POLYHYMNIA

 

Versatile Polyhymnia

Muse of singing

Muse of mime

And of sacred dancing

THE NINE MUSES OF THE ARTS – URANIA (MUSE OF ASTRONOMY)

 

The nine muses

Daughters of Zeus

Inspiring of mortals

And nurturers of the arts

The ninth and final was,

The divine Urania,

Heavenly muse,

Was the muse of astrology

A globe in her hand

Dressed in a cloak embroidered with stars

Urania was reader of the stars

THE NINE MUSES OF THE ARTS – THALIA (MUSE OF COMEDY)

 

The nine muses

Daughters of Zeus

Inspiring of mortals

And nurturers of the arts

The eighth was,

The divine Thalia,

Flourishing, in bloom,

Was the muse of comedy and idyllic poetry

A comic mask in her hand

The praises of Thalia, rustic goddess

And in her songs flourish through time

THE NINE MUSES OF THE ARTS – TERPSICHORE (MUSE OF DANCING)

 

The nine muses

Daughters of Zeus

Inspiring of mortals

And nurturers of the arts

The seventh was,

The divine Terpsichore,

Delight of dancing,

Muse of choral songs and dance

A lyre in her hand

Accompanies the dancers

Terpsichore muse of dance

Mother of the sirens

THE NINE MUSES OF THE ARTS – POLYHYMNIA (MUSE OF HYMNS)

 

The nine muses

Daughters of Zeus

Inspiring of mortals

And nurturers of the arts

The sixth was,

The divine Polyhymnia,

The one of many hymns,

Was the Muse of sacred poetry and sacred hymns

Of eloquence and pantomime

In her long cloak and classical pose

Polyhymnia was a serious, pensive and meditative muse

THE NINE MUSES OF THE ARTS – MELPOMÈNE (MUSE OF TRAGEDY)

 

The nine muses

Daughters of Zeus

Inspiring of mortals

And nurturers of the arts

The fifth was,

The divine Melpomène,

The one that is melodious,

Was firstly the muse of singing

To celebrate with dance and song

Then she became the muse of tragedy

And hid behind a tragic mask

A knife or club in her hand

Creator of beautiful lyrical phrases

Melpomène muse of Horace

THE NINE MUSES OF THE ARTS – EUTERPE (MUSE OF LYRICAL POETRY)

 

The nine muses

Daughters of Zeus

Inspiring of mortals

And nurturers of the arts

The fourth was,

The divine Euterpe,

Rejoicing well,

Was firstly the muse of music

Then of Lyrical poetry

A double flute in her hand

Euterpe the Giver of delight

THE NINE MUSES OF THE ARTS – ERATO (MUSE OF EROTIC POETRY)

 

The nine muses

Daughters of Zeus

Inspiring of mortals

And nurturers of the arts

The third was,

The divine Erato,

Desired and lovely,

Was the muse of the lyric poets

A golden arrow in her hand

Muse of love verse

And of Erotic poetry

Erato the muse who charms the sight

And inspires love in everybody

THE NINE MUSES OF THE ARTS – CLIO (MUSE OF HISTORY)

 

The nine muses

Daughters of Zeus

Inspiring of mortals

And nurturers of the arts

The second was,

The divine Clio

The maker of fame,

Was the muse of history

A parchment scroll in her hands

Clio was the proclaimer

THE NINE MUSES OF THE ARTS – CALLIOPE (MUSE OF EPIC POETRY)

 

The nine muses

Daughters of Zeus

Inspiring of mortals

And nurturers of the arts

The first was,

The divine Calliope,

Beautiful-voiced,

Was the muse of the epic poets

A writing tablet in her hand

Calliope was Homer's muse

Inspiration for the Iliad

Divine influence of the Odyssey

THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES

The Sibylline Oracles,

Oracular utterances scribed

In Greek hexameters

Ascribed to the Sibyls,

Prophetesses who uttered

The divine revelations

In a state of frenzy 

ORACLE OF DIONE AND ZEUS

Oracle of Dione and Zeus

At Dodona in Epirus

Apollo’s temple at Didyma

On the coast of Asia Minor,

Or at Corinth and Bassae

In the Peloponnese,

And Delos and Aegina

In the Aegean Sea

 

THE PYTHIA

 

The Pythia, oracle

Of Greek antiquity,

Oracular high Priestess

To Apollo at Delphi

SEERS OF ANTIQUITY

Seers of antiquity, interpreters

Of signs sent by the Gods

Through bird signs, animal entrails,

Or primitive Runic methods

THE ORACLES OF ANTIQUITY

 

The Oracles of antiquity,

Were portals to the Olympians

So, the Gods could speak

Directly to those in their dominions

ORACLES

 

Inspired by the Gods

In Classical Antiquity,

Oracles gave wise counsel

Prophetic predictions

Or precognition of the future

As they performed their Oracular

Form of divination

In temples to the Gods

ACHERON

 

Acheron, the river of pain,

One of the five rivers of hades

Where Charon the ferryman

Plied his morbid trade

CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – ORTHRUS

 

There was a dreadful union between the giant immortal Typhon

And the black fearful eyed Echidne, Half serpent, half woman

The terrible result of this unnatural union was the dog Orthrus

A two headed dog almost as vicious as his brother Cerberus

The Drakon Chimaera was in love With Orthrus her own brother

And spawned the deadly Sphinx and the Nemean Lion together

Used by the giant Geryon to guard his fabulous herds of cattle

Who at the hands of Heracles, was stuck with a club dying in battle

CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – GERYON

 

Geryon was a triple-bodied giant who dwelt in the land of Erytheia at the ends of the earth

As one of his labors Heracles who was sent to fetch Geryon's herds of cattle of great worth

His parents were the powerful-minded Khrysaor and Kallirhoe daughter of glorious Okeanos

While he guarded his fabulous cattle herds Geryon was accompanied by the hound Orthrus

With a single blow from his mighty club Heracles dispatched Orthrus the two-headed hound

And then with one poisoned arrow the giant three bodied Geryon fell dead to the ground.

CREATURES OF GREEK MYTHOLOGY – THE CRETAN BULL

 

As a punishment for not making a promised sacrifice to the Olympian god

The Cretan Bull a majestic creature was sent up to Crete by Poseidon

It impregnated Pasiphae the wife of King Minos producing the Minotaur

After it was captured by Heracles it was slain by Theseus at Marathon