thumb|Melpomene by [[Joseph Fagnani (1869)]]

Melpomene (; ) is the Muse of tragedy in Greek mythology. She is described as the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne (and therefore of power and memory) along with the other Muses, and she is often portrayed with a tragic theatrical mask.

Etymology

Melpomene's name (implying the meaning "Songstress") is derived by etymologists from the Ancient Greek verb (melpô) or from its inflexion μέλπομαι (melpomai) meaning "to celebrate with dance and song". The Oxford English Dictionary cites μέλπειν (melpein – to sing).

Myth

Melpomene is one of the nine Muses, the Muse of tragedy. Hesiod, Apollodorus, and Diodorus Siculus all held that Melpomene was the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. She was the sister of the other Muses, Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, and Urania. Apollodorus, Lycophron, and Gaius Julius Hyginus said that Melpomene was the mother of the sirens, though some ancient writers identified this role with other figures.

Melpomene is described as singing songs of mourning for people of note after they die, particularly for poets.

Iconography and depiction

thumb|Melpomene on an antique fresco from [[Pompeii]]

Depictions of Melpomene may include a tragic mask, buskins, lyres, scrolls, and a crown of leaves. Horace invokes Melpomene in Ode 3.30, when he describes his poetry as a monument as great as any king's tomb. The poet asks Melpomene to crown him with a laurel wreath and make him a poet laureate.

Visual art

The oldest surviving portrait of Virgil, a mosaic dated to the first century, features Virgil between Melpomene and Clio, the muse of history. Theologian Louis A. Ruprecht interpreted this as a commentary on the similarities of recording history and writing fictional works of tragedy.

The 2018 excavation of a Roman bathhouse in Decapolis uncovered six mostly preserved statues of the Muses. The statue of Melpomene was 62 centimeters tall and made of Pentelic marble. Its head was lost, but it was identifiable by the drama mask lying on its thigh.

The tragic actress Sarah Siddons posed for several paintings depicted as Melpomene in the 1780s and 1790s. The 1784 Joshua Reynolds painting Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse is recognized as a high point in the careers of both Siddons and Reynolds.

See also

  • Muses in popular culture
  • The Nine Muses

Notes

References

  • John Tzetzes, Book of Histories, Book I translated by Ana Untila from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826. Online version at theio.com
  • Primary sources and basic information concerning Melpomene
  • Warburg Institute Iconographic Database