This painting, by the French artist Charles Meynier (1768-1832), depicts the Muse of history from ancient Greek mythology. Named Clio (or variants such as Cleio or Kleio), she was one of nine godly sisters who gave divine patronage to the arts, sciences and academia. Their names are believed to have first been written down by the Greek poet, Hesiod (c. 8th century BCE), who stated, “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). Although the goddesses were first seen as a collective supporting all the arts and sciences, each Muse was eventually given an area of expertise where her patronage was focused. Ancient scholars believed that the wordplay and allusions involved in the names of the Muses shaped the goddesses’ spheres of influence. One such scholar, Diodorus Siculus (c. 1st century BCE), wrote, “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…For the name of each Muse, they say, men have found a reason appropriate to her: Cleio is so named because the praise which poets sing in their encomia bestows great glory (kleos) upon those who are praised” (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 4.7). The Greek verb kleô could also be translated as “to make famous” or “celebrate,” and such commemoration was an early goal of the earliest historical records. Clio was also associated with poetry that detailed historical people and events. It was only after Herodotus (c. 490-425/420 BCE) and Thucydides (c. 460-400 BCE) trailblazed the genre of history books that Clio’s patronage began to shift from poetry to prose.
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.
- The Library of History, by Diodorus Siculus, edited by Giles Laurén (Sophron Editor, 2014).
- 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/MousaKleio.html
- https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2003.6
