#Mnemosyne

[figlidiroma]

Una splendida statua di Mnemosine di questo identico tipo come raffigurato nel rilievo di Archelao si trova presso la Centrale Montemartini, nel mio quartiere, un museo che consiglio vivissimamente a chiunque sia anche solo di passaggio nella nostra città.

The Archelaos Relief.

Marble honorary stele probably in honour of a victorious poet.

The upper registers represent the gods - Zeus at the top, on his right, the muse Mnemosyne, while the other muses are ranged below.

The poet appears in the middle register at far right. He has a tripod (not visible in this photo), the usual trophy of victory. Apollo is in the cave with the kithara.

Inscriptions along the bottom identify those appearing in the bottom register:

On the left, Oikoumene (the inhabited world) and Kronos are crowning Homer, who is flanked by two figures that represent the Illiad and the Odyssey. 

The rest of the register is filled with a scene of sacrifice dedicated to the heroised Homer. The worshippers are personficiations of myth, history, poetry, tragedy and comedy, along with nature, excellence, memory, faith and wisdom.

There was a sanctuary dedicated to Homer in Alexandria, and this stele was most likely made there around 210 BCE.

The stele is signed by Archelaos of Priene.

Found in Bovillae, Lazio, Italy.

[sketchmew]

A little thing before I start working on the rest of the conclusion of the arc

Featuring:

Jericho from @mewtwoandme

Mosy from @ask-mirage-mews

and Newt from @xxtc-96xx

[saessenach]

Drawing back to look up at him, her trembling hands gripped his face, her brown eyes wide with a feeling he couldn't immediately place, and it took Shanks a second to recognise the look in them, before it hit him, watching as they moved over his face, as though seeing him anew, and a rough breath left him as he realised that what he was seeing was recognition.

“I remember,” Makino breathed, holding his face, and the memory seized him without kindness, but unlike his vision, the trembling grin that broke across her face held none of the things he’d feared―that she would look at him and see how much he’d changed, and that it wouldn’t be the captain she’d loved. Because she saw―all his changes, and all the things he’d done, measured now against the man she’d known―but it wasn’t disgust that had fresh tears spilling over her cheeks but joy, as Makino sobbed, “I remember.”

Then, her voice softened to a shiver as she cupped his face, “I remember you,” she murmured, and with such aching familiarity, if he had lost himself, she found him now as she breathed, “Shanks.”

Shanks and Makino, in "Ask me again", chapter 27 of @missmungoe absolute tour-de-force Mnemosyne, and dare I say, one of the scenes of all time.

[travelingthief]

Devotions and Offerings List

Alexiares and Anicetus

Apollo

Aphrodite

Ares

Artemis

Athena

Clio

Demeter

Dionysus

Hades

Hecate

Hephaestus

Hera

Hermes

Hestia

Mnemosyne

Poseidon

Selene

Tyche

Zeus

[hermits-hovel]

the sum of its parts.

[arrowheadedbitch]

Okay, I've been discussing ideas about a PJO Psych crossover and it is now time to share my findings

Okay, so once upon a time Henry Spencer met a woman who when posing as a mortal went by the name Madeleine but she was actually a goddess, they had a kid, she was a minor goddess, so she was able to stay for a while, but eventually she left.

Yes, of COURSE Shawn thinks it's his Dad's fault

The goddess was Mnemosyne, the Greek goddess of MEMORY and the mother of the muses (works perfectly, right??!??!?!)

And Gus is his Satyr protector!!!

Henry does all the same training with Shawn to be a cop and such

Shawn gets his eidetic memory from his mother, the goddess of memory

I've also decided he gets taskmaster powers (can do anything he sees from memory) because that fucks hard

Shawn gets the record of fastest kid to get claimed as his mother officially claims him before he even leaves for camp

Here's her symbol by the way!

Anyway, when Shawn gets to camp, he's a total little shit

At first, the other campers think he's just not being claimed, depending on how you work the timeline here? Percy is pissed

Then Gus and Shawn explain that he actually got claimed before he even showed up (Percy vows to personally thank his godly parent for being an actually decent person)

So, they ask who it is, and Shawn WILL NOT TELL THEM

Why? Because it's funner that way!

They have an ongoing tally and betting pool of who his godly parent is, no one guesses it

He also keeps sneaking Mr D alcohol because it's funny and no one but Dionysus is happy about that

Gus is still his best friend that he drags into things, obv, they probably end up soul bound just like percy and grover

Juliet is a child of Athena

Lassie is a child of Ares and if your going by the show there's a super funny joke about how he looks exactly like Hephaestus but is the son of the guy he hates most, haha

Shawn KILLS at capture the flag

No one believes him when he says he doesn't have charm speak

Instead of becoming a SB Psychic, he ends up being this crime solving traveling cryptid (he's gotta keep moving bc monsters) (dont worry, he still visits camp pretty often and likes to drop by Santa Barbara to solve crimes and piss off his dad)

There was also a lengthy convo about each gods opinion of him of any of you wanna hear that

Shawn is the muse of doing weird shit

Also art lover shawn 🔛🔝, he's got plenty of muse talent, yall

Instead of pretending to be a psychic, he's pretending to NOT be muse adjacent

And now, a list of Gods people keep guessing for Shawn

Dionysus, Hermes, Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo, Hecate

And finally, gay people real???

As you can see, we mostly talked about Shawn lol

[firinnie]

Simp for Metis at this stage

I think a bit too much about Hesiod's Theogony.

According to this, Zeus had 7 wives: Metis, Themis, Eurynome, Demeter, Mnemosyne, Leto and Hera

Metis is the only wife Zeus was forced to get rid of because she was supposed to give birth to a son who would defeat him. Plus "Zeus placed her down into his belly, so the goddess might advise him on good and evil." kind of changes it a bit, like she was some kind of voice in his head? Interesting.

Themis was basically… a good replacement for Metis. She advised him in the same way and was justice. Then we have Eurynome, who is like Metis but in appearance, a beautiful nymph.

Demeter, who opposed him but was powerful. Recognizing her as a wife is interesting, but it kind of shows us the great sense from Hestia taking a vow of virginity was. Then Mnemosyne was the personification of memories… do I need to add anything when he still couldn't get his first wife out of his head?

The case of Leto and Hera is very interesting because we all know that one was supposed to pursue the other. Hera was jealous of her husband, so it means that Leto got pregnant after the divorce or was replaced when her pregnancy was not yet known.

And now I see one thing (unless I missed something) but if we assume that Leto was actually divorced, maybe because she couldn't / not wanted to get pregnant, which turned out to be only when Hera was already ruling… it turns out that Hera is the only one who gave Zeus a son from a legitimate bed. Each of the other ladies here gave birth to only daughters, and Apollo was born out of wedlock because Hera was jealous of her husband then. Does this mean that Zeus wanted a son and he was only bargaining chip to continue the marriage?

This is already an obsession, but everything revolves around Metis for me. Zeus tried to replace her mind, her looks, her strength and finally that she would give him a son but this time a safe one. Right after that Athena is born so Zeus no longer has a part of Metis to follow in love life, he has it in his daughter.

[in-memory-of-mnemosyne]

I finally found a statue I like for lady Mnemosyne, so here’s her little area

[meowtcha]

And look what other cutie came in today~ It's Mnemosyne! It's a long weekend here in the United States so they'll all be sent out on Tuesday! There are also a handful of these leftover; all profits go straight to @ask-mirage-mews

[uponsteppingstones]

💭 the nine muses: goddesses of the arts

longer post below the cut

over the next two weeks or so i'm intending to make a post on each muse to give myself an opportunity to talk a little more about their sphere of influence and domain <3 but this is a more general post about all nine mousai.

the most common tale of their origin (& the one i personally ascribe to), says that the muses are the daughters of the partnership between mnemosyne & zeus. zeus visited mnemosyne on nine consecutive nights, and a year later she bore nine children of this partnership, and these daughters were the muses.

in earlier myths, the muses were considered patron goddesses of poetry or music more generally - and in fact this is where the modern word "music" comes from, the ancient greek word mousiké meaning "art of the muses". but in the time following their origin, their sphere of influence evolves, and each muse comes to have her own respective domain in the form of a specific kind of art or humanity or science (which also gives us the word "museum" - from mouseion, or "seat of the muses".) the mousai are most chiefly associated with the following in simple terms (though most have secondary domains, which i will explore more in their individual posts):

🏛️ clio, muse of history

🪈 euterpe, muse of music

🎭 thalia, muse of comedy

🗡️ melpomene, muse of tragedy

🎼 terpsichore, muse of dance

���� erato, muse of erotic poetry

☁️ polyhymnia, muse of sacred poetry & hymn

🌌 urania, muse of astronomy

📜 calliope, muse of eloquence & epic poetry

the mousai also collectively have associations with memory because of their mother, mnemosyne, titaness of memory & remembrance. they are said to be goddesses of knowledge in this way, in that they remember everything which has come to be. they are also said to aid in forgetting, hesiod narrated that the muses bring forgetfulness of pain & cessation of obligations. plutarch stated in some places all nine mousai were known collectively by the name mneiae (or remembrances).

in olympus, the mousai are said to perform for the other olympian deities, and are closely associated with apollo, as god of music & dance. he is sometimes said to lead the choir of the muses, or be depicted as the leader of the muses.

[funkwitz]

Nymphs!

born of the blood of mnemosyne, they are very silly

[gotstabbedbyapen]

I just realized Apollo and Hyacinthus are also second cousins wtf...

Basically:

Gaia → Phoebe → Leto → Apollo

Gaia → Mnemosyne → Clio → Hyacinthus

[somnirie]

my goth demigod oc....

[saessenach]

Shanks and Makino (and a sleeping Rowan) in Amazon Lily, chapter 26 of @missmungoe 's showstopping Mnemosyne

Words can't describe how batshit insane this story has been making me for HALF A DECADE. I vividly remember hearing about this idea for the first time and to this day I am still in awe and shock and wonder at how you're pulling it off!!! Here's to you, friend, and a couple of my favourite moments!!

[travelingthief]

Mnemosyne Offerings and Devotional Acts

Offerings

Books/stories 

History books, philosophy books, and language learning books

Writing utensils

Quill/ink

Scrolls

Obituaries

Mementos from loved ones

Mementos from times you want to remember

Photos

Scrapbooks

Home videos

School work

Planners

Depictions of the Muses

Brain imagery

Lightbulb imagery

Lamp of Knowledge imagery

Candles

Journals

Poems

Clocks/watches

Hourglasses

Newspapers

Water (She has a “pool of memory” in the Underworld)

Number 9

Letters

Art

Musical instruments

Music sheets

Elephants (an elephant never forgets!)

Forget-me-not flowers

Puzzles

Puzzle books 

Devotional Acts

Tell oral stories

Study 

Keep good school notes

Memorize speeches or other materials

Make flashcards

Play games that improve memory

Make and use mnemonic devices

Journal

Plan your days

Make to-do lists

Public speaking

Keep deceased loved ones’ memory alive

Volunteer with dementia patients

Learn about dementia and Alzheimer's 

Start a “remember when” conversation

Be patient with forgetful people

Make art

Write poetry

Ask elders their life stories

Remember/honor your ancestors

Learn about the muses

Maintain a hobby - it helps your brain!

Take vitamins that improve brain function

Challenge your brain

Get good sleep

Exercise

Meditate

Eat brain-healthy foods

Set reminders

Learn about memory in psychology

Reflect and journal about De ja vu moments

Past life work

Document any memories you have

Go without your GPS - try to remember how to get places without help!

[boymanmaletheshequel]

The symbolism of Mnemosyne

🧸🧠🧸🧠🧸🧠🧸🧠🧸🧠🧸🧠🧸🧠🧸🧠

A titan deity of memory, the arbiter of nostalgia and remembering, speaker of many a language, and a mother of confusion, as well as artistic expression, Mnemosyne is the definition of a bittersweet goddess, she can bring great joy, but also painful suffering. Let’s take a look at her repertoire of symbolism, so that maybe if she speaks to us in the fog of our memory, we might recognize her better.

———————————————————————

• Colors 🌈

- Black, white, and purple: are colors that are all associated with memory, as many see the past in black and white, and knowledge is often associated with the color purple.

• Flowers and plants 🌸

- Periwinkle: a purple flower that is often associated with innocence lost by maturity, as well as the memory of the past, periwinkle is a great flower to represent lady Mnemosyne.

- Gingko: as for plants, ginkgos are associated with remembrance and wisdom, and are known for their ancient longevity, with some trees having been dated by their rings to living for over 1,000 years!

• Animals 🐴

- Parrots: known for their colorful feathers, long lasting and potent memories, and uncanny ability to mimic the human tongue and language, parrots encompass three major themes of Mnemosyne’s domain: memory, color, and speech.

- Elephants: perhaps the most obvious choice here, the elephant has long been a symbol of memory, knowledge, and sensitivity. They have the longest known memory cycle of any known animal on earth.

- Starlings: another bird with an uncanny ability to nearly perfectly adapt to and learn human speech, starlings are also known for their iridescent feathers, reminiscent of mnemosyne’s association with artistic colors.

• Food 🍗

- Drinking water. In Hellenic mythology, it is said that those that participated in the rituals at the oracle of trophonios drank spring water to help them to remember what they had seen while under the oracles influence.

- nuts. Nuts are one of the superfoods that are believed to improve cognitive function, especially in the area of our ability to strengthen and improve our memory.

- nostalgic foods. Not really a specific food, but eating a food item that is nostalgic to you, beckoning back to a past memory that you are fond of, is a good association for a food to Mnemosyne.

• Crystals and gems 💎

- Amethyst. A stone that is believed to restore one’s memory, and repair their cognitive function, amethyst was once believed to be able to cure inebriation by the ancient Greeks, and in fact, it’s name comes from the Greek word “amethustos” meaning “not drunken”

- Hematite. Some believe that hematite can help clear your congested psyche and guide you through your memory to help uncover and remember specific moments throughout your life!

- Kunzite. Kunzite is said to be a stone that is used for communication and language, both through divinity, and through everyday human communication.

• Planets 🪐

- Uranus. As a titan goddess, mother Mnemosyne is a daughter of Uranus, who is signified by the planet in our solar system. Uranus is often associated with memory and knowledge, so it’s the most sensible fit for a celestial association with Mnemosyne.

• Astrology ☄️

- Scorpio. A Scorpio forgets nothing it is said, for better or for worse, and although they aren’t necessarily the greatest communicators, just about everything else about Mnemosyne seems to fit the bill for a Scorpio!

• Other symbols 🧠

- the brain. The brain is the part of us that Mnemosyne exists entirely within, she really is our brain in a sense, so this is a symbol often associated with a goddess of memory and communication.

- Photographs. A snippet of a moment in time saved from our memory, and a great conversation piece in anyone’s home or camera role, photographs are a no brainer for something that directly channels mnemonic emotions, either that’s nostalgia, regret, or fulfillment.

———————————————————————

Well there you have it, now that you have become acquainted with some of lady Mnemosynes signs and symbols, perhaps you will find her hand on your shoulder the next time you grow emotional from nostalgia, pour over a memory forgotten, or learn a new word you can’t wait to speak with! 🧠

If you like my posts, and wish to learn more about the deities and stories of Hellen, consider giving my blog a follow! I post daily about hellenismos, and various other fascinating things. Blessed be your day 💙🏛️💙