Euterpe | Music | the Giver of Pleasure. One of the inspiring 9 muses

Get to know the representations of Euterpe the greek muse for music.

This article contains a video explaining the 9 muses.

Euterpe , Giuseppe Fagnani, 1869, oil on canvas, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Euterpe

Her name means the Giver of Pleasure.

Linked to music, it is represented with the flute.

At the end of the classical period, she also represented Lyric Poetry.

Muse Euterpe from the illustrations to Ovid by Virgil Solis (1562)

The Muses

The ancient Greeks believed that their work was inspired and helped directly by the Muse of the art in which they fit.

For this reason, all epic poems, for example, typically begin with a request from the author to the muse Calliope, so that she inspires him.

From the from the relationship of Mnemósine with Zeus the Muses were born: Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polymnia, Terpsichore, Talia and Urania.

Initially, the muses were created to celebrate the victory of the gods over the Titans, in the so-called Titanomachy.

Considered deities of spring, over time their importance increased until they became goddesses – and responsible for human inspiration.

Museum

Museum, from the Greek Moiseum, means Temple of the Muses, and in Alexandria, already in antiquity, this designation was used for places that served to the study of the art and the sciences, fields connected to these mythological beings.

The Muses inspired the names of the museums, but do you know who these creatures were?

They are nine muses and each one is linked to some scientific or artistic component.

They are: Calliope, muse of eloquence and heroic poetry; Clio, muse of history; Érato, muse of lyric and erotic poetry; Euterpe, muse of music; Melpomene, muse of tragedy; Polymnia, muse of sacred poetry; Terpsichore, muse of dance; Talia, muse of comedy and festivity and Urania, muse of astronomy.