Mousikē : the Art of the Muses
‘Let us begin to sing from the Muses of Helicon...’
(Hes. Th. 1.1)
‘Sing, o Goddess, the wrath of Achilles son of Peleus...’
(Hom. Il. 1.1)
These archetypal beginnings of what we call ancient Greek ‘poetry’ show that the art of the Muses was in fact more complex than ‘simple’ poetry and was fundamentally musical in origin and nature.
Ancient Greek poems were songs performed to the accompaniment of musical instruments; an indissoluble blend of melody, rhythm, and words that originated from the Muses and celebrated them first and foremost—the mythical daughters of Memory and Zeus and their power to inspire and create beauty, preserve knowledge of the past, and grant imperishable glory to human beings and their deeds through immortal songs (Hes. Op. 1.1)...
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