The Muses

Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World

by Penelope Murray

Invoked by poets from Homer onwards, the Muse embodies an archetypal image of inspiration in Western culture. But who were the Muses and how do we account for their lasting appeal? This book will explore the rich and complex history of these figures from their origins as goddesses of music in the oral society of early Greece, through their later transformation into patrons of education and learning who embodied the values of civilised life. These enigmatic goddesses may no longer inhabit the slopes of Helicon or the glades of Parnassus, but the image of the Muse lives on as a metaphor for inspiration and artistic creativity whose processes are essentially mysterious. From Homer and Milton to Robert Graves, from the great paintings of Raphael and Poussin to the visionary canvases of Gustave Moreau, from the learned ladies of the eighteenth century, self-styled Muses of their age, to poets and artists of the present day, the Muse has remained central to the expression of ideas about creativity in the Western tradition. The Muses is the first full treatment in English of these enduring figures from classical myth, and should be read not only by students of classical mythology and poetry, but also by anyone interested in understanding the role of the Muses in Western culture.

Genres: Mythology, History

264 pages, Hardcover

First published January 8, 2017

About the author

Penelope Murray read Classics at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she also took her Ph.D. She held Research Fellowships at King's College London and St. Anne's College, Oxford, before becoming a founder member of the Department of Classics at the University of Warwick. She was promoted to a Senior Lectureship in 1998, but has recently taken early retirement to have more time to write. She works on early Greek poetry and poetics, on philosophical responses to Athenian song-culture, especially the views of Plato, and on ancient literary criticism. She is also interested in the ways in which approaches to literature in the Westen tradition have been shaped by the classical inheritance. She has written extensively on these subjects, including articles on the Muses and on ancient conceptions of imagination and inspiration. Her books include Genius: the History of an Idea (Blackwell 1989); Plato on Poetry (Cambridge 1996); Classical Literary Criticism (Penguin 2000); Music and the Muses: the Culture of Mousike in the Classical Athenian City, co-edited with Peter Wilson (Oxford 2004).Current projects include A Companion to Ancient Aestheticsfor Wiley Blackwell, co-edited with Pierre Destree, and a book on the Muses for the Routledge Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World series.