Euterpe glanced her fingers o'er her lute,
And lightly waked it to a cheerful strain,
Then laid it by, and took the mellow flute,
Whose softly flowing warble filled the plain:
It was a lay that roused the drooping soul,
And bade the tear of sorrow cease to flow;
From shady woods the Nymphs enchanted stole,
While laughing Cupids bent the silver bow,
Fluttering like fays that flit in Luna's softened glow.
from An Ode To Music
by James G. Percival
Euterpe,
from the Greek culture, is one of the nine Muses of
Apollo . Her name means "rejoicing well" or "delight".
She was born from Zeus and Mnemosyne ,
the goddess of memory, along with her other eight sisters. Euterpe is the Muse
of music and lyric poetry. She is also the Muse of joy and pleasure and of
flute playing and was thought to have invented the double flute, which is her
attribute.
The
Muse Euterpe (pronounced "you-TER-pay") or Eutere
("rejoicing well" or "delight"), in Greek mythology ,
was one of the Muses , the daughters of Mnemosyne ,
fathered by Zeus . Called the "Giver of Pleasure",
when later poets assigned roles to each of the Muses, she was the muse of music.
In late Classical times she was named muse of lyric poetry and depicted holding
a flute. A few say she invented the aulos or double-flute,
though most mythographers credit Marsyas with its invention.
The river Strymon impregnated Euterpe; her son Rhesus led
a band of Thracians and was killed by Diomedes at
Troy , according to Homer's Iliad .
Her name is from Greek eu (good, well) and turp-e (to please).
The
Muses Euterpe and Urania (a detail from Pompeo Battoni (1708-1787), "Apollo
and the Two Muses")
EUTURPE
