So Who is your Muse, anyway?
Definitions:
Muse (capitalized) – Greek goddesses of inspiration;
specifically in the arts
Muse (lower case) – n. to think or dream; to ponder or
consider
The ancient Greek looked outside themselves and so valued
the mystery of inspiration that they deified it. Eventually we ended up with
not three, but nine classical muses covering all the artistic processes.
The Nine Muses
Starting out as three, by the Renaissance, nine Muses
patronized the arts. They are:
|
Muse
|
What her name means
|
What she patronizes
|
Her symbol in art
|
|
the 'beautiful
of speech'
|
Chief of the Muses;
Muse of epic or
heroic poetry
|
carries a
writing tablet
|
|
|
the 'glorious
one'
|
Muse of history
|
carries a scroll and/or books
|
|
|
Erato
|
the ‘amorous one’
|
Muse of love or
erotic poetry, lyrics, and marriage songs
|
has a lyre and/or a crown of roses
|
|
Euterpe
|
the ‘well-pleasing’
|
Muse of music and lyric poetry
|
carries a flute
|
|
the ‘chanting one’
|
Muse of tragedy
|
seen with a tragic mask
|
|
|
Polyhymnia or Polymnia
|
the '[singer]
of many hymns'
|
Muse of sacred
song, oratory, lyric, singing and rhetoric
|
often has a pensive or thoughtful expression
|
|
the '[one who]
delights in dance'
|
Muse of choral
song and dance
|
pictured dancing or carrying a lyre
|
|
|
the 'blossoming
one'
|
Muse of comedy
and bucolic poetry
|
seen with a comic mask
|
|
|
the 'celestial
one'
|
Muse of astronomy
|
Carries a staff often pointed at a celestial globe
|
Those are by
tradition. However, individual women are often referred to by artists as their
“Muse” or their “inspiration.” Only in the past few decades have female artists
applied this term to men.
Muse. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muse.
Accessed 3.26.08
Activities
Today we tend to look less to the heavens and more to the
world around us for that special “something” that will spark a story or scene.
There are two activities below (do them in any order; they’re numbered to keep
them apart) for you to do today.
1) The Reflective Writer: set your timer for ten minutes and
try to write the full time: Who/What is your Muse? Where do you get your
inspiration?
2) Write a short piece (1500-3000 words) using one of the
nine Muses as a jumping off point. Make her a character in the story or write a
story about someone who is inspired by her.
If you enjoy the workshops
and find them useful, please consider sending a donation my way. When the final
product is ready to go, those who have donated each time will get a free copy
of the ebook as a gift from me. I won’t dun you twice for the content. :)
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