Kalliope - muse of epic poetry, science and philosophy

Calliope is a muse of epic poetry, philosophy and science in ancient Greek mythology. Calliope's name means "beautiful-haired". It is considered to be the supreme goddess amongst his own kind, living on Parnassus. Among the friends closest to the crowned Kalliope, the muse of Urania astronomy and the patroness of the Terpsichore ballet and dance art. These three muses can be seen together in pictures of Dutch painters. The French artist Pierre Minyar portrayed the trinity on his canvases more often than others, while Calliope was always in the center of the picture with a harp in her hands. Another painter from France, Simon Vue, gave a lot of time and energy to paintings on the theme of mythology. The most notable of his work in this direction is the canvas "Apollo and the Muses", where the god Apollo sits among nine muses. Kalliopa was closest to him. Another masterpiece called "The Muse of Calliope and Urania" was created by the artist in 1634. The canvas is in the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

Ancient Greek muse Calliope is the eldest daughter of Zeus the Thunderer and goddess Mnemosyne. She gave birth to the sons of Orpheus and Lina from the god Apollo. He is the mother of the Thracian hero Resa, who at one time conceived him from the river god Strymon. According to one version, Calliope also gave birth to Homer, also from Apollo. In addition, she is attributed to motherhood in relation to some of the Corybains, the divine dancers living on Olympus. The father of coryantes with a demonic appearance is Zeus. Muse of Apollo Calliope, she is his wife, accompanied her husband everywhere, this explains so many offspring, and when God wished to part with her, she did not grumble. Meekness and obedience of goddesses towards their husbands are unquestionable.

What is responsible for the calliope muse

All the deities living in Parnassus, in one way or another are connected with people. Calliope, the muse of ancient poetry and an ancient epic, has always been a prophetess. She represented a deep philosophy and science. According to the teachings of Hesiod, a reliable representative of the genealogical epic, Calliope is a muse following the earthly kings. It was mentioned by Virgil, Stesichor and Dionysius the Copper. The latter called poetry "Calliope's cry". Not Euterpe and not Erato, although their poems are closer to art in their sound. Apparently, poetry in the understanding of the ancients was more equated with philosophy and, in lesser terms, with art.

In modern mythology, Calliope, the muse of epic verses, appears as a goddess killing writers at the time they end their work. The cruel custom was justified by the need to preserve the verse masterpiece in a single copy, without the possibility of creating another one of the same. This myth was used in the production of the American television series "Supernatural" by Eric Kripke, filmed in 2006. To the theme of mythology, screenwriters and directors of world cinema are treated quite often, but not all can not convey the elusive fleur, which enveloped the legends associated with the gods.

Nine Muses

In ancient Greek mythology, there are goddesses who are responsible for
Those or other kinds of human activity, these are:

• Calliope is the muse of epic poetry;
• Melpomene - the muse of tragedy;
• Terpsichore is the muse of dance art;
• Clio is the muse of history;
• Urania - the muse of astronomy;
• Erato is the muse of the poetry of love;
• Euterpe is a muse of lyrical poetry and musical art;
• Thalia - a muse of comedy and light poetry;
• Polyhymnia is a muse of solemn music and hymns.

External signs

Often the ancient Greek muse Calliope is depicted holding wax tablets and stylos. These writing materials correspond to her status as patroness of epic poetry, science and philosophy.

Clothing and attributes

On some of the images, Calliope is represented playing the harp, a musical instrument of the divine Olympus, although music in the ancient Greek canons is the prerogative of the Muse Euterpe. Nevertheless, such pictures exist. Thus, Calliope is the most versatile muse of all those mentioned in Greek mythology. In sculptural sculptures, she is often depicted with a flute as a symbol of art. However, in some cases Calliope is depicted without any attributes, in a freely falling tunic, and her hands are free.

Crownedness

In confirming her superiority over other muses, Calliope wears a golden crown. She is considered the only goddess to whom Zeus could entrust important affairs on Olympus. Once he instructed Calliope to conduct a trial on the contentious issue that arose between Persephone and Aphrodite regarding the god Adonis.

Astronomy and musical instruments

The name of Kalliopa is a large asteroid, discovered in the middle of the nineteenth century by John Hind, an English astronomer.

Also her name is one of the most unusual wind musical instruments in the world. This is the steam organ of the "Calliope", assembled from locomotive and ship buzzer. The terrifying roar of this instrument is not associated with the gentle appearance of the muse, but nevertheless such an incident happened, and the most extravagant musical instrument was given the name of the goddess, which is translated from the Greek as "beautiful".

High purpose

According to legend, the eternal companion of the kings and the patroness of their singers Calliope gives the people of art a great power of impact on human souls, because in her arsenal, among other verse forms, heroic poetry is listed. From Calliope comes the chanting of military valor, dignity and courage, a noble desire for self-sacrifice in the name of lofty ideals.

The Divine Lira

The magic of the mother passed to the son of Calliope, Orpheus. Apollo gave him a lyre, and the Muses taught the young god to play the strings. Orpheus reached such perfection in the game that his lyre became magical. Divine music subordinated to itself people, animals and plants. Nature itself listened to the sound of the lyre of Orpheus. The rocks, trees and shrubs circled in the dance. In the ocean, the storm subsided, the waves calmed down under the pacifying lyrical passages.