Calliope: Greek Muse of Epic Poetry

The Story of Calliope

Calliope was the Muse of epic poetry and eloquence. Like all nine Muses, she was a daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the Titan goddess of memory. Her name means beautiful voice, and Hesiod called her the most important of the Muses.

Calliope was said to inspire the great epic poets, and Homer opens both the Iliad and the Odyssey by calling on a Muse to sing through him. She also gave eloquence to kings, so that they could speak wisely and settle disputes. Artists usually showed her holding a writing tablet or a scroll.

Calliope is best known as the mother of Orpheus, the greatest musician of Greek myth, usually by the Thracian king Oeagrus or, in some tellings, by Apollo. She taught her son to sing, and his music could charm animals, trees and even stones. When Orpheus was torn apart by the Maenads, she and her sisters mourned him and gathered his remains for burial.

In Ovid's telling, the nine daughters of King Pierus challenged the Muses to a singing contest. Calliope sang on behalf of the Muses, telling the story of Persephone, and the nymphs who judged agreed that the Muses had won. When the sisters insulted them, the Muses turned them into chattering magpies.

Calliope was worshipped with her sisters at Mount Helicon in Boeotia and at Pieria near Mount Olympus. Poets for centuries afterward called on her for inspiration at the start of their works. The musical instrument known as the calliope, a steam organ heard at circuses and fairs, is named after her.