mousai Apollonides according to Plutarch:

  • Apollonis
  • Borysthenis
  • Cephisso

The above names may be aliases of the following:

  • Nētē, the lowest chord on a lyre
  • Mesē, the middle chord on a lyre
  • Hypatē, the highest chord on a lyre

Lastly, there is a muse that was recognized at Sicyon:

  • Polymatheia (proposal), muse of attaining and keeping knowledge.
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