| "Euterpe glanced her fingers o'er her lute, | | | | lines of the Odyssey still serve as a strong testimony |
| And lightly waked it to a cheerful strain, | | | | to the idea that the muse of inspiration should be |
| Then laid it by, and took the mellow flute, | | | | invoked first and foremost in the artist's creative life: |
| Whose softly flowing warble filled the plain: | | | | "Sing to me, o Muse, of the wise man who traveled |
| It was a lay that roused the drooping soul, | | | | far..."It sometimes makes one wonder why certain |
| And bade the tear of sorrow cease to flow"(from | | | | periods of history are blessed by an exorbitant |
| "An Ode to Music" by James G. Percival)She is | | | | amount of creative inspiration and flourish with an |
| capricious, fickle, hard to please. She lets you wait for | | | | abundance of refined and soul-stirring art, whereas |
| her in desparation for many long hours - and decides | | | | other periods seem almost deprived of true artistic |
| not to come. Then the next day she suddenly | | | | beauty and lack a higher inspiration and vision. Could |
| comes, unexpected, unannounced. Queen of arbitrary | | | | this be explained by the suggestion that the artists |
| appearances, mistress of magical moments, empress | | | | of these more prosperous times had more faith in |
| of eloquence, embodied by the unseen, subtle | | | | the guidance of the muse and consciously or |
| thought-wave tickling the brain, instilling in the subtle | | | | unconsciously invoked her presence? Or by the |
| sense a heightened awareness of the divine reality. | | | | assumption that the muse herself was more active in |
| She is inspiration. She is the Muse.If we look her up in | | | | these periods, scattering her seeds of inspiration |
| a dictionary or an encyclopaedia we come to learn | | | | freely about, and more withdrawn in others, retired |
| that there were originally nine muses, representing | | | | behind the walls of her castle on the Olympus, |
| the nine goddesses of arts and science. None other | | | | unseen and unheard by mortal eyes and ears? Do |
| than Zeus was their father. He graced them with | | | | we invent the gods or do the gods invent us? An |
| melodious names, fitting to their high positions: | | | | eternal question to which no clear-cut answer has |
| Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, | | | | been provided. Perhaps it is a little of both.But enough |
| Terpsichore, Thalia and Urania. A temple erected in | | | | 'musing' on her rich tradition and past, for the past - |
| their honour was called a 'Mouseion', a name we now | | | | as they say - is dust. What you and I want to know |
| give to the venue where the fruits of their inspiration | | | | is how we can successfully invoke the muse here |
| can be found: the museum.It was not wise to | | | | and now; how we can tempt or persuade her to |
| contend with these high-learned gals, as the | | | | descend from her pink cloud and mingle with our |
| daughters of king Pierus found out when they | | | | crying efforts, so that we can create something |
| entered into a singing competition with the muses | | | | beautiful, something worthwhile, lasting and satisfying. |
| and were badly defeated. The muses were not | | | | For too often have we endured her cold silence and |
| satisfied with victory alone, for legend has it they | | | | the empty hours of her absence. Too often were |
| changed the nine princesses into magpies. The Sirens | | | | we to rely on our own limited faculties, forced to be |
| - mythological creatures with the body of a bird and | | | | satisfied with mediocrity. Yet when she finally shows |
| the head of a woman - whose enchanting and | | | | herself, she leaves too early, before her work is |
| spellbinding songs issued from their rock in the sea | | | | properly done and we are left with two sublime lines |
| sent many a sailor to an early sea-grave, also tried | | | | of poetry or a few inspired brush strokes while the |
| their luck and pitted their musical skill against that of | | | | rest of the painting and poem are doomed to the |
| the muses. The Sirens suffered not only defeat, but | | | | well-meaning sweat of our human brow, missing their |
| also the loss of their feathers, as the muses plucked | | | | promising claims to immortality.So how can we |
| them out to make crowns out of.The lesson learned | | | | capture the muse permanently and bind her to us |
| is that one should not compete with muses. But | | | | irrevocably? When looking at and observing the lives |
| instead of competing with them, one can invoke their | | | | of the great Masters of art, there seems to be only |
| presence and let their inspiration's flow create works | | | | one answer: one needs to practise diligently, |
| of wonder and beauty, whether in painting, poetry, | | | | ceaselessly and untiringly. Practise makes perfect, as |
| literature, music or drama. Homer's famous opening | | | | the old adage goes. |