Polyhymnia

"Of many hymns." Or Polymnia (Πολυμνία), a daughter of Zeus, and one of the nine Muses. She presided over lyric poetry, and was believed to have invented the lyre.1 By Oeagrus she became the mother of Orpheus,2 although usually Calliope is given as his mother.

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Iconography

Polyhymnia is portrayed as a pensive woman, usually wearing a long cloak, and resting with one elbow on a column, sometimes with a finger at her mouth. She does not have attributes. A well-known statue of Polyhymnia is located at the Vatican Museum.

References

Notes

  1. Hesiod. Theogony, 78; Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius, iii, 1.
  2. Scholiast, l.c., i, 23.

Sources

  • Aken, Dr. A.R.A. van. (1961). Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
  • Bartelink, Dr. G.J.M. (1988). Prisma van de mythologie. Utrecht: Het Spectrum.
  • Cooper, J.C., ed. (1997). Brewer's Book of Myth and Legend. Oxford: Helicon Publishing Ltd.