Both Homer’s monumental works of poetry, Iliad and Odyssey, began by invoking them.
They can be seen flanking Rome’s greatest literary figure, Virgil, in mosaic tributes to the master.
And it was to their shrines that no less than the philosophical likes of Socrates and Plato traveled to pay homage.
Such was the weighty cultural place occupied by the Greek (and later Roman) Muses. To these ephemeral beings the greatest minds, poets, and artists of the classical world—hardly figures we’d associate with flights of fancy—turned, and turned often.
For the Muses—fully nine female goddesses in all—were no less than the bearers of creativity’s divine spark. They were the source of any and all bursts of originality, ranging from historical writing, music, and comedy to even geometry and astronomy. Every new height reached in the arts and sciences was a credit to these figures of grace, beauty, and talent. Fittingly, they often adorned Greek pottery, and festivals were even held in their honor.
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