ART.
It is easy to recognize statues of Minerva, as she wears an ægis or mantle of goatskin (the emblem of the storm-cloud), the clasp of which is the head of Medusa, won for her by Perseus. It has been suggested that this head so worn has an inner meaning, and that it is intended for a symbol of evil which, though always present, may be made powerless by virtue.
This well executed statue of Minerva in the Capitol, Rome, is a direct offspring of the colossal creation in ivory and gold by Phidias which stood in the Parthenon. The energetic, warlike figure is short and thick-set. The folds of the drapery, especially that of the upper garment, are sharp and angular.
Euterpe.
“The Charmer.”
“Who can bar the way of song?
Who can do the Muse a wrong?
Sooner may the stream be reined,
Or the noonday sunbeams chained.”
—Edith M. Thomas.
STORY.
THE NINE MUSES.
“Nine sisters, beautiful in form and face,
Came from their convent on the shining heights
Of Pierus, the mountain of delights,
To dwell among the people at its base.
Then seemed the world to change. All time and space,
Splendor of cloudless days and starry nights,
And men and manners, and all sounds and sights
Had a new meaning, a diviner grace.”
—Longfellow.
The Muses were the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne (memory), and were born at Pieria on Mt. Olmypus. To each was assigned some particular department of literature, art or science, over which she reigned as goddess.
Euterpe presided over the art of music and was called the “mistress of song.” Thalia was Muse of comedy and burlesque, Melpomene of tragedy, Urania of astronomy, Terpsichore of dance, Erato of love poetry, Polyhymnia of sacred poetry, Calliope of heroic poetry, and Clio of history.