The Muses in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / The Muses

150 passages from 25 ancient authors that tell of The Muses, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. The Muses were the Greek goddesses of inspiration in literature, science and the arts. They were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (the personificat... For the story in one place, read our article on The Muses.

Hesiod (10)

Hesiod, Theogony 60–99The Muses on Olympus and their gifts to kings and singers (60-99)The Muses have their dancing places and fair homes on Olympus beside the Graces and Himerus, and they sing the laws of the gods and Zeus's overthrow of Cronus. The nine are named, with Calliope the chief because she attends on princes. Kings favoured by the Muses speak with persuasive words and settle quarrels fairly, and singers who serve the Muses make a sorrowing man forget his troubles.
Hesiod, Theogony 1–34The Muses of Helicon and Hesiod's calling (1-34)Hesiod opens by hailing the Muses who dance on Mount Helicon and bathe in its springs, and lists the gods they praise as they go abroad by night. While he is shepherding his lambs beneath Helicon, they address him harshly, saying they know how to speak many falsehoods as well as truths. They give him a laurel staff and a divine voice so that he can sing of things to come and things past, and the race of the blessed gods.
Hesiod, Theogony 35–59The Muses' song of gods and men; their birth (35-59)Hesiod turns from his own story to the song of the Muses, who delight their father Zeus on Olympus by singing first of the race of the gods, then of Zeus himself, then of men and the strong giants. Mnemosyne (Memory) bears them to Zeus in Pieria after nine nights, nine daughters whose hearts are set on song.
Hesiod, Theogony 960–1022Goddesses and mortal men; the end of the poem (960-1022)The Muses are asked to sing of the goddesses who lay with mortal men. Demeter bears Plutus to Iasion, Harmonia bears Ino, Semele, Agave, Autonoe and Polydorus to Cadmus, and Callirrhoe bears Geryon. The list continues with Eos and Tithonus, Aphrodite and Anchises, Thetis and Peleus, and ends with Circe and Calypso bearing sons to Odysseus before the poet turns to the company of women.
Hesiod, Works and Days 605–674Vintage, laying up the ship and Hesiod's own voyage (605-674)After the harvest Hesiod tells Perses to cut the grapes when Orion and Sirius are in mid-heaven, showing them to the sun for ten days before drawing off the wine. When the Pleiades set, gales rage, so the ship is to be hauled ashore, its tackle stowed and its rudder hung over the smoke. He recalls how his father left Aeolian Cyme and settled at Ascra by Helicon, and says that his only sea-voyage was to Chalcis, where he won a tripod with a song at the games of Amphidamas and dedicated it to the Muses.
Hesiod, Fragments 6.1–7.9Fragments of unknown position and of doubtful authorshipThese are short quotations whose place in Hesiod's poems is not known, among them the Three-fold people, and the Muses who make a man wise. A second group is of doubtful authorship and includes the Hesperides, a line about Telamon and the saying that gifts move the gods.
Hesiod, Theogony 100–129Invocation of the Muses; Chaos, Gaia and the first gods (100-129)The proem closes with an invocation: the Muses are asked to tell how the gods and the world first came to be. The cosmogony begins with Chaos, broad-breasted Gaia (Earth), murky Tartarus and Eros, fairest of the gods. Erebus and Night come from Chaos and bear Aether and Day, and Gaia bears Uranus (Heaven) and the hills.
Hesiod, Works and Days 1–39Invocation to Zeus; the two Strifes (1-39)Hesiod calls on the Muses of Pieria to sing of Zeus, who makes men famed or unfamed as he wills, and asks him to make judgements straight. He tells his brother Perses that there are two kinds of Strife on earth: one fosters war and battle, while the other is kinder to men and stirs even the idle to work by rivalry with their neighbours. He urges Perses to keep to work rather than the quarrels of the court-house over the inheritance.
Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 150–239The shield of Heracles: war, Lapiths and Centaurs, the harbour, Perseus (150-239)The shield's decoration continues with Pursuit, Flight, Tumult and Panic, deadly Fate dragging a dead man, twelve snake heads, and boars and lions glaring at one another. Other scenes show the Lapiths fighting the Centaurs, Ares in his golden chariot with Athena, the gods on Olympus where Apollo plays the lyre and the Muses sing, and a harbour with dolphins and a fisherman. Perseus, wearing the cap of Hades and carrying the Gorgon's head, flies above the shield while the Gorgons pursue him, and beyond him men fight for and against a town.
Hesiod, Fragments 9.1–8Precepts of Chiron and other fragmentsThe Precepts of Chiron are advice given to a young man, beginning with sacrifice to the immortal gods when you come to your house and with the rule not to decide a suit until you have heard both sides. Other fragments include the long life of the crow and the stag, the Silver Race, and a note on the Muses of Helicon.

Homer (16)

Homer, Homerica 5.1–12Frogs and Mice: the Mouse drownedA thirsty Mouse called Crumb-snatcher meets the Frog Puff-jaw at the edge of a lake and tells him his parentage. Puff-jaw offers to carry him across on his back, but a water-snake appears, Puff-jaw dives, and the Mouse drowns. Lick-platter sees it and rouses the Mice, who arm themselves for war.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 20.1–25.7Hymns 20 to 25: Hephaestus, Apollo, Poseidon, Zeus, Hestia and the MusesSix short hymns. Hephaestus taught men crafts, so that they no longer lived in caves like beasts; the swan and the minstrel sing of Apollo; Poseidon tames horses and saves ships; Zeus is the chief of gods; Hestia tends the house of Apollo at Pytho; and the Muses and Apollo are the source of singers, while kings come from Zeus.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 30.1–33.19Hymns 30 to 33: Earth, Helios, Selene and the DioscuriFour hymns to cosmic and heroic figures. Earth, mother of all, feeds every creature and gives or takes away the means of life, and Helios drives his chariot, the son of Hyperion and Euryphaessa. Selene, the Moon, rides with a radiance that fills the sky, and the Dioscuri, Castor and Polydeuces, are saviours of ships in storms.
Homer, Homerica 6.63–72Contest of Homer and Hesiod: the prizeThe Greeks call for Homer to be crowned, but King Paneides has each poet recite the finest passage of his own poems. Hesiod recites the lines about the Pleiads and Homer the ranks about the two Aiantes, and although the Hellenes applaud Homer, the king gives the crown to Hesiod because he called men to peace and husbandry. Hesiod dedicates the tripod to the Muses and is later killed at Oenoé in Locris, as the oracle at Delphi had foretold.
Homer, Iliad 2.484–558The Catalogue of Ships (1): Boeotia to SalamisThe poet invokes the Muses, who are goddesses and know all things, since he could not name the whole host without them, and begins the Catalogue of the Achaean ships with the Boeotians. He lists the contingents from Orchomenus, Phocis, Locris and Euboea, and then the Athenians under Menestheus and Ajax's twelve ships from Salamis.
Homer, Odyssey 24.1–97The suitors in HadesHermes leads the ghosts of the suitors down to Hades with his golden wand, squeaking like bats, and they pass the streams of Ocean and the White Rock and come to the meadow of asphodel. There they meet the ghosts of Achilles, Agamemnon, Patroclus and Antilochus. Agamemnon tells Achilles of the splendour of his funeral, and that the Muses sang over him.
Homer, Iliad 2.559–644The Catalogue of Ships (2): Argos to AetoliaThe Catalogue continues with the men of Argos under Diomedes, the men of Mycenae under Agamemnon, who has the most and best ships, and Menelaus's men from Lacedaemon. It then lists Nestor's men from Pylos, the Arcadians, the Epeians, Odysseus's Cephallenians and the Aetolians under Thoas.
Homer, Iliad 2.645–785The Catalogue of Ships (3): Crete, Achilles' Myrmidons and ThessalyThe Catalogue turns to the Cretans under Idomeneus, Tlepolemus of Rhodes and Nireus of Syme. It lists Achilles' Myrmidons, who lie idle by their ships while he nurses his wrath, and then the contingents from Thessaly, including those of Protesilaus, Philoctetes and Eumelus. The poet asks the Muse who were the best of the men and horses, and names Ajax as the best man while Achilles was angry.
Homer, Odyssey 1.1–95Invocation; the gods in councilThe poet asks the Muse to sing of the man who wandered long after the sack of Troy and lost his comrades through their folly in eating the cattle of the Sun. Odysseus is held on Calypso's island, longing for home, while Poseidon, who is angry with him, is away among the Ethiopians. In the council of the gods Zeus speaks of Aegisthus, and Athena pleads for Odysseus and obtains leave to send Hermes to Calypso and to go herself to Ithaca.
Homer, Odyssey 8.1–92The assembly; Demodocus singsAt dawn Alcinous leads Odysseus to the assembly of the Phaeacians, where he calls for a ship to be made ready and fifty-two young men chosen to row it. The company goes to the palace for a feast, and the blind bard Demodocus sings of a quarrel between Odysseus and Achilles. Odysseus covers his head and weeps, unseen by the others.
Homer, Odyssey 8.454–586Demodocus sings of the wooden horseNausicaa meets Odysseus as he comes from the bath and says that she hopes he will remember her in his own country, for to her he owes his life. At the meal he gives Demodocus a piece of meat from his own portion and asks him to sing of the wooden horse. The bard sings of the sack of Troy, and Odysseus weeps again, and Alcinous asks him to say who he is and why he grieves.
Homer, Homerica 5.13–22Frogs and Mice: the Frogs arm and the gods hold backThe Frogs hear a herald from the Mice, and Puff-jaw denies that he killed anyone before the Frogs arm themselves. Zeus calls the gods to see the armies and asks who will help the Frogs and who the Mice, and Athena refuses to help the Mice. Gnats sound the trumpets and the fighting begins.

4 more passages of Homer that name The Muses

Apollodorus (1)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.3.1–6Zeus's children, the Muses, Orpheus and the birth of AthenaZeus marries Hera and has children by many goddesses, among them the Seasons, the Fates, the Graces, Persephone and, by Mnemosyne, the nine Muses. The Muses' sons include Linus and Orpheus, who goes down to Hades for Eurydice and loses her by looking back, as well as Hyacinth (loved by Thamyris and by Apollo), Rhesus and the Corybantes; Thamyris is blinded by the Muses and the Sirens are born of Melpomene. Hephaestus is born to Hera (alone, or by Zeus, in Homer's version) and thrown out of heaven, and Athena springs from the head of Zeus after he swallows Metis.

Pindar (15)

Pindar, Pythian Odes 1.1–100Pythian 1: for Hieron — the golden lyre and AetnaPindar hymns the golden lyre of Apollo and the Muses, before which even the enemies of Zeus, such as Typhon beneath Aetna, are terrified. He praises Hieron, founder of the city of Aetna, victor in the chariot race, and prays that Dorian order may last there, recalling the battles of Salamis, Cithaeron and Himera. He ends by contrasting the fame of Croesus with the infamy of Phalaris.
Pindar, Olympian Odes 9.1–112Olympian 9: for Epharmostus — Deucalion and OpusPindar praises Epharmostus of Opus, wrestling victor, and Opus, mother-city of the Locrians, and begs his lips to speak no ill of the gods, recalling Heracles' battles with Poseidon, Phoebus and Hades at Pylos. He tells how Deucalion and Pyrrha made a people from stones, and how Zeus took the daughter of Opus of Elis to Locrus, who named her son Opus after her father. The ode ends with Epharmostus' other victories and a tribute to his skill.
Pindar, Nemean Odes 3.1–84Nemean 3: for Aristocleides — the Aeacidae and CheironPindar calls on the Muse to come to Aegina for the pancratiast Aristocleides, and says that victory in the contest heals its blows. He recalls the Aeacidae: Peleus, who took Iolcus and won the sea-nymph Thetis, Telamon, who followed Heracles against Laomedon, and Achilles, whom Cheiron trained in all the arts of a hero. The ode ends with the virtues that suit each age of life.
Pindar, Nemean Odes 9.1–55Nemean 9: for Chromius — Adrastus and the SevenPindar leads the Muses from Sicyon to the new city of Aetna to praise Chromius, victor in the chariot race. He tells how Adrastus, who had fled Argos, founded contests for Apollo at Sicyon, and how Zeus swallowed Amphiaraüs and his chariot in the earth at Thebes. He ends by praising Chromius' courage in battle at the river Helorus and his wealth.
Pindar, Olympian Odes 6.1–105Olympian 6: for Hagesias — Iamus, son of ApolloPindar likens the opening of his ode to the building of a hall on golden pillars and praises Hagesias of Syracuse, an Iamid and victor with the mule-car, recalling Adrastus' lament for Amphiaraüs. He tells how Euadne, loved by Apollo, hid her child Iamus among the violets, where bees' honey fed him, and how Apollo later gave him the gift of prophecy and an oracle at Olympia. He closes by sending Aeneas to praise Hera and Stymphalus, and with a prayer to Poseidon.
Pindar, Olympian Odes 13.1–115Olympian 13: for Xenophon — Corinth and BellerophonPindar praises Corinth and the house of Xenophon, victor in the foot-race and pentathlon, and asks who first invented the dithyramb and the bridle. He tells of the Corinthian heroes of the Argo and of Troy, and how Bellerophon slept at Athena's altar, was given the golden bridle and tamed Pegasus at the spring of Peirene. The ode ends with the list of the family's victories at the Isthmus and Nemea and a prayer to Zeus.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 4.1–142Pythian 4: for Arcesilas — Medea's prophecy and Jason at IolcusPindar honours Arcesilas, king of Cyrene and victor in the chariot race, and recalls the word that Medea spoke at Thera, that her companions' descendants would colonise Libya, so that Arcesilas is eighth in the line from Battus. He then turns to Jason, who arrives at Iolcus wearing one sandal and astonishes the crowd in the market-place, and who says that he has come to recover his father's honour. His kinsmen Pheres, Amythaon, Admetus and Melampus gather to him, and he leads them to the hall of Pelias and begins his appeal to the king.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 5.1–125Pythian 5: for Arcesilas — the Battiads and the colonists of CyrenePindar praises Arcesilas of Cyrene, victor in the chariot race, as blessed with wealth joined to honour, and praises his charioteer. He traces the Dorian colonists from Sparta through Thera and the Heracleidae and Aegeidae to Cyrene, where they brought the Carneian festival. The ode ends with a prayer that Zeus grant the race of Battus a new victory at Olympia.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 10.1–72Pythian 10: for Hippocleas — Perseus and the HyperboreansPindar praises Thessaly and the Aleuadae and Hippocleas, victor in the boys' double foot-race, and prays that his house may prosper. He tells how Perseus, favoured by Athena, feasted among the Hyperboreans, killed the Gorgon Medusa and turned the islanders of Seriphus to stone. He ends by praising Thorax of Larissa and by saying that men cannot climb to heaven but may reach the furthest limit allowed them.
Pindar, Nemean Odes 5.1–54Nemean 5: for Pytheas — Peleus and the wife of AcastusPindar sends his song out from Aegina to announce the pancratium victory of Pytheas, and says that reverence restrains him from telling how Peleus and Telamon left the island. He tells instead how Peleus resisted the false advances of the wife of Acastus, and how the Muses sang at his wedding to Thetis. He ends by praising Pytheas and his trainer Menander and by bringing garlands to the portals of Aeacus.
Pindar, Nemean Odes 6.1–69Nemean 6: for Alcimidas — the Bassidae and AchillesPindar says that men and gods have one mother yet differ in power, and praises Alcimidas of Aegina, boys' wrestling victor, and his grandfather Praxidamas, who had won at Olympia. He praises the clan of the Bassidae and tells how Achilles, in the contest with Memnon, son of Dawn, killed him in battle.
Pindar, Nemean Odes 7.1–105Nemean 7: for Sogenes — Neoptolemus at DelphiPindar invokes Eleithyia, goddess of birth, and praises Sogenes of Aegina, boys' pentathlon victor, saying that song gives fame to the deeds of heroes. He tells how Neoptolemus, who sacked Troy, lies buried at Pytho after being struck down in a quarrel over the sacrifice, and defends himself against the charge of having slandered him. He ends by praising the Aeginetan hero's family and warning against idle talk like babbling to babes of 'Corinth, the city of Zeus'.
Pindar, Isthmian Odes 2.1–48Isthmian 2: for Xenocrates — the poets of oldPindar says that the poets of old sang freely of the beauty of boys, and praises Xenocrates of Acragas, victor in the Isthmian chariot race, and his son Thrasybulus. He sends the song by Nicasippus to Thrasybulus and says that Xenocrates' house has always been open to song and to guests.
Pindar, Isthmian Odes 6.1–75Isthmian 6: for Phylacidas — Heracles and TelamonPindar mixes a second bowl of song for the house of Lampon after the pancratium victory of Phylacidas. He tells how Heracles, as Telamon's guest, prayed to Zeus for a son and Zeus sent an eagle, so that the child was named Aias, and how Heracles sailed with Telamon against Troy and killed Laomedon and his sons. He ends with the victories of Phylacidas, Pytheas and their uncle Euthymenes, who has won at the Isthmus and Nemea.
Pindar, Isthmian Odes 8.1–70Isthmian 8: for Cleandros — Thetis and the AeacidaePindar calls on the youths to sing at the door of Telesarchus for Cleandros of Aegina, pancratium victor, and says that the relief from war's dread may be healed by freedom. He tells how Zeus and Poseidon strove to wed Thetis until Themis declared that she must bear a son greater than his father, so that she was given to Peleus. He ends by praising Cleandros' kinsman, the boxer Nicocles, who won the crown of Dorian celery at the Isthmus.

Euripides (6)

Euripides, Rhesus 882–949Exodos: the Muse mourns her son RhesusThe Chorus wonders why fate changes and brings Troy again to mourning, and sees the corpse of Rhesus being carried in. The Muse, his mother, appears, laments her son, and curses the son of Oeneus and the son of Laertes. She tells how she bore Rhesus by the river Strymon and gave him to the fountain nymphs to rear, and she blames Athena for his death.
Euripides, Heracles 637–700Second choral song: youth, old age and the glory of HeraclesThe Chorus says that youth is always dear, but that old age is a burden heavier than the crags of Aetna, and wishes that it might have both, since the gods have given no sign to separate the good from the bad. It sings of the Muses and the Graces, and says that the son of Zeus has shown that noble spirit wins its reward.
Euripides, Rhesus 319–387Second episode: Hector grudgingly accepts Rhesus; the Chorus welcomes himHector says that he will find many friends now that fortune smiles, but that he loathes the friend who comes too late, like one who arrives at the feast when he was not with the hunters. The Chorus Leader and the shepherd urge him to receive the newcomer, and Hector agrees. The Chorus sings in welcome of Rhesus, the son of Strymon and a Muse, and prays that he will humble Achilles.
Euripides, Alcestis 962–1007Third choral song: nothing is stronger than NecessityThe Chorus says that it has traced the paths of the Muses and studied the sky, and yet found nothing stronger than Necessity, that there is no remedy for it in the writings of Orpheus or in the herbs of the sons of Asclepius. They say that Alcestis, who died for her husband, will be honoured as a goddess, and the Chorus sees Heracles coming toward the hearth.
Euripides, Trojan Women 512–567First choral song: the wooden horse and the sack of TroyThe Chorus calls on the Muse to sing a dirge for Troy, telling how the Greek horse of wood was brought into the city by the Trojans in rejoicing, and how at night, in the dancing and the songs, the Greeks sprang out. They sing of the cries of the women and of the dead lying in the streets, and how they are now to be carried across the sea as slaves.
Euripides, Rhesus 950–996Exodos: the Muse's prophecy and Hector's ordersHector says that it needed no seer to tell him that Rhesus had perished by the arts of Odysseus, and that he is ready to raise a tomb for him. The Muse says that her son will lie hidden in a cavern of the silver-veined land, restored to life as a deified man, and foretells that Achilles will also die. Hector orders the allies to arm and wait for the trumpet at dawn.

Callimachus (1)

Callimachus, Hymns 4.1–86Hymn to Delos: Asteria among the islandsThe poet resolves to sing of Delos, nurse of Apollo, a wave-beaten isle that leads the others when they gather before Oceanus and Tethys. He tells how the island, once the floating Asteria who fled the love of Zeus, was named Delos when it became the birthplace of Apollo. Hera, angry with Leto, posts Ares on Haemus to watch the mainland and Iris on Mimas to watch the islands, and the cities of Greece flee from Leto. Apollo, still in the womb, rebukes Thebe.

Theocritus (7)

Theocritus, Idylls 1.1–152Idyll 1: Thyrsis' lament for DaphnisA goatherd persuades the shepherd Thyrsis to sing the song of the sufferings of Daphnis, and offers him a carved ivy-wood cup, whose scenes he describes. In the song the Nymphs are called to mourn as Daphnis wastes away for love, and Hermes, Priapus and the herdsmen come to ask what ails him. Daphnis answers Aphrodite's taunts, bids the wild beasts farewell, and dies.
Theocritus, Idylls 16.1–109Idyll 16: The Graces, or HieroThe poet complains that no one will receive the Graces or pay the singers, and that rich men no longer honour song. He praises Hiero of Syracuse, before whose arms the Phoenicians of Libya shudder, and asks for his patronage. He ends by saying that he will not leave the Muses or the Graces.
Theocritus, Idylls 7.1–157Idyll 7: The Harvest FeastThe speaker walks with Eucritus and Amyntas from the city to a harvest feast of Demeter, and on the way they meet the goatherd Lycidas. They exchange songs, Lycidas wishing a safe voyage to the beloved Ageanax and Simichidas singing of his friend Aratus' love. They reach the farm and lie down among poplars and elms to feast.
Theocritus, Idylls 9.1–36Idyll 9: Daphnis and Menalcas' pastoral songA herdsman bids Daphnis begin a pastoral song and Menalcas answer it. Daphnis sings of the sweetness of the calf and heifer and of his bed beside the cool water, and Menalcas of his cave and his flocks. The herdsman gives Daphnis a staff and Menalcas a shell, and ends with praise of the Muses.
Theocritus, Idylls 5.1–150Idyll 5: Comatas and Lacon's singing matchComatas and Lacon trade insults over a stolen goat-skin and a stolen pipe, and then challenge each other to a singing match with Morson as judge. They sing in turn, with taunts and rustic wishes. Morson awards the lamb to Comatas.
Theocritus, Idylls 11.1–81Idyll 11: The Cyclops' love for GalateaThe poet tells his friend, the physician Nicias, that the only cure for love is song. It tells how the Cyclops Polyphemus, in love with Galatea, sat by the sea and sang to her and was eased by it. He praises his flocks and his cave and reproaches himself for pursuing her.
Theocritus, Idylls 17.1–137Idyll 17: In praise of PtolemyThe poem begins with Zeus and passes to Ptolemy son of Lagus, whom it praises as foremost among men, and to his mother Berenice. It tells of his birth on the isle of Cos, of the lands he rules and the wealth of Egypt, and of the temples he has built for his parents. It ends with his marriage to his sister, likened to the bridal of Zeus and Hera.

Aristophanes (8)

Aristophanes, Birds 862–958Episode: the sacrifice and the PoetA Priest begins the sacrifice with prayers to the bird-gods, and Peisthetaerus interrupts to add jokes of his own. He drives the Priest off when he calls ospreys and vultures to a victim that one kite could carry away, and the Chorus sing a hymn. A Poet arrives with songs in praise of Cloudcuckoobury and asks for a gift, and Peisthetaerus gives him a jerkin and a tunic to be rid of him.
Aristophanes, Peace 729–816Parabasis: the Chorus praises its poetThe Chorus see Trygaeus off and turn to the audience, praising their poet for ending the stale jokes about a gluttonous Heracles and a whipped slave, and for fighting the many-tongued monster of the sycophants. They ask for the prize and the support of every bald-headed man. They call on the Muse to join them and not to help the sons of Carcinus, and mock Morsimus and Melanthius.
Aristophanes, Birds 723–797Parabasis: the birds invite the audience to a bird's lifeThe Chorus promise that if men take the birds for gods they will give them health, wealth, happiness and peace, and they sing to the woodland Muse, saying that Phrynichus drew his songs from them. They invite the spectators to a bird's life, where all that is condemned by the laws here is right and proper: a son may strike his father and a runaway may be called a Francolin. They sing of the swans who praised Apollo on the banks of the Hebrus, and end by praising a suit of feathers, which would let a spectator who is bored by a tragic chorus fly home and come back for the comedy.
Aristophanes, Frogs 870–898Agon: prayers before the contestDionysus calls for fire and incense and asks the Chorus to invoke the Muses with a song. Aeschylus prays to Demeter, and Euripides says that he prays to Ether, to the tongue and to his own nostrils. The Chorus watch the two take their stands, eager for the tournament.
Aristophanes, Frogs 1300–1359Agon: Aeschylus parodies Euripides' songsAeschylus says that Euripides draws his lays from rotten sources, and he calls for a lyre and for the Muse of Euripides. He then parodies the monodies of Euripides, with a dream, a lost cock and the call of Mania to the hounds, and rounds off the parody with a song of spiders and halcyons and an appeal to Hecate.
Aristophanes, The Knights 498–623aParabasis: the Chorus speaks for the poet, then praises Poseidon, Athena and the KnightsThe Chorus wish the Sausage-seller luck and then turn to the audience, explaining why their poet did not ask for a chorus earlier, since training a comedy is the hardest of tasks. They recall the fortunes of earlier poets, Magnes whom the audience deserted in his grey hairs, Cratinus swept along like a river and now drivelling, and Crates who held out to the end. They ask for a hearty welcome for the poet, invoke Poseidon and Pallas and praise the Knights who fought with them afloat. The Sausage-seller then returns, and the Chorus ask him to tell what happened.
Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 1–100Prologue: Euripides and his kinsman at Agathon's doorMnesilochus, an old man, complains to Euripides as the poet leads him along a road he does not know, and Euripides tells him he will soon see for himself. They stop at the door of the tragic poet Agathon, where a servant comes out to pray in verse and to command silence for the Muse. Euripides then explains that the women are meeting that day to plot his death and that he wants Agathon to go among them disguised as a woman.
Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae 877–975Episode: the Old Woman and the Girl quarrel over the YouthAn old woman stands waiting for a lover, and a girl looks out to spoil her chance, so that the two trade jokes and insults. A youth arrives hoping to be alone with the girl, and the old woman answers that under the new law he must come to her first. The girl reappears at her window and the youth and the girl sing to each other.

Diodorus Siculus (3)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.6.1–4.7.4Priapus, Hermaphroditus and the MusesThe historian gives an Egyptian myth of Osiris, slain and dismembered by the Titans, to explain Priapus, whom others call the son of Dionysus and Aphrodite, and he adds a short account of Hermaphroditus. He then treats the Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne in the usual account, quotes Homer and Hesiod for their number and names, and offers a reason for each name.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.2.1–4.5.4DionysusIn the Greek account Semele, daughter of Cadmus, dies when Zeus appears to her in his glory, and Hermes takes the child to the nymphs at Nysa. Dionysus teaches mankind the vine and a barley drink, leads an army that includes women, and returns from India to be honoured by festivals every other year. Some writers speak of an earlier Dionysus, son of Zeus and Persephone, and the chapters list the god's epithets and his Satyr and Muse companions.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.73.1–5.77.8The gods' discoveries and their Cretan originsZeus is said to have given each god a field of invention: the Muses the letters and poetry, Apollo the lyre, healing and the bow, Hermes the herald's staff, Athena the olive, and Dionysus the vine. The chapters then give an older Heracles, Artemis, Plutus, and the claim that most of the gods began in Crete and spread to other lands.

Ovid (8)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.250–337Athena visits the Muses; PyreneusAthena (Minerva), having helped Perseus, visits the Muses on Mount Helicon and sees the spring that Pegasus made with his hoof. One of the Muses tells how King Pyreneus once offered them shelter in a storm and then tried to rape them, and fell to his death when he leapt from a tower thinking he could fly. The Muses then speak of the nine daughters of Pierus, who had challenged them to a singing contest, and Athena sits down to listen.
Ovid, Fasti 5.1–110Fasti 5: The name of May: the Muses' three answersOvid asks the Muses where May's name comes from. Polyhymnia says it comes from Majesty, born of Honour and Reverence, who stood by Zeus (Jupiter) against the Giants. Urania says it honours the old (maiores), whom Romulus made Fathers, and Calliope says it honours Maia, mother of Hermes (Mercury). The Muses' votes are tied and Ovid declines to choose.
Ovid, Fasti 1.657–724Fasti 1: The Sementivae (sowing festival) and the Altar of PeaceOvid cannot find the sowing festival in the calendar until the Muse says the priests set its date after the seed is sown. He gives a prayer to Earth and Demeter (Ceres) for the crops, and notes that peace feeds the plough. He also records a temple to Leda's sons on 27 January and the altar of Peace on 30 January, then ends Book 1.
Ovid, Fasti 2.267–302Fasti 2: The Lupercalia: Pan (Faunus) and the Luperci (15 February)For the Lupercalia on 15 February Ovid asks the Muses where the rites came from. He says Arcadians worshipped Pan (Faunus), that Evander brought the god to Latium, and that the Flamen Dialis keeps the old rites. The Luperci run naked because the god does, and the poet recalls how the early Arcadians lived like beasts, without ploughs or houses.
Ovid, Fasti 4.179–246Fasti 4: The Megalesia: Cybele and AttisOvid announces the coming Megalesia, and the Muse Erato answers his questions. She explains the din of drums and cymbals by the tale of Cronus (Saturn), the stone and the infant Zeus (Jupiter) on Ida, then the lions and turreted crown, and the story of Attis, who broke his vow, went mad and mutilated himself.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.338–461Typhoeus; the rape of PersephoneCalliope sings for the Muses of the giant Typhoeus buried under Sicily, whose struggles shake the island, and of how Aphrodite (Venus) asks Eros (Cupid) to wound Hades (Pluto) with love. Hades, driving through Sicily, sees Persephone (Proserpina) gathering flowers by the lake of Pergus and carries her off in his chariot. The nymph Cyane tries to stop him and is changed into a pool, and Hades drives through the earth to his own kingdom. Demeter (Ceres) begins her search for her daughter, and turns the boy Stellio, who mocks her thirst, into a lizard.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.572–678Arethusa; Triptolemus; the PieridesArethusa tells Demeter (Ceres) how she fled from the river god Alpheus under the earth and came up again in Sicily. Demeter sends Triptolemus in her chariot to teach men the use of grain, and he is nearly killed by King Lyncus, whom she turns into a lynx. Calliope ends her song, and the Muses tell how the Pierides who challenged them were turned into magpies.
Ovid, Fasti 6.769–812Fasti 6: Fors Fortuna; Heracles (Hercules) and the MusesOvid covers 22 to 30 June: a defeat at Trasimene, Masinissa's victory, and the festival of Fors Fortuna, when people travel to her Tiber shrine by boat. He notes the Lares, Jupiter Stator and Quirinus temples, then Clio praises the line of Marcia, and Heracles (Alcides) nods approval and plays his lyre.

Pausanias (12)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.29.1–9Helicon: Ascra, the number of the Muses, Aganippe and the shrine of LinusPausanias says Ephialtes and Otus first sacrificed to the Muses on Helicon and founded Ascra, and gives the tradition that they honoured three Muses until Pierus introduced nine. On the way to the grove of the Muses he describes the spring Aganippe, the relief of Eupheme and the grotto of Linus, with the traditions about Linus' death, his song and his burial, and a second Linus, son of Ismenius.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.31.1–10Troezen: Saviour Artemis, Pittheus’ tomb and the purification of OrestesIn the market-place of Troezen Pausanias describes the temple of Saviour Artemis founded by Theseus and the altars of the gods below, the tomb and judgment seats of Pittheus, the sanctuary of the Muses and the temple of Wolfish Artemis. Near these are the sacred stone and the booth where Orestes was purified, the sanctuary of Thearian Apollo, the colonnade with statues of the Athenian women and children, the fountain Hippocrene, the Hermes Polygius with the sprouting club of Hercules, and the temple of Saviour Zeus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.30.1–4Athens: the Academy, tomb of Plato and ColonusAt the Academy are an altar of Love and, in the city, an altar of Love Returned, with the story of Meles and Timagoras. Pausanias describes the altar of Prometheus and the torch race, the altars of the Muses, Hermes, Athena and Hercules, an olive plant, and Plato’s tomb with Socrates’ dream of the swan. Nearby are the tower of Timon and Colonus Hippius, with its altar of Horse Poseidon and shrine of Pirithous, Theseus, Oedipus and Adrastus, burnt by Antigonus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.30.1–12Helicon: statues of the Muses and of the poets, and the traditions about OrpheusPausanias lists the statues in the grove of the Muses, among them images of the Muses by Cephisodotus, Strongylion and Olympiosthenes and a Dionysus taken by Sulla from Orchomenus. He describes statues of Thamyris, Arion, Sacadas, Hesiod and Orpheus. He gives his view of Orpheus and the various accounts of his death, including the river Helicon and the destruction of Libethra by the torrent Sys, and says Orpheus' hymns are short and sung by the Lycomids.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.18.1–8Olympia: the Chest of Cypselus, second and third fieldsPausanias describes the second field of the chest, with Night nursing Death and Sleep, Justice and Injustice, Idas and Marpessa, Alcmena, Menelaus and Helen, Medea, the Muses, Atlas and Hercules, and Perseus pursued by the Gorgons. The third field shows armies meeting, which he reads as the migration of Melas to Corinth.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.32.1–5Megalopolis: the southern quarter and its theatrePausanias describes the south side of the river at Megalopolis, with the largest theatre in Greece, the foundations of the Thersilium built for the Arcadian Ten Thousand and a house built for Alexander. He lists the ruined sanctuaries of the Muses, Apollo and Hermes, of the three Aphrodites, of Ares, Dionysus and Hercules and Hermes, and the stadium. On the eastern hill are the temples of Huntress Artemis and Aesculapius, the images of Athena Worker and Apollo, and the huge bones said to be those of a giant.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.34.1–10Itonian Athena, Coronea, Mount Laphystius and the early history of OrchomenusPausanias describes the sanctuary of Itonian Athena, where the Boeotians hold their general assembly, and the story of the priestess Iodama. At Coronea he lists the altars in the market-place and the sanctuary of Hera, as well as Mount Libethrius and the sanctuary of Laphystian Zeus where the golden ram saved Phrixus and Helle. He then begins the history of Orchomenus with Andreus, Athamas and the founders of Haliartus and Coronea, and Eteocles.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.2.1–6Athens: from Piraeus to the Ceramicus, tomb of Antiope, early kingsEntering Athens from Piraeus, Pausanias notes the tomb of the Amazon Antiope, the ruins of Conon’s walls and the graves of Menander and a cenotaph of Euripides, which leads him to poets at royal courts. Inside the gate he describes the building for the processions, a temple of Demeter with statues attributed to Praxiteles, the colonnades to the Ceramicus and the sanctuary of Dionysus with clay images of Amphictyon feasting the gods. He ends with the first kings of Athens, from Actaeus and Cecrops to Cranaus, Amphictyon and Erichthonius.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 4.33.1–7Mount Ithome, Clepsydra and the road to Andania and DoriumOn the way up Ithome Pausanias describes the spring Clepsydra, the Messenian claim that Zeus was reared by the nymphs Ithome and Neda, the image of Zeus by Ageladas and the festival Ithomaea. He then follows the road to Megalopolis, where Thamyris threw down his lyre at the Balyra, and the Stenyclerian plain, the Carnasian grove with the Great Goddesses’ mysteries, Andania, Polichna and Dorium, where Thamyris lost his sight.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.14.1–10Olympia: Zeus Averter of Flies, the white poplar and the altars in order of sacrificePausanias notes the wonders of the altar, including the kites and Hercules’ sacrifice to Zeus Averter of Flies, and explains the use of white poplar wood. He lists the altars of Olympia in the order the Eleans sacrifice on them, from Hestia and Olympian Zeus to Artemis, Athena, Alpheus, Hephaestus, Hercules and his brothers, then the altars of Hera, the Muses and the Nymphs near the Pelopium.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.9.1–10Mantinea: temples, the grave of Arcas and the cult of AntinousPausanias describes the double temple of Aesculapius and Latona at Mantinea, with Praxiteles' images of Latona's children and the Muses and Marsyas, and lists the sanctuaries of Zeus, the Dioscuri, Demeter and Hera. He quotes the Delphic oracle that told the Mantineans to bring the bones of Arcas from Maenalus, and notes the tomb of Antinoe and that of Grylus, son of Xenophon. He also covers the temple of Aphrodite Alliance, the worship of Antinous introduced by Hadrian, and the contested honours of the hero Podares.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.27.1–8Thespiae: the worship of Love, the statues by Praxiteles and the sanctuary of HerculesPausanias says the Thespians honour Love above all gods and keep an ancient image of him in the form of an unwrought stone. He discusses the poets' accounts of Love's parentage, the statues by Lysippus and Praxiteles, and their removal by Caius and Nero. He lists other sights of Thespiae, including works by Praxiteles, a bronze statue of Hesiod and the temple of the Muses. He ends with the sanctuary of Hercules, whose priestess remains a virgin, and the tale of Thestius' fifty daughters.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (1)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 3.582–664Thetis and the Muses mourn AchillesThe sound of the wailing reaches the Nereids in the deep, who rise from the sea. Zeus gives the Argives courage to look at the goddesses, who mourn round Achilles with the Muses. Thetis cries out her grief, and Calliope urges her to stop lamenting.

Nonnus of Panopolis (4)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 25.0–79Book 25: The poet's invocation; Dionysos set beside PerseusThe poet invokes the Muse and Thebes, announcing that he will sing only the last year of the war, and says he will measure the valour of Dionysos against that of the sons of Zeus. He begins with Perseus, who beheaded the Gorgon and then fled, and contrasts him with Dionysos, who defeated whole armies and fought the river.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 1.0–133Book 1: Invocation; Zeus carries Europa across the seaThe poet asks the Muse to tell of the twice-born Dionysos and calls for the wand, cymbals and fawnskin of his rites, picturing Proteus's many shapes as the god's. Zeus, as a bull, carries Europa over the sea while Eros drives him and the sea-gods marvel. The girl cries out to the shores, to her father and to Boreas.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 41.0–118Book 41: Beroe, the oldest city, where Aphrodite first landedDionysos plants vines under Lebanon and roofs a grove for Adonis and Aphrodite. The poet invokes the Muses to sing the war of Poseidon and Dionysos over Amymone. He describes Beroe between mountain and sea, the first city of earth-sprung men, older than Zeus, and claims that Aphrodite, newly born from the foam, came ashore there and not at Cyprus.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 41.212–337Book 41: Beroe's upbringing; Aphrodite seeks Harmonia's counselBeroe is nursed by Astraia on statutes and honey, and Zeus and Poseidon both desire her, though Zeus yields her to his brother. Aphrodite, seeing the great cities of old, resolves to make a city for Beroe worthy of Law. She visits Harmonia, who is weaving a cosmic robe, and asks which city is to be given the rule of justice.

[Eratosthenes] (3)

[Eratosthenes], Catasterismi (Constellation Myths) 22–25Perseus, the Pleiad, the Lyre and the SwanPerseus's journey to the Gorgons and the genealogies of the seven Pleiades are told first. Then come Orpheus, whom the Maenads tore apart and the Muses buried, and the Swan that Zeus became to seduce Nemesis.
[Eratosthenes], Catasterismi (Constellation Myths) 26–29The Water-Pourer, the Goat-Horned One, the Archer and the ArrowThe Water-Pourer is held to be Ganymede, and the Goat-Horned One is a companion of Zeus in the war against the Titans. The Archer is not a Centaur but Crotus, the Muses' companion, and the Arrow is the weapon Apollo used against the Cyclopes.
[Eratosthenes], Catasterismi (Constellation Myths) 30–33The Eagle, the Dolphin, Orion and the DogThe Eagle, Zeus's bird, and the Dolphin that found Amphitrite for Poseidon are honoured for services to the gods. Orion's blinding, healing and death by the Scorpion are told at length, and the Dog is the hound given to Europa, afterwards Cephalus's.

Antoninus Liberalis (1)

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 9.1–11.11The Emathides, the Minyades and AedonThe nine daughters of Pierus challenge the Muses and become birds. The daughters of Minyas refuse the rites of Dionysus, tear apart Hippasus and become a bat and owls. Aedon and her sister Chelidonis take revenge on Polytechnus by feeding him his son Itys, and Zeus turns the whole family into birds, among them the nightingale and the swallow.

Aratus (1)

Aratus, Phaenomena 1–115Zeus and the northern sky: the Bears and the DragonAratus begins with Zeus, who gave men the signs of the heavens, and with a prayer to the Muses. He describes the Axis and the two Bears, Helice and Cynosura, which were set in the sky for nursing the infant Zeus in Crete, and the Dragon winding between them. He goes on to the kneeling figure called Engonasin, the Crown, Ophiuchus with the Serpent and the Scorpion, Arctophylax or Boötes, and the Maiden, whom men called Justice and who lived on earth in the Golden Age.

Bacchylides (4)

Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 9.1–104Ode 9: Automedes of Phlius, pentathlon at NemeaThe poet calls on the Graces to help him sing of Phlius and of Nemea, where Hera reared the lion that Heracles was to overcome and the Argive heroes held the first games in memory of Archemorus. He praises Automedes, who outshone his rivals in the pentathlon, and sings the river Asopus and its daughters, the brides of gods. The middle of the ode is restored from fragments. It ends with the city that Zeus granted to the people of Phlius and with Automedes, son of Timoxenus.
Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 3.1–4.20Odes 3–4: Croesus saved by Apollo; Hieron's victoriesCleio is told to praise Demeter and Hieron of Syracuse, whose horses won at Olympia. The poet tells how Croesus, with Sardis falling to the Persians, mounted a pyre with his family, how Zeus quenched the flames and how Apollo carried him to the Hyperboreans. The ode closes with Apollo's advice to Admetus, son of Pheres, and the promise that Hieron's glory will be sung by the nightingale of Ceos. Ode 4 hymns Hieron's third Pythian victory and his two at Olympia.
Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 5.1–200Ode 5: Heracles meets Meleager in HadesThe poet sends Hieron a song and compares his own flight to the eagle's, celebrating the victory of the chestnut horse Pherenicus at Olympia and at Pytho. He tells how Heracles went down to Hades for the hound of Hades, saw the shade of Meleager and drew his bow, but was told there was nothing to fear. Meleager tells of the Calydonian boar sent by Artemis, of the quarrel over its hide, and of the brand burned by his mother Althaea that ended his life. Moved to tears, Heracles asks about a sister he might marry, and Meleager names Deianeira; the ode ends with praise of Hieron and a prayer to Zeus.
Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 12.1–14.23Odes 12–14: Pytheas of Aegina and the Aeacidae; Cleoptolemus of ThessalyOde 12 asks Cleio to guide the poet to Aegina and to a wrestler's victory at Nemea, but only its opening survives. Ode 13, for Pytheas of Aegina, shows Heracles, the descendant of Perseus, mastering the Nemean lion, praises Aegina and her heroes Peleus, Telamon, Achilles and Ajax, and tells how Achilles' anger let the Trojans drive the Greeks to their ships until Ajax stopped Hector. It ends with praise of the trainer Menander and of the host Lampon. Ode 14 reflects that fortune can crush or exalt a man before honouring Cleoptolemus of Thessaly and the domain of Poseidon Petraios.

Conon (1)

Conon, Narrations 0.1–8.1Midas, Byblis and the LocriansPhotius' preface introduces Conon's fifty narrations, dedicated to King Archelaus Philopator. The first stories tell how Midas' gold and ass's ears gave the Phrygians their name, how Byblis became a spring, and how Locrus founded the Italian Locri. Others treat Olynthus, the cicada that won Eunomus a contest, the rivalry of Mopsus and Calchas, the blinding of Thamyris and the death of Canobus.

Hyginus (2)

Hyginus, De astronomia 2.25.1–2.33.2Book 2: From the Virgin to the HareThe Virgin is Justice, who left the earth in the age of bronze. The Scorpion, the Archer, Capricorn, Aquarius, the Fishes, the Whale and Eridanus follow in short chapters, and the Hare closes the group with the story of the hares of Leros.
Hyginus, De astronomia 2.7.1–2.8.1Book 2: The Lyre and the SwanThe Lyre is Orpheus's, made by Hermes, and its story includes Orpheus's death at the hands of the Bacchae and the origin of the caduceus. The Swan is the form Zeus took to win Nemesis, whose egg gave Helen to Leda.

Lucian of Samosata (1)

Lucian of Samosata, The Ignorant Book-Collector 1–7Buying books does not make you educatedLucian tells the book-collector that he is choosing the worst way to be thought a man of letters. He asks what the man does with all the books he has bought, and shows that he cannot tell good from bad. He mocks the copies of Homer and Demosthenes, which the owner cannot read.

Orpheus (attributed) (2)

Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 72–76Hymns 72-76: Fortune, the Daemon, Leucothea, Palaemon, the MusesFortune is asked to come with rich abundance, and the Daemon, or guardian genius, is invoked as a mighty, life-giving power called mild Jove. Leucothea, born of Cadmus and nurse of Bacchus, and Palaemon, who was nursed with Dionysius and dwells in the deep sea, are invoked as protectors of the initiated at sea. The group ends with the nine Muses, daughters of Jove, who are named one by one.
Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 77–82Hymns 77-82: Mnemosyne, Aurora, Themis, the North, West and South WindsMnemosyne, the consort of Zeus and source of the Muses, is invoked to wake the memory of the initiate, and Aurora as the goddess whose rising ray leads on the day. Themis is hailed as the illustrious child of heaven. The last three hymns address the winds: Boreas, whose wintry blasts tear the air, Zephyrus of the west, who gives rest to weary labour, and Notus of the south, who drives the rain clouds.

Plato (18)

Plato, Phaedrus 257b–259eThe end of the palinode; the writing of speeches and the story of the locustsSocrates ends the recantation with a prayer to Love to forgive him and not to take away his skill in love, and asks that Lysias be turned to philosophy. Phaedrus says that politicians are ashamed of writing speeches, since the first thing in the laws of a city is the name of the one who proposed them, and Socrates replies that to write is not disgraceful, but to write badly is. He says that the locusts singing above seem to be watching them, and tells that they were once men, before the Muses were born, who were so charmed by song that they forgot to eat and died. They report to the Muses which men honour them, and he says that they should not be caught sleeping at midday.
Plato, Laws 665a–669eBook II: The three choirs of Apollo, the Muses and Dionysus; the education of taste in musicThe Athenian recalls that the gods have given Apollo and the Muses as fellow-choristers, and Dionysus as a third, and proposes three choirs: the choir of the Muses for the children, the choir of Apollo for those under thirty, and the choir of Dionysus for men from thirty to sixty. He says that no child under eighteen may touch wine, since one should not pour fire on fire, and that a man up to forty may take wine moderately, and only at forty may he join in convivial gatherings and invoke Dionysus. The elders, who are the best singers, will be reluctant to sing, and wine will make them younger and more pliable, as fire softens iron. He adds that in judging music one must look at what is imitated and how, and that pleasure alone cannot be the criterion, since the beauty of an imitation lies in its truth and in the proper proportion of its parts.
Plato, Republic 543a–547eBook VIII: The four degenerate constitutions; the Muses' number and the beginning of declineSocrates sums up the agreement, that the best city has community of wives, children and education, and that its rulers must be those who excel in philosophy and war. He recalls that there are four other kinds of constitution worth considering, the Cretan and Spartan, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny, and that each has its man, and says that they must examine them in order to judge which man is happiest. Like Homer, he invokes the Muses to tell how faction first fell on the city, and they answer playfully in a tragic style, that a city so made is hard to shake, but that all that comes into being is subject to decay. When the rulers err in the marriage number and breed children out of season, they will be poor guardians of the races of gold, silver, bronze and iron, and the mixture of iron with silver and bronze with gold brings war, from which the timocratic constitution begins.
Plato, Phaedrus 245b–247eThe soul immortal; the winged chariot and the procession of the godsSocrates names the madness from the Muses as the third kind, and says that the madness of love is the fourth and the best, and he begins the proof with the immortality of the soul, which moves itself and is the source of motion. He tells in a myth that the soul is like the natural union of a winged team and a charioteer, in gods all good, and in men one horse good and the other bad. Zeus, in the lead with a winged chariot, goes first, followed by the army of gods and spirits in eleven companies, while Hestia stays at home. They climb to the top of the arch of heaven and look at the place beyond the heavens, the realm of true being, where the mind that is the pilot of the soul sees what is without colour or shape.
Plato, Laws 652a–656eBook II: Education through pleasure and pain; the gods as fellow-dancers; right and wrong tasteThe Athenian asks whether the discernment of dispositions is the only gain of drinking parties, and goes back to education, which begins with the first sensations of children, pleasure and pain, being rightly trained to love and hate the right things. He says that the gods, out of pity for the labour of mankind, gave them festivals as a respite and as companions in them the Muses, Apollo the master of music, and Dionysus, so that education begins with song and dance, in which men alone perceive rhythm and harmony. A man is educated when he has been well trained in choric art, and the postures and songs of the brave and of the cowardly in trouble are not alike. He says that the first gentle experiences of children are the pleasure and pain they feel, and that right education depends on rightly formed tastes, so that a man who dislikes what is good and likes what is bad is badly educated.
Plato, Laws 670a–674cBook II: The old as singers; the proper use of wine; the Dionysiac giftThe Athenian says that the older singers must understand all three points, the nature of the thing imitated, its correctness and its goodness, and that most of the music of the day, with its pipe and harp played without words and dance, is clownish. He says that those who pursue speed, mechanical exactness and the imitation of animal sounds show bad taste and a lack of order. He describes how a drinking party under sober supervision would make the guests better friends, as it would be guided by laws and by a sober leader, and how the gift of Dionysus should not be condemned, since it was given as a medicine for shame. He ends that a state that allows anyone to drink whenever and with whomever he likes would not have his vote, and that if the institution is regulated by law, it may serve the city.
Plato, Cratylus 405a–408eApollo, the Muses, Artemis, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Athena, Hephaestus, Ares, Hermes and PanSocrates says that Apollo's name expresses his four powers, music, prophecy, medicine and archery, and explains the Muses, Leto, Artemis, Dionysus (giver of wine) and Aphrodite (born of the foam). Pallas is the one who brandishes weapons, and Athena is the mind of god (theonoa); Hephaestus is the lord of light, Ares is named for his manliness and hardness. Hermes is the interpreter and messenger, the one who contrives speech, and Pan is the double-natured son of Hermes because speech makes everything (pan) known. He remarks that speech is smooth and divine above and rough and goatish below, as the tragic life is full of tales and falsehoods.
Plato, Theaetetus 191a–195eFalse opinion: the wax block and the confusions of memorySocrates offers the suggestion that false opinion is mistaking one thing for another when one knows both, and meets the objections to it. He then introduces the image of a block of wax in the soul, a gift of Memory, the mother of the Muses, on which we imprint what we wish to remember. He explains true and false opinion by whether the thing is matched to the right imprint, and why some people have good memories and others do not, depending on whether their wax is soft, hard, muddy or pure. He adds that the all-wise poet praises the shaggy heart, which he takes to mean a heart of unclean wax.
Plato, Symposium 194a–197eAgathon: the nature and gifts of Love, youngest and best of the godsSocrates tells Eryximachus that he too would be in a great strait after Agathon has spoken, and Agathon replies that Socrates wants to cast a spell on him, and says that he will praise the god first and then his gifts. He argues that Love is the happiest of the gods because he is the fairest and best, and the youngest, as shown by his hatred of old age, and that the ancient doings of the gods, which Hesiod and Parmenides tell of, were done of Necessity and not of Love. He says that Love is tender, soft and flexible and lives among flowers, and has justice, temperance, courage and wisdom, since he is a poet and the cause of poetry in others. Love overcomes Ares, the god of war, and he inspires the arts of medicine, archery, divination, the music of the Muses, the metalwork of Hephaestus and the weaving of Athene.
Plato, Phaedrus 235a–237eSocrates answers Lysias and prepares to speak with his head coveredSocrates says that the speech seemed to him to say the same thing over and over, as if Lysias were showing off, and that he could make a better one, from what he has heard from the lovely Sappho or the wise Anacreon, or perhaps from prose writers. Phaedrus swears an oath by the plane tree that he will never read Socrates another speech of Lysias or any other writer unless Socrates speaks in its presence. Socrates gives in, and decides to speak with his head covered so that he can go through the speech quickly without being put out of countenance by looking at Phaedrus. He calls on the tuneful Muses, whether they are named for their song or for the musical race of the Ligyans, and begins by saying that a speech must first agree on what love is.
Plato, Republic 365a–367eBook II: The poets and the gods; Adeimantus asks for justice itselfAdeimantus asks what the young will conclude from all this, that they should seem just outside and use cunning within, and that injustice that is not found out is profitable. He says that the poets and the books of Musaeus and Orpheus, whom they call the children of the Moon and the Muses, speak of rites and purifications that free the living and the dead from wrongdoing, and the gods can be persuaded by sacrifices. He concludes that, if all that is said about justice is only for its results, no one praises justice itself or condemns injustice itself in the soul. He asks Socrates to show what each does, in itself, to its possessor, apart from its rewards and reputation.
Plato, Republic 408a–411eBook III: Asclepius and the sons of Asclepius; judges and doctors; music and gymnastics for the soulSocrates says that Asclepius would treat only those who were naturally healthy and living an ordered life, as shown by his sons at Troy, who healed Menelaus of the wound that Pandarus gave him, and he would let the others die. Judges, unlike doctors, must rule soul with soul, and the best judge is an old man who learned late what injustice is, not by having it in his own soul but by long study. The city will therefore have medicine and justice of this kind, for the bodies and souls of its well-born citizens, and will let die those of ill-born bodies or incurably wicked souls. Socrates then says that music, if the soul is given only to it, makes it soft, as gymnastics alone makes it hard and fierce.

6 more passages of Plato that name The Muses

Plutarch (16)

Plutarch, Table Talk (Quaestiones convivales) 9.14.1–7Book 9, Question 14: why there are nine MusesAfter pouring offerings to the Muses and singing Hesiod's account of their birth, Herod the rhetorician assigns the Muses to rhetoric and statecraft, among them Clio to praise and Polymnia to history. Ammonius asks why there should be nine and no more, and Trypho the physician and Dionysius the farmer claim a share for medicine and for husbandry. Plutarch gives Plato's method of reading a god's powers from the name, and places Urania over the heavens and the other eight over the disorder of the world.
Plutarch, Table Talk (Quaestiones convivales) 9.0.1–9.3.3Book 9, Preface and Questions 1 to 3: the Muses' feast at Athens; why alpha is first; the number of the lettersThe preface says that the ninth book records the talk at the Muses' feast at Athens and that nine is the number of the Muses, so the book holds more than ten questions. At Ammonius' supper the quarrels of the schoolmasters are calmed when Erato sings Hesiod's lines on contention, and the guests recall verses quoted at the wrong time. Questions 2 and 3 ask why alpha is the first letter, with Cadmus' cow and the first sound as answers, and whether the numbers of the letters, nine mutes, eight semivowels and seven vowels, follow a proportion.
Plutarch, The Oracles at Delphi (On the Pythian Priestess) 17–20Why the oracles are no longer in verse: prose oracles and the PythiaDiogenianus asks again why the Pythian priestess no longer speaks in verse, and the company sits down to the question. Serapio says the answer belongs to the Muses and that the divine should not be argued away. Theon replies that oracles were given in prose in antiquity as well, as in Thucydides, and he tells of the priest of Heracles in Phocis who received an answer in verse.
Plutarch, Dialogue on Love (Amatorius) 1–3Helicon and the festival of Eros; Ismenodora, Baccho and the umpiresFlavianus asks Autobulus to tell the discourses on Love held on Helicon, when the Thespians held their four-yearly festival of Eros and the Muses. Autobulus says that his father, newly married, went to Thespiae with his wife and friends, among them Daphnaeus, Soclarus, Protogenes of Tarsus and Zeuxippus of Sparta. The rich and virtuous widow Ismenodora had fallen in love with the young Baccho, and Pisias and Anthemion, two kinsmen who love him and disagree, make Plutarch and his friends umpires of the dispute.
Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus 21.1–23.2Spartan music and poetry; the hymn to Castor and war without excessSpartan songs praise the dead who fell for Sparta and censure cowards, and Plutarch quotes the three choirs of old men, young men and boys and lines of Terpander and Pindar. Before battle the king sacrifices to the Muses, the young men are allowed to groom their hair, and the army advances in step to the hymn to Castor. They pursue a beaten enemy only far enough to make the victory secure. Writers disagree whether Lycurgus took part in wars, and one story says he came to the Olympic games by chance and was moved by a voice to help Iphitus.
Plutarch, Life of Numa 8.1–10Numa tames Rome through religion; Pythagoras and the Muse TacitaNuma sets out to soften a warlike city by sacrifices, processions and sacred dances, and sometimes by spreading fear of the gods. Plutarch connects his practice with the teaching of Pythagoras, noting that Numa forbade images of the gods in the form of man or beast and that most sacrifices were bloodless. He also tells of the honour paid to the Muse Tacita, and cites evidence for Numa's acquaintance with Pythagoras while remarking that the matter is much disputed.
Plutarch, Table Talk (Quaestiones convivales) 3.0.1–3.1.3Book 3, Preface and Question 1: wine and character; garlands of flowersThe preface gives Simonides' remark to a silent guest and says that wine shows men's characters, citing Homer and Plato, and the line between merriment and drunkenness. Question 1, at a feast to the Muses given by Erato at Athens, asks about garlands: Ammonius jokes that Plutarch preferred a rose chaplet to a laurel, as effeminate. Trypho replies that the ancients used plants as medicines, that Bacchus was a physician, and that ivy tempers the heat of wine.
Plutarch, Life of Numa 12.1–13.7Burial rites, the Fetiales, and the Salii with the shield that fell from heavenNuma has the Pontifices direct burial rites, honouring the goddess Libitina, and sets limits to mourning by age. He founds the Fetiales, who must seek justice before any war, and Plutarch tells the story of Fabius Ambustus and the Gauls. During a pestilence a bronze shield falls from heaven, and on the advice of Egeria and the Muses Numa has eleven copies made by Veturius Mamurius and appoints the Salii to carry them in a leaping dance.
Plutarch, Table Talk (Quaestiones convivales) 8.0.1–8.2.4Book 8, Preface and Questions 1 and 2: philosophy at the feast; the birthdays of Socrates and Plato; the god as geometerThe preface says that those who ban philosophy from feasts are worse than those who remove a lamp. In Question 1 the company celebrates Socrates' birthday on the sixth of the month and Plato's on the seventh, and notes that Apollo, whose birthday is the seventh, is called Hebdomagenes, and the tale that Apollo was Plato's father. Question 2 asks what Plato meant by saying that God always geometrizes. Tyndares and Florus explain it as the science that turns the mind from the senses to the intelligible, and Autobulus says that God made the world by setting limits to matter.
Plutarch, The Oracles at Delphi (On the Pythian Priestess) 5–7The rough verses of the old oraclesWhen the guides recite an ancient oracle in verse, Diogenianus complains that the old oracles were clumsy in metre, although Apollo leads the Muses. Serapio answers that taste is spoiled by pleasure and that the Pythia should not be judged like a singer. Theon adds that the god supplies only the impulse, and that each prophetess uses her own voice and ability.
Plutarch, Roman Questions 54–61Questions 54-61: the Macellum, Carmenta, Rumina, Hercules and Rome's secret guardian godQuestion 54 gives the name of the Macellum, the meat market, and Question 55 explains why minstrels wear women's dress on the Ides of January. Questions 56 and 57 ask why matrons built the temple of Carmenta and why milk is poured at the sacrifices to Rumina. Questions 59 and 60 treat the altar shared by Hercules and the Muses and the women's exclusion from the greater altar of Hercules, and Question 61 asks why the name of Rome's tutelary god may not be spoken.
Plutarch, Dialogue on Love (Amatorius) 15–16The care of the gods for men; the four friendships; divine madnessPlutarch says that the gods care for ploughing, sowing and planting, and that it is unthinkable that the growth of young people should have no divine guardian. He counts four kinds of friendship, the natural, that of kinsmen, that of friends and that of lovers, and says that it would be absurd for only the last to have no god. He then gives Plato's distinction between the madness that comes from bodily illness and the divine madness breathed in from outside.

4 more passages of Plutarch that name The Muses

Strabo (5)

Strabo, Geography 10.3.9–12Orgiastic worship: Dionysus, Rhea and the infant ZeusStrabo reflects on why festivals, music, ecstasy and secrecy bring people close to the gods. He sets out the cults of Dionysus, Apollo, Hecate, the Muses and Demeter (Ceres) and their ministers. He then tells how in Crete the Curetes danced in armour to hide the infant Zeus (Jupiter) from Cronus (Saturn), and connects Rhea with the Phrygian Great Mother.
Strabo, Geography 8.3.21–25Nestor's kingdom in Homer's list of shipsStrabo measures the coast from Pylus and Lepreum to the Messenian Pylus and notes the temple of the Macistian Heracles (Hercules) and the war over Chaa. He locates the Neda, said to have burst forth so that Rhea could wash after the birth of Zeus (Jupiter). He then identifies the towns of Nestor's realm in Homer's list, including Dorium, where the Muses silenced Thamyris.
Strabo, Geography 9.2.25–32Helicon, Hesiod and the Muses: Thespiae to PlataeaeStrabo describes Thespiae with Praxiteles's statue of Eros (Cupid), Hesiod's birthplace Ascra, and Helicon with the temple of the Muses, the spring Hippocrene and the Leibethrides, linked to the Thracians. He then takes Homer through Copae, Eutresis where Zethus and Amphion lived, Thisbe and its doves, and Coroneia and its temple of the Itonian Athena (Minerva). The section ends with Plataeae, the victory over Mardonius and the Thebans living under the Cadmeia.
Strabo, Geography 10.3.13–18Dionysus, Cybele and Thracian rites in the poetsStrabo quotes Pindar, Euripides, Aeschylus and others to show how Dionysiac, Phrygian, Cretan and Thracian rites were mixed together. The passages mention the Great Mother, the Corybantes in Crete, Seilenus, Marsyas and Olympus, and Sabazius. He also discusses the Thracian goddess Cotys, Lycurgus, the Muses of Thrace, Orpheus, and Athenian borrowing of foreign cults.
Strabo, Geography 8.3.1–6Elis, Ephyra and the Homeric PylusStrabo describes Elis, its Epeii and Nestor's Pylus, and the villages that merged into the city after the Persian war. He places the river Selleis and Ephyra, linking them to Heracles (Hercules), Tlepolemus and the poisons that Odysseus (Ulysses) sought and that Augeas's daughter knew. He also tests Apollodorus's claim that there is only one Oechalia, with Thamyris and the Muses.

Virgil (4)

Virgil, Eclogues 3.1–111Eclogue 3: the singing match of Menalcas and DamoetasMenalcas and Damoetas trade insults about Aegon's sheep, which Damoetas tends, and about old misdeeds. They stake a heifer against two beechen cups carved by Alcimedon, with Palaemon as judge. They sing in alternate couplets, invoking Zeus (Jupiter) and Apollo and speaking of Galatea, Amyntas, Phyllis, Pollio and the troubles of herdsmen. Palaemon will not choose a winner, says both deserve the heifer, and tells the boys to shut off the water.
Virgil, Eclogues 6.1–86Eclogue 6: the song of SilenusThe poet says the Cynthian god warned him to sing slender songs, and he dedicates this one to Varus. The young Chromis and Mnasyllos find Silenus asleep, drunk, and bind him with garlands, and Aegle smears his face with mulberry juice. Laughing, he agrees to sing of the world's making from seeds, of Pyrrha's stones, the reign of Kronos (Saturn) and Prometheus, of Pasiphae and her bull, and of Gallus among the Muses. He sings until the evening star bids the shepherds fold their sheep.
Virgil, Georgics 3.1–48The temple of Caesar: Virgil's poetic programmeThe poet invokes Pales and the Amphrysian shepherd, and says the old themes, such as Eurystheus, Busiris, Hylas and Pelops, are worn out. He resolves to find a new path to fame and promises to bring the Muses to Mantua. There he will build a marble temple by the Mincius with Caesar at its centre, with chariot races, games and doors carved with victories over Asia, the Nile and the Parthians. First, though, he will follow Maecenas into the woods.
Virgil, Aeneid 7.641–817The catalogue of the Italian forcesThe poet calls on the Muses and lists the Italian leaders who gather for the war. Mezentius comes from Etruria with his son Lausus, and Aventinus, a son of Heracles (Hercules), wears a lion skin. Other leaders named with their peoples include Catillus and Coras, Caeculus, Messapus, Clausus, Halaesus, Oebalus, Ufens, Umbro and Virbius. Turnus advances in a crested helmet with Io on his shield, and Camilla comes last with her Volscian riders.