11/24/2023 0 Comments A muse of historySomeone who has sufficient resources and yet spends time and energy to accumulate more might well deserve the label “evil oaf” or “nothing but belly.” Laozi, composing only slightly later than Hesiod, agrees: “There is no greater calamity than not knowing what is enough” ( Daodejing 46, translation from Philip J. Humans can indeed be short-sighted and greedy. Fawning on celebrities is usually bad history.īut Clio is still a good Muse for historians. Lastly, Hesiod says that his new divine voice aims to celebrate, and Clio is particularly implicated here: her name means “Make Famous.” Historians today insist on a critical approach to their subjects, and avoid simple narratives full of glorious deeds. It also explains why the annual gala of the global advertising industry is the Clio Awards. This double-edged sword resonates grimly today, when trust in experts is extremely low, and lower still if they’re saying something you don’t want to hear. Do we want to align ourselves with demigods who think so little of humanity? Isn’t inspiration supposed to be positive and affirming?įor another, when the Muses mention their powers, they lead not with an ability to tell the truth, but with an ability to seem to tell the truth. For one thing, they begin with verbal abuse, mocking Hesiod and other mortals as incompetent and greedy. In some ways, it is not a promising debut for the Muses. ( Theogony 22-32, translation adapted from Richard S. They picked and gave me a staff, a branch of strong laurel,ĭivine, to make famous what will be and what was. This is what the prompt-voiced daughters of great Zeus said We know how to say many lies as if they were true,Īnd when we want, we know how to speak the truth.” "Rustic shepherds, evil oafs, nothing but bellies, The Olympian Muses, daughters of aegis-shaking Zeus: This is the first thing the goddesses told me, Hesiod, writing at the end of the 8 th century BCE, describes his encounter with this group as a sort of initiation:Īs he watched his sheep near holy Mt. Clio has come to be identified as the Muse of History: in Greek mythology, she is one of the nine daughters born to Zeus and Mnemosyne (“Memory” personified).
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