Previous
Rhea
The Muses, the nine daughters of Zeus and Memory, are goddesses who are patrons of the creative arts. At the beginning of the poem, Hesiod claims that they appeared to him once as he tended sheep as a young man, and taught him the art of poetry and how to sing and compose songs. If granted the Muses’ favor, men are blessed with the admiration of their peers, beautiful speech, and sound judgment. The Muses names are Clio, Euterpe, Thaleia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania, and Calliope.
The Muses Quotes in Theogony
The Theogony quotes below are all either spoken by The Muses or refer to The Muses. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Theogony Quotes
From the Muses of Helicon let us begin our singing, that haunt Helicon's great and holy mountain, and dance on their soft feet round the violet-dark spring and the altar of the mighty son of Kronos.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Beginning the poem with a traditional invocation to the Muses, Hesiod asks that they bless him as a poet and allow him to compose a skillful work of art. In doing so, he situates the Muses as the daughters of Zeus, emphasizing the ways in which their genealogy gives them their power and significance, along with the ability to bestow artistic skill upon humans. Similarly, Hesiod describes Zeus in relation to his own father, Kronos, foreshadowing the events that will take place later in the poem and emphasizing the importance of genealogy from the outset. Even though he is the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem a
Whomsoever great Zeus' daughters favour among the kings that Zeus fosters, and turn their eyes upon him at his birth, upon his tongue they shed sweet dew, and out of his mouth the words flow honeyed; and the peoples all look to him as he decides what is to prevail with his straight judgments. His word is sure, and expertly he makes a quick end of even a great dispute. This is why there are prudent kings: when the peoples are wronged in their dealings, they make amends for them with ease, persuading them with gentle words. When he goes among a gathering, they seek his favour with conciliatory reverence, as if he were a god, and he stands out among the crowd.
Such is the Muses' holy gift to men.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
At the beginning of the poem, Hesiod continues his extended invocation of the Muses, describing the “holy gift” they bestow upon lucky mortals. Again, their familial relationship to Zeus is emphasized, illustrating the importance of genealogy as an ordering principle in Hesiod’s world. The Muses’ direct connection with the human world is also highlighted in the description of their blessings: phrases like “shed sweet dew” and “words flow honeyed” makes the Muses’ gifts seem akin to the bounty of nature and agriculture, and intimately connected with the material world. Rather than being confined to the world of gods and goddesses, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore
Farewell now, you dwellers in Olympus, and you islands, continents, and the salt sea between. But now, Olympian Muses, sweet of utterance, daughters of aegis bearing Zeus, sing of the company of goddesses, all those who were bedded with mortal men, immortal themselves, and bore children resembling the gods.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Toward the end of the poem, Hesiod pivots from describing the divine children of other gods, to children whose parentage is mixed—half god, half human. In doing so, he emphasizes that it is genealogy that orders the entire universe of the poem, from the huge, elemental figures of Heaven and Earth to the human heroes and heroines that populate the heroic age. These are children “resembling the gods,” but they are still human, and represent the furthest reaches of the genealogical organizing principle expressed at the outset of the poem. The passage also highlights the intermixture of the natural, human, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corru
Get the entire Theogony LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
The Muses Character Timeline in Theogony
The timeline below shows where the character The Muses appears in Theogony. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Theogony
Hesiod begins his poem by invoking the Muses. He claims that the Muses appeared to him while he was tending sheep as a...
(full context)
