Not only are the Muses explicitly used in modern English to refer to an artistic inspiration, as when one cites one’s own artistic muse, but they also are implicit in words and phrases such as “amuse,” “museum” (Latinised from mouseion — a place where the muses were worshipped), “music,” and “musing upon.”
In current literature, the influential role that the muse plays has been extended to the political sphere. Along with a majority of the Greek Gods, five of the Muses (Thalia, Clio, Calliope, Melpomene and Terpsicore) appeared in the Walt Disney animated film Hercules (based on Hercules). All nine muses appeared in several paintings in the 72-piece art collection of Dante’s Inferno by Dino Di Durante, which is printed in books titled “Inferno – The Art Collection” available in 33 languages. This said collection was also featured in the medium length film Dante’s Hell Animated by Boris Acosta.
Invoking the Muse in Literature
Ancient authors and their imitators invoke Muses when writing poetry, hymns or epic history. The invocation occurs near the beginning of their work. It asks for help or inspiration from the Muses, or simply invites the Muse to sing directly through the author.
Originally, the invocation of the Muse was an indication that the speaker was working inside the poetic tradition, according to the established formulas. For example:
Homer, in Book I of The Odyssey:
“Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, once he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.”
Virgil, in Book I of the Aeneid:
O Muse! the causes and the crimes relate;
What goddess was provok’d, and whence her hate;
For what offense the Queen of Heav’n began
To persecute so brave, so just a man; […]
Besides Homer and Virgil, other famous works that included an invocation of the muse are the first of the carmina by Catullus, Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Amores, Dante’s Inferno (Canto II), Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde (Book II), Shakespeare’s Henry V (Act 1, Prologue), his 38th sonnet, and Milton’s Paradise Lost (opening of Book 1).
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