Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, Clio ( , ; ), also spelled Kleio, Сleio, or Cleo, is the

muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of

lyre The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, a ...

-playing.

Etymology

Clio's name is derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλείω (meaning "to recount", "to make famous" or "to celebrate"). The name's traditional Latinisation is Clio,

Lewis and Short ''A Latin Dictionary'' (or ''Harpers' Latin Dictionary'', often referred to as Lewis and Short or L&S) is a popular English-language lexicographical work of the Latin language, published by Harper and Brothers of New York in 1879 and printed ...

, ''A Latin Dictionary: Founded on Andrews' Edition of Freund's Latin Dictionary: Revised, Enlarged, and in Great Part Rewritten by Charlton T. Lewis, Ph.D. and Charles Short, LL.D''. The Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1879, ''s.v.'' but some modern systems such as the American Library Association-Library of Congress system use ''K'' to represent the original Greek ''

kappa Kappa (; uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; , ''káppa'') is the tenth letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value of 20. It was d ...

'', and ''ei'' to represent the diphthong ''ει'' (

epsilon Epsilon (, ; uppercase , lowercase or ; ) is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding phonetically to a mid front unrounded vowel or . In the system of Greek numerals it also has the value five. It was derived from the Phoenic ...

iota Iota (; uppercase Ι, lowercase ι; ) is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Yodh. Letters that arose from this letter include the Latin I and J, the Cyrillic І (І, і), Yi (Ї, ї), and J ...

), thus ''Kleio''.

Depiction

Clio, sometimes referred to as "the Proclaimer", is often represented with an open parchment scroll, a book, or a set of tablets. She is also shown with the heroic trumpet and the

clepsydra Clepsydra may refer to: * Clepsydra, an alternative name for a water clock A water clock, or clepsydra (; ; ), is a timepiece by which time is measured by the regulated flow of liquid into (inflow type) or out from (outflow type) a vessel, an ...

(water clock).

Cesare Ripa Cesare Ripa (, Perugia – Rome) was an Italian Renaissance scholar and iconography, iconographer. Life Little is known about his life. The scant biographical information that exists derives from his one very successful work: the ''Iconologia ...

's ''Iconologia'', an important source book for artists of the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

period, stated that Clio should be depicted with a crown of laurels, a trumpet and an open book.

Mythology

Like all the muses, Clio is a daughter of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

and the Titaness

Mnemosyne In Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion, Mnemosyne (; , ) is the goddess of memory and the mother of the nine Muses by her nephew Zeus. In the Greek tradition, Mnemosyne is one of the Titans, the twelve divine children of the earth-godde ...

, goddess of memory. Along with her sister Muses, she is considered to dwell at either

Mount Helicon Mount Helicon (; ) is a mountain in the region of Thespiai in Boeotia, Greece, celebrated in Greek mythology. With an altitude of , it is located approximately from the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth. Some researchers maintain that Helicon ...

or Mount Parnassos. Other common locations for the Muses are Pieria in

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

, near to

Mount Olympus Mount Olympus (, , ) is an extensive massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, between the regional units of Larissa (regional unit), Larissa and Pieria (regional ...

. She had one son,

Hyacinth ''Hyacinthus'' is a genus of bulbous herbs, and spring-blooming Perennial plant, perennials. They are fragrant flowering plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae and are commonly called hyacinths (). The genus is native predomin ...

, with one of several kings, in various mythswith

Pierus Pierus (; ), in Greek mythology, is a name attributed to two individuals: * Pierus, the eponym of Pieria, son of Makednos and father of the Pierides. Antoninus Liberalis9/ref> * Pierus, son of Thessalian Magnes and father of Hyacinth., Apollo ...

or with king Oebalus of Sparta, or with king Amyclas, progenitor of the people of Amyclae, dwellers about Sparta. In a scholium to Euripides' ''Rhesus (play), Rhesus'', she is also the mother of Hymen (god), Hymenaeus and Rhesus of Thrace, Rhesus. According to Apollodorus, Clio was made to fall in love with Pierus by Aphrodite, for Clio had derided her for her love affair with Adonis.Apollodorus
1.3.3
/ref> Other accounts credit her as the mother of Linus (mythology), Linus by Magnes (mythology), Magnes, a poet who was buried at Argos, Peloponnese, Argos, although Linus has a number of differing parents depending upon the account, including several accounts in which he is the son of Clio's sisters Urania or Calliope.

Legacy

In her capacity as "the proclaimer, glorifier and celebrator of history, great deeds and accomplishments"Carder, Sheri
"Clio Awards"
''The Guide to United States popular culture'', pages 180–181, Clio is used in the name of various modern brands, including the Clio Awards for excellence in advertising. The Cambridge University History Society is informally referred to as Clio; the Cleo of Alpha Chi society at Trinity College, Hartford, Trinity College, Connecticut, is named after the muse. Likewise, the undergraduate student outreach group for the Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania is known as the Clio Society, and the first sorority founded at SUNY Geneseo, Phi Kappa Pi, began as the Alpha Clionian literary society. "Clio" also represents history in some coined words in academic usage: cliometrics, cliodynamics. Clio Bay in Antarctica is named after the muse.

Gallery

File:Statue of Clio in Berlin.jpg, Statue of Clio by Albert Wolff (sculptor), Albert Wolff in Berlin File:Moreelse Clio - muse of history.jpg, ''Clio, Muse of History'' by Johannes Moreelse File:Gentileschi, Artemisia - Clio - 1632.jpg, ''Clio, the Muse of History'' (1632) by Artemisia Gentileschi. File:Pierre Mignard - Clio - WGA15654.jpg, ''The Muse Clio'' (c. 1689) by Pierre Mignard File:Christian Bernhard Rode - Die Muse Klio.jpg, ''The Muse Clio'' by Bernhard Rode File:Charles Meynier - Clio, Muse of History - 2003.6.5 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tiff, ''Clio, Muse of History'' (1800) by Charles Meynier File:Car of history.jpg, ''Car of History'', a chariot clock depicting Clio, by Carlo Franzoni, 1819, in National Statuary Hall File:HC Lea grave LH Philly.jpg, Sculpture of Clio by Alexander Stirling Calder on the tomb of historian Henry Charles Lea

Notes

References

* Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus), Apollodorus, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
* ''Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity, Volume 3'', Cat-Cyp, editors: Hubert Cancik, Helmuth Schneider, Brill Publishers, Brill, 2003.
Online version at Brill
* Pausanias (geographer), Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library

External links

Warburg Institute Iconographic Database

{{Authority control Children of Zeus Deeds of Aphrodite Muses (mythology) Greek goddesses Historiography of Greece Metamorphoses characters Music and singing goddesses Pierian mythology Wisdom goddesses