Terpsichore

Terpsichore

"Delighting in the dance." The Muse of choral song and dancing, a daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Terpsichore is mentioned as the mother of the Sirens by Achelous,1 and of Hymen by Apollo.2

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The names comes from the τέρπω, "delight," and χoρός, "dance."

Iconography

Terpsichore was portrayed seated, holding a lyre and a plectrum.

References

Notes

  1. Apollonius Rhodius. Argonautica iv, 893.
  2. Alciphron. Epistles i, 13.3.

Sources

  • Aken, Dr. A.R.A. van. (1961). Elseviers Mythologische Encyclopedie. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
  • Cooper, J.C., ed. (1997). Brewer's Book of Myth and Legend. Oxford: Helicon Publishing Ltd.
  • Hesiod. Theogony, 78.
  • Pindar. Isthmian Odes ii, 7.
  • Plato. Phaedrus p. 259.