This painting, by the American artist Henry Siddons Mowbray (c. 1858–1928), claims to depict a Muse of Music from ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Muses were the daughters of the high-god, Zeus, and the goddess, Mnemosyne (Memory), and they served as goddesses of arts, sciences and creativity. The scholar, Diodorus Siculus (c. 1st century BCE), summarized ancient beliefs about the Muses, writing:
“The majority of the writers of myths and those who enjoy the greatest reputation say that they were daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne; but a few poets, among whose number is Alcman, state that they were daughters of Uranus and Gê. Writers similarly disagree also concerning the number of the Muses; for some say that they are three, and others that they are nine, but the number nine has prevailed since it rests upon the authority of the most distinguished men, such as Homer and Hesiod and others like them…To each of the Muses men assign her special aptitude for one of the branches of the liberal arts, such as poetry, song, pantomimic dancing, the round dance with music, the study of the stars, and the other liberal arts” (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 4.7).
Hesiod (c. 8th century BCE), who was mentioned by Diodorus Siculus, is thought to have been the first to name the Muses with their canonical names. He wrote, “the Muses sang, who dwell in Olympus, the nine daughters born of great Zeus, Clio and Euterpe and Thaleia and Melpomene, Terpsichore and Erato and Polyhymnia and Urania, and Calliope, who is chief among them all” (Hesiod, Theogony, approximately lines 76-79). Focusing back on Mowbray’s Muse of Music painting, it should be noted that several of the Muses were associated with music and none of them held a monopoly on the Muse of Music title. Euterpe was the Muse of flute playing. Polyhymnia, in fitting with her name, was a Muse of hymns. Terpsichore and Erato governed forms of lyric poetry that could accompany music. Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry, was also heavily linked to music. Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE), a Roman poet, imagined Calliope reciting her poetic tales to the sounds of a lyre. He wrote:
“Calliope. She, with her flowing hair in ivy wreath,
rose up and strummed a few plangent chords to test her lyre strings,
then firmly plucked them to launch at once on the following lay.”
(Ovid, Metamorphoses, 5.335-340)
In short, there were many musical Muses. Yet, not all of the Muses were associated with the flute that is referenced in Henry Siddons Mowbray’s artwork. Calliope and Erato were mostly associated with the lyre. Contrastingly, Terpsichore and Euterpe both were indeed depicted with flutes in ancient art, but Terpsichore was also frequently shown wielding string instruments. Of the Muses, Euterpe was the one most specialized around playing flutes, especially double-flutes, which is the type of instrument featured in the artwork above. Therefore, Euterpe is the best guess as to which Muse is depicted in Mowbray’s Muse of Music painting.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- Theogony and Works and Days by Hesiod, translated by M. L. West. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988, 1999, 2008.
- Metamorphoses by Ovid. Translated by David Raeburn. Penguin Classics; Revised Edition, 2004.
- The Oxford Dictionary of Classical Myth and Religion, edited by Simon Price and Emily Kearns. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
- https://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/MousaEuterpe.html
- https://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/MousaTerpsikhore.html
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Euterpe-Muse
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Terpsichore
- https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/2716
