Melete
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| Greek deities series |
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| Primordial deities | |
| Titans and Olympians | |
| Aquatic deities | |
| Chthonic deities | |
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| Personified concepts | |
In Greek mythology, Melete was one of the three original (Boeotian) Muses, though there were later nine. Her sisters were Aoide and Mneme. She was the muse of meditation and practice. Melete literally means "practice" and "exercise" in Greek.
According to Pausanias in the later second century AD, there were three original Muses: Aoidē ("song" or "voice"), Meletē ("practice" or "occasion"), and Mnēmē ("memory"). Together, these three form the complete picture of the preconditions of poetic art in cult practice. In Delphi three Muses were worshipped as well, but with other names: Nētē, Mesē, and Hypatē, which are the names of the three chords of the ancient musical instrument, the lyre. Alternatively they were called Cēphisso, Apollonis, and Borysthenis, whose names characterise them as daughters of Apollo. In later tradition, four Muses were recognized: Thelxinoē, Aoedē, Archē, and Meletē, said to be daughters of Zeus and Plusia (or of Uranus).
[edit] References
- MUSES, MUSAE, Greek Mythology Index. Myth Index (2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-29. “originally three were worshipped on Mount Helicon in Boeotia”
