Symposia in a Mouseion

Originally, a mouseion (Ancient Greek μουσεῖον) was a sanctuary of the Muses where they led their sacred round dances (which were also called mouseia), by analogy with the Heraion (the temple of Hera), the Serapeum (the temple of Serapis), and others. Later, the word came to mean a “gathering” in a broad sense—for instance, Plato uses it in the Phaedrus in the phrase “a gathering of [wise] speeches” (Ancient Greek μουσεῖα λόγων).

In my blog, the Mouseion section is extremely broad. In itself, it tells about what I’ve seen in the museums I’ve visited—the modern heirs of the ancient mouseia. But it also allows me to unite into a virtual round dance the Olympian patrons of the individual sub-sections:

• Apollo, who is responsible for the fine arts;
• Calliope, the muse of writers;
• Clio, her sister, entrusted with historians;
• Euterpe, who oversees music and dance;
• Polyhymnia, with her solemn (including religious) rites; and
• Urania, who is entrusted with architecture in our study;
• Vulcan—crafts are his domain.

You can read sequentially, or simply open any post at random and follow the links to previous, next, or related posts until you’ve had your fill.

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