Page 8 - The Muses Nine

8 Lodge of the Nine Muses 1777 – Today

Their place of birth was generally acknowledged to be Pieria at the foot of
Mount Helicon and Mount Parnassus. Most say their worship was brought there
by the above named Pierus, which somehow conflicts with the story that he had
nine daughters whom he was presumptuous enough to name for the real Muses.
The Muses changed them into birds after defeating them in a musical contest.

The nine Muses finally established in the worship and imagination of the Greeks
were Clio, Euterpe, Thaleia, Melpomene, Erato, Polymnia, Calliope, Urania and
Terpsichore. They were sometimes referred to as the Mneiae, Remembrances.
Once the full complement of Muses had settled in, the poets could not have
enough of them. Sometime they were on Olympus, singing songs at the table
of the gods. Sometimes they were on Mount Helicon or its extension, Mount
Libethrias. Other times they were on Mount Parnassus in the company of
Apollo. Wherever they were they conferred the poetic gift, and invocations
to them were deeply sincere. Later these invocations became conventional
in opening sections of literary works. The Muses were given presence by
inclusion in certain events such as the funeral of Patroclus, at which they sang
lamentations. They performed at the weddings of Harmonia and Thetis. They
were judges in the contest between Apollo and Marsyas. They helped teach
Aristaeus the art of healing. They instructed Orpheus on the lyre, and later
they had him placed amongst the stars. Their companions were the Charites,
the Horae. Eros, Dionysus, Apollo, Aphrodite, Harmonia and other divinities.
The Muses were not all sweetness and light. In addition to punishing the Pierides,
they deprived Thamyris of his sight and ability to sign when he claimed he could
surpass them in song. Similarly they defeated the Sirens in a contest and took away
their wings. One did not foolishly match artistic talents with those of the nine sisters.
The Muses were also considered to have prophetic powers, partially as a result
of their association with Apollo. Apollo was described as the leader of the choir
of the Muses and consequently had the surname Musagetes. Amongst the
surnames of the Muses themselves were Aganippides, from a spring sacred to
them on Mount Helicon; Castalides; from as sacred spring on Mount Parnassus;
Ilissides, from an altar at Athens on the Ilissus River; Libethrides from Mount
Libethrias; where they had a sacred grotto; Olympiades, as an expression of their
heavenly (versus worldly) status; Pierides, from Pieria, where they were first
worshipped; and Thespiades, from Thespiae, a town at the foot of Mount Helicon.