Mythology1 Essay Example

Muses were the Sphinx, who learned her riddle from them, Aristaeus, who learned healing and prophecy from them, and Echo, who was taught music by them.

In Plato's Phaedrus 259c, Socrates describes how locusts were once humans before the Muses were born. Upon the Muses' birth, some men were so overcome with joy that they sang incessantly without eating or drinking until they eventually perished. These men transformed into locusts and were gifted by the Muses with the ability to sing continuously from birth until death without needing sustenance.

The Muses were also perceived as vengeful, as evidenced by the tale of the contest with Thamyris. Thamyris, a talented musician, challenged the Muses to a musical competition in Dorium, Messenia. The agreement was that if he emerged victorious, he would be rewarded by all of them. However, the Muses emerged as winners and denied Thamyris his desired reward.

In another narrative, the king and queen of Emathia (Macedonia), Euippe, had nine daughters who were named after the Muses. These daughters engaged in a contest with the Muses but were defeated. As punishment, the Muses transformed them into birds known as Colymbas, Iynx, Cenchris, Cissa, Chloris, Acalanthis, Nessa, Pipo, and Dracontis (Graves 170.q).

These names of birds, such as the wryneck, hawk, jay, duck, goldfinch, and four others without modern equivalents, were taken from actual bird names.

According to Hathorn, another myth states that Hera, the queen of the gods, convinced the Sirens to compete in a singing contest with the Muses. In early Greek mythology, the Sirens were described as bird-bodied creatures with beautiful women's heads. The Muses won the contest and plucked out all of the Sirens' feathers.

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Valley of the Muses in Thespies on Mt. Helicon was a famous place dedicated to the Muses. It started its "Mouseai" festivals in the 6th c. BC and was organized by the Thespians every 5 years. Poets and musicians from all over Greece participated in various games such as epic, poetry, rapsodia, kithara, aulos, satiric poetry, tragedy, and comedy. Ancient schools commonly had a shrine to the Muses called a mouseion, which is where the modern term 'museum' originated from. The renowned Museum of Alexandria, established by Ptolemy I, was a temple devoted to the Muses. Before reciting their work, poets and storytellers often invoked the inspiration and protection of the Muses (Hathorn 169).

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