Musas

Musas refers to the Muses, the nine goddesses of the arts and sciences in Greek mythology. They are traditionally portrayed as the daughters of Zeus, king of the gods, and Mnemosyne, goddess of memory. The Muses were believed to inspire creativity and knowledge across poetry, song, dance, medicine, history, astronomy, and more. They were said to reside at sacred sites on Mount Helicon and Mount Parnassus in Boeotia and central Greece, where temples and cults honored them. Their worship was both collective and individual, and poets would invoke them at the outset of their works to seek divine guidance.

The nine Muses and their primary domains are: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (lyric poetry, especially love poetry), Euterpe (music), Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia (sacred poetry and hymns), Terpsichore (dance and choral music), Thalia (comedy and pastoral poetry), Urania (astronomy). In artistic depictions, they are often shown as graceful figures with symbols such as the lyre, the scroll, or celestial instruments, sometimes accompanied by animals like the peacock or owl.

In modern usage, the term muse denotes a source of inspiration for a creative artist. The concept of the Muses also influenced language and education, with the Greek word Mousa giving rise to the Latin Muses and to the term museum, a place dedicated to study and the arts.