Ancient Greek muses are patrons of art and science. They inspired the creation of masterpieces, helped to focus on the main and valuable, to see the beautiful even in the most familiar and simple things. One of the nine sisters, Erato's muse, was associated with love lyrics and wedding songs. She inspired the manifestation and praise of the best of feelings, she taught selflessly to surrender to love.
Origin version
In Greek mythology, there are several versions of the legend about the origin of muses, as well as various information about their number. One version says that the virgins were the daughters of Uranus and Gaia. They are called archaic muses today. According to Pausanias, the cult of these creatures was founded by the giants of Aload, whose names were Ot and Efialt. There were only three muses: Meleta (which means "experience"), Mnem ("memory"), Aoyda ("song").
In ancient sources, there are indications that nine goddesses appeared after Pier arrived from Macedonia. He established the usual number of muses for us today and gave them names. It is found in ancient texts that there were older and younger patrons of the arts. The first were the daughters of Gaia and Uranus, the second - Zeus. Olympic muses (those most often mentioned by poets and writers) can be said to be archaic heirs. According to the version most familiar today, the father of all nine was Zeus.
Daughters of the Thunderer
The mother of muses in this tradition is considered to be Mnemosyne (or Mnemosyne) - the titanide, the daughter of Uranus and Gaia. The goddess in the mythology of the ancient Greeks was an embodiment of memory. Zeus in the form of a shepherd came to Mnemosyne for nine nights, and soon she gave birth to beautiful muses. Daughters adopted from their mother the ability to remember the past, know the present and see the future.
Nine sisters: the muse of Erato, Clio, Terpsichore, Calliope, Euterpe, Polygymy (Polymynia), Urania, Melpomene and Thalia - each patronized a certain type of art. They gave inspiration to those whom they favored, and severely punished all those who insulted or disappointed them. Muses' favorites were poets, musicians and dancers, as well as historians and astronomers. The ancient Greeks considered painting and sculpture less valuable and attributed them to the number of crafts.
Muses and their symbols
It is easy to recognize each of the nine sisters in the subjects that they hold in their hands. Clio, in charge of history, is most often depicted with a scroll of parchment. Sometimes she holds a sundial: history and time are two inextricably linked categories.
The muse of Kalliope’s epic poetry usually appears as a dreamy girl with a stylus (a stick that squeezed signs on wax tablets) and a writing board. Her sister Terpsichore, who patronizes the dancers, does not part with her musical instruments. This is usually a lyre or harp. A laurel wreath adorns her head .
Melpomene and Thalia are muses especially revered in the theater. Under their auspices are tragedy and comedy. Melpomene can be recognized by the sad mask that the muse holds in one hand. The second is often occupied by a dagger or a sword - a reminder of the punishment that awaits the rebellious divine will of people. Waist also holds a mask, but fun. In addition, the comedy muse is often depicted with a wand or tympanum in hand.
The attribute of Eutherpa in charge of lyric poetry is the flute. The muse of solemn hymns of Polygynia by painters and sculptors is depicted frozen in thought and leaning on a rock. Often her hands hold a scroll.
Urania is the muse of astronomy. It is perhaps the easiest to recognize. The attributes of the muse are the compass and the globe. And finally, Erato is the muse of love and wedding poetry. She always holds a lyre (or kifaru), capable of making the most gentle and beautiful sounds.
Muse Erato: biography
Erato, like her eight sisters, is considered the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. With other muses, she loved to dance in the vicinity of mountains and sources of clean water. The habitat of the muses is often called Parnassus with the Kastalsky key at the foot or Helikon in the place where the source of Hippocrenus beats.
Erato had a beloved Mal (from Eupidavros), from whom she gave birth to a daughter, Cleophema.
Life as an Art
Reading into myths, an observant person will not lose sight of the fact that muses did not just give inspiration to their favorites. They explained how to best deal with one or another aspect of reality, showed that in life it is worthy of close attention. So, Urania called to escape from the bustle and look towards the eternal and the primordial: divine laws, the movement of celestial bodies. Polygymnia taught that a word is not just letters in a certain order, but a powerful force, and it can be controlled.
Beautiful as love itself
Erato is the muse of love lyrics. Of course, she favored poets and romantics, but that's not all. It was Erato who taught passionately and passionately to talk about love, inspired men and women to frank confessions. Her very name speaks of the connection of the muse and the ancient Greek god Eros, son of Aphrodite. Erato taught to rejoice, gave love not only to men or women, but to the world in all its diverse manifestations. Like the sisters, she condemned vanity and self-interest, and she patronized only those who are capable of true and deep feelings.
Gamelion
Erato is the muse of love poetry and inspired songs. She is invisibly present, according to ancient Greek ideas, wherever they sing and talk about a wonderful feeling. It is not surprising, therefore, that she is credited with the creation of a special kind of song, a gamelion. They were performed only during the wedding ceremony. Magnificent triumph in Greece never did without music and singing. Muse Erato, invisibly present during the first meetings and passionate confessions, accompanies the groom and the bride, decorating the wedding with singing and playing kifar. True, only if the triumph is the result of mutual attraction and love, and not calculation.
Purity and inspiration
As already mentioned, the muse of Erato did not like those who, in feelings, poetry and marriage, sought only profit. The ancient Greeks associated it with purity, including thoughts and spirit. Often, Erato was portrayed in white translucent clothes. Her head was decorated with roses. The Greeks believed that the muse of Erato was able to give the ability to see beauty in everything, transform the space around him, inspire it and fill it with joy. This state is familiar to all lovers: every object and person becomes as if luminous from within, a warm uncontrollable stream is pouring from the heart and I want to create. This state is filled by Erato, the muse of love songs. It helps to heal the wounds of the soul and heart, transforms the surrounding world beyond recognition, filling it with holiday and bright colors. Erato bestows the ability to speak from the heart with feeling and penetration, rather than delving frantically into the head in search of the next word. We can say that the muse of wedding songs teaches love as a way of being, poetry - as a method of expressing thoughts, inspiration - as an inexhaustible source of ideas.
All ancient Greek myths tell about the interpenetration of the divine and earthly worlds. Muses are a kind of connecting link in this process. They endow ordinary people with particles of divine power, help them create along with immortal Olympians. If we recall what Erato’s muse is responsible for and try to feel this state of “loving inspiration”, then his proximity to the divine, that is, standing above ordinary, immeasurable in depth and transforming power, becomes more than obvious.
Today, all nine of Apollo’s companions, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, are well known to us by the huge number of paintings and sculptures depicting them. Muses and today, poets, artists and other masters are not shy about dedicating their works. Of course, they are attracted by the colorful image, and perhaps they hope that in the modern world it is useful to enlist the support of such ancient and beautiful goddesses.