Detail of painting The Muses Urania and Calliope by Simon Vouet, in which she is holding a copy of the Odyssey

In Greek mythology, Calliope ("beautiful-voiced", also spelled Kaliope or Kalliope, in Greek, Καλλιόπη, pronounced in English /kə'laɪəpi/ ka-LIE-oh-pee) was the muse of heroic poetry^[1], daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Iliad and the Odyssey.

One account says Calliope was the lover of the war god Ares, and bore him several sons: Mygdon, Edonus, Biston, and Odomas - respectively the founders of the Macedonian and Thracian tribes known as the Mygdones, Edones, Bistones and Odomantes.

Calliope also had two famous sons, Orpheus and Linus, by either Apollo or the king Oeagrus of Thrace. She was the oldest and wisest of the Muses, as well as the most assertive.

Calliope is always seen with a writing tablet in her hand. At times, she is depicted as carrying a roll of paper or a book or as wearing a gold crown.

See also

• Muses in popular culture

References

[1] Lempriere, D.D., 1788. A Classical Dictionary. London: Milner and Sowerby. pp. 132

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