Invocation of a Muse Epic Conventions Invocation A

Invocation of a Muse Epic Conventions

Invocation • A prayer • A call • A request • A Petition

Muse • From the o-grade of the Proto-Indo. European root *men- "think • Goddess • Source of knowledge, wisdom or power • Inspiration for creativity

Invocation to a Muse Prayer for inspiration!

The Iliad Homer • Sing, godess, the anger of Peleus’ son Achilleus and its devastation, which put pains thousandfold upon the Achaians, hurled in their multitudes to the house of Hades strong souls of heroes […]

The Odyssey Homer Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end, after he plundered the stronghold on the proud height of Troy.

• The Aeneid Virgil Arms, and the man I sing, who, forc'd by fate, And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate, Expell'd and exil'd, left the Trojan shore. Long labors, both by sea and land, he bore, And in the doubtful war, before he won The Latian realm, and built the destin'd town; His banish'd gods restor'd to rites divine, And settled sure succession in his line, From whence the race of Alban fathers come, And the long glories of majestic Rome. O Muse! the causes and the crimes relate;

Paradise Lost John Milton Sing Heavenly Muse, that on the secret top Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed, In the beginning how the Heavens and Earth Rose out of Chaos: or if Sion hill Delight thee more, and Siloa’s brook that flowed Fast by the oracle of God, I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song…

Why invoke a muse? • And why do it through song?