The Muses

So you’ll notice I’ve gone in for some shameless self promotion. For now and forever more there will be a lovely little link to my Etsy story with pretty pictures of what I have in stock to the right of the page.

Today I’m feeling good. Today I got up at reasonably hour instead of sleeping in till almost midday like I did all weekend. And today I actually achieved some goals, all before lunch too. And now I’m writing this blog post. Today’s post is about the muses, the nine muses of Greek myth if I’m going to be specific, and it’s all because I feel I owe them a debt of thanks. Until recently I was struggling rather badly with a short story I wanted to submit to my critique group (due today) and then Ta Daa! I had a breakthrough, the story’s finished and I’m actually happy with it, or happy enough with it to submit it to a jury of my peers and relative strangers.

So thank muses, this is for you.

The Muses by Maurice Denis, 1893.

The Muses were not always nine in number, nor were they always categorized by particular art forms. At first there was only one muse and later there were three; Melete (the muse of meditation), Mneme (the muse of memory) and Aoede (the muse of song), these became known as the Elder Muses while the nine we are most familiar with were known as the Younger Muses.

These nine were named Calliope (the eldest of the Younger Muses, she is the muse of eloquence and epic poetry. Her emblems are the stylus and wax tablets), Clio (the muse of historical and heroic poetry. Her attribute is a parchment scroll or a set of tablets), Erato (the muse of love and erotic poetry and mimicry. She is usually seen with a lyre), Euterpe (the muse of music and lyric poetry as well as joy and pleasure. The double flute, her attribute, is also believed to be her invention), Melpomene (the muse of tragedy. Often seen with the tragic mask), Polyhymnia (the muse of the sacred and religious hymn. She is usually depicted in a pensive or meditating position), Terpsichore (the muse of dancing and dramatic chorus. She is usually represented as seated, holding a lyre), Thalia (the muse of comedy and pastoral poetry. Depicted holding the comic mask) and Urania (the muse of astronomy and astrology. She is represented holding a globe in one hand  and a peg in the other and is dressed in a cloak embroidered with stars).

Apollo and the Muses by Simon Vouet, c. 1640. 

Mt Parnassus and Delphi was where Apollo became the leader of the Muses and became one of their favourite places.

 Photo by Annie Leibovitz featuring Sarah Silverman, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

The Muses Clio, Euterpe and Thalia by Eustache Le Sueur, 1652-55.

Minerva and the Nine Muses by Hendrick van Balen.

Four muses and Pegasus on Parnassus by Caesar van Everdingen, c. 1650.

Pegasus was nice enough to create a spring for the muses by stamping his moon shaped hooves, and was much loved ever since.

The Muse by Patricia Ariel, 2008-9.

A Muse (possibly Calliope) by Cosmé Tura, 1455-60.

Muse with a Lyre by Paolo Veronese, 1560-61.

Clio by Giovanni Baglione.


To keep up to date with the words and pictures I'm sharing now head on over to my new website, www.sarahfallon.net.  I'm talking reading, writing and all kinds of daydreamy things.

Dogs

Today we had a dog trainer come to the house to help us out with the newest member of the family, Fuzz (yep that's his name). Fuzz came to us a foster dog but he soon won over our hearts and we're keeping the little rascal.

Just look at that face, how could you not fall in love.

Because I was all filled up on good dog vibes I decided to focus today's blog on the magical creatures themselves. Dogs certainly do have a prominent place in magic, mythology and folklore around the world. They are almost always connected to the underworld, and can travel between or guard the gates of multiple worlds (probably why they like many other animals can see ghosts). They are considered both lunar and solar creatures, which is all part of this interdimensional duality thing they've got going. They've been the companions of gods and goddesses, witches and demons. Not to mention dog backwards is god which is totally cool.

Cerberus by William Blake.
Perhaps the most famous mythological dog,the three headed Cerberus is the guardian of the Underworld. He was tricked by a few heroes and captured by Herakles but all in all he did a good job keeping the living out of the underworld.

The Norse god Odin flanked by his dogs Geri and Freki who along with his ravens served as his messengers and advisors. By Ludwig Pietsch, 1865.

Hecate with her attribute the black dog by Patricia Ariel.
Hecate was frequently associate with dogs (they were even sacrificed to her but I don't like to think of that). She was the goddess/guardian of the crossroads and held the key to the underworld, so you can already see the connection. She was also the goddess of magic and perhaps this is part of the reason why dogs became associated with witchcraft.

Anubis Waits by jigga133 aka Jason Reeves.
The Egyptian Jackal headed god was associated with mummification and the journey into the afterlife.

Source

The Celtic Cwn Annwfn were a pack of red eared white bodied dogs that hunted throughout the land of mortals as well as the Otherworld.

The Goddess Hel and the dog Gramr by Johannes Gehrts, 1889.
Hel is the goddess of the Underworld and as Cerberus guards the Greek Underworld so does Gramr guard the Norse/Teutonic Underworld.

Diana and her Hunting Dogs beside a Kill by Jan Fyt.
Diana the Roman Goddess of the hunt  and her Greek counterpart Artemis, were frequently portrayed with their canine companions.

T'ien Kou by kizzesama.
A Chinese celestial dog of both creation and destruction, death and life. Again we see the duality of the dog, they permeate the world's mythologies, and are connected the most fascinating mysteries of life.


To keep up to date with the words and pictures I'm sharing now head on over to my new website, www.sarahfallon.net.  I'm talking reading, writing and all kinds of daydreamy things.