Crossword clues for melpomene
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Melpomene \Mel*pom"e*ne\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?, lit., the songstress, fr. ?, ?, to sing.]
(Class. Myth.) The Muse of tragedy.
(Astron.) The eighteenth asteroid.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Muse of tragedy, from Latin, from Greek Melpomene, literally "songstress," from melpein "to sing," of unknown origin.
Wikipedia
Melpomene (; ; "to sing" or "the one that is melodious"), initially the Muse of Singing, she then became the Muse of Tragedy, for which she is best known now. Her name was derived from the Greek verb melpô or melpomai meaning "to celebrate with dance and song." She is often represented with a tragic mask and wearing the cothurnus, boots traditionally worn by tragic actors. Often, she also holds a knife or club in one hand and the tragic mask in the other.
Melpomene is the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Her sisters include Calliope (muse of epic poetry), Clio (muse of history), Euterpe (muse of lyrical poetry), Terpsichore (muse of dancing), Erato (muse of erotic poetry), Thalia (muse of comedy), Polyhymnia (muse of hymns), and Urania (muse of astronomy). She is also the mother of several of the Sirens, the divine handmaidens of Kore (Persephone/Proserpina) who were cursed by her mother, Demeter/ Ceres, when they were unable to prevent Kore (Persephone/ Proserpina) by Hades/ Pluto.
In Roman and Greek poetry, it was traditional to invoke the goddess Melpomene so that one might create beautiful lyrical phrases (see Horace's Odes).
Melpomene was one of the Nine Muses in Greek mythology and a Greek female given name (popular variant: Melpo).
Melpomene may also refer to:
- 18 Melpomene, a main belt asteroid.
- HMS Melpomene, seven ships of the Royal Navy.
- Melpomene (plant), a genus of polypod fern.
- Melpomene (spider) a genus of spider in the family Agelenidae.
- Melpomene Projects, one of the Housing Projects of New Orleans.
- Melpo Mene, an Indie pop band from Stockholm, Sweden.
- Melpomene, a woman reported to have attempted to participate in the 1896 Olympics, possibly Stamata Revithi.
- Melpomene, music album from the death-doom metal band Frailty.
Melpomene is a genus of grammitid ferns in the Polypodiaceae family, containing around 30 species, including Melpomene brevipes.
Melpomene is a genus of spider in the family Agelenidae. Adults range from 7.0 to 8.5 mm in length. Melpomene species range from southwestern U.S. (southern Arizona to western Texas) to Panama. Roth and Brame (1972) noted that, with many undescribed species, the genus appears to be a catchall or " wastebasket taxon" for several unrelated species that may represent several genera.
Usage examples of "melpomene".
The investments of the family of my Mistress, however, had prospered, while those of the family of the Lady Melpomene had languished.
Indeed, most of the members of the family of Lady Melpomene had left Vonda over the years.
The Lady Melpomene of Vonda, incidentally, I had heard, for such stories reach even the stables, had fared badly in the tharlarion races in Venna.
The Lady Melpomene of Vonda, impoverished, ruined, had little now to pride herself on save the name of her family and the splendor of her lineage.
Again I bent, this time pressing my lips to the slippers of the Lady Melpomene, too, kissing them.
Philebus of Venna went to the table of the Lady Melpomene and took the draft.
They were the fellows who had, long ago, captured me in an alley in Venna and carried me, bound in a slave sack, to the house of the Lady Melpomene, where she had used me for her pleasure.
The two men, each one holding an arm, held the Lady Melpomene so that she must face the Lady Florence.
The two men released the arms of the Lady Melpomene and stood back some feet and to the side.
The former Lady Melpomene of Vonda, now a nameless slave, collapsed to her belly, sobbing, on the scarlet tiles, chained by the neck to a slave ring.
She brought forth a pan of crusts and one of water, which she placed before Melpomene, on the floor.
And Melpomene, the collared slave, danced, entertaining the guests of her Mistress, the Lady Florence of Vonda.
The Lady Florence and Melpomene were of quite similar height and weight.
I sensed that they wished that it had been they, and not Melpomene, who had been struck to the furs for their raping.
Staring out across the treetops, Melpomene scanned the smaller hills and valleys below, teeming with life.