Page 9 - The Muses Nine

Lodge of the Nine Muses 1777 – Today 9

The role of the Muses as inspirers of poets and singers led to an even closer
association with some of these creative individuals. Linus was called a son of
Urania, Calliope, or Terpsichore. Clio was, according to some, the mother of
Hyacinthus. Orpheus was also sometimes called his mother. Hymen was thought
to be a son of Clio or Calliope. Curiously, Thamyris, who was blinded and muted
by the Muses, was the son of Erato, according to some. Most people tended,
though, to regard them as virgins, apparently equating their spiritual inspiration
with sexual abstinence.
The worship of the Muses was celebrated in Boeotia, although it seems to have
originated in the country around Mount Olympus. The Aloeidae offered the first
sacrifices to them in the neighbourhood of Mount Helicon. The Aloeidae were
juvenile delinquents, and this juxtaposition affords yet another glimpse of the
delightful Greek imagination. On Helicon were the scared fountains Aganippe
and Hippocrene. On neighbouring Mount Libethrias was a sacred grotto. At the
foot of Helicon was Thespiae, the place Pierus was supposed to have brought their
worship form the north. There they had a temple and statues, and the Thespians
celebrated a festival to them called Museia. Mount Parnassus was sacred to them,
and they had a temple on the southern slope near the Castalian spring. At Athens
they had a temple in the Academy. Interestingly, at Sparta, where bloody offerings
were customary, sacrifices were made to them before soldiers entered battle. At
Troezen, where Ardalus had introduced their worship, they shared sacrifices with
Hypnos, the god of sleep. At Corinth, the spring Peirene was sacred to them.
Here Pegasus was drinking when Bellerophon tamed him to the bridle. Pegasus,
born from the blood of Medusa, was considered the Muses’ horse. At Rome
they shared the altar with Hercules, who was incongruously called Musagetes.
Sacrifices to them consisted of libations of water, milk or honey.