Clio is the Goddess of history, poetry, lyre playing and a member of The Nine Muses in Greek Mythology
Genealogy and Family[]
Clio, is the second daughter of Zeus, King of the Gods and Mnemosyne, the Titaness of Memory. Her eight full sisters are Calliope, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia and Urania, who are known collectively as The Nine Muses. Her half sisters include Athena, Artemis and Persephone and her half brothers include Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus, Dionysus and most notably Apollo, the leader and teacher of The Nine Muses.
After she criticised the goddess Aphrodite for her love for the mortal, Adonis, Aphrodite cursed Clio by making her fall in love with- in most accounts Pierus, the son of the Thessalian Magnes, with whom she had one son, Hyacinthus, a handsome demi-god and Spartan hero, who became a lover of the God, Apollo and died prematurely from a frisbee to the head. In one account, she is also identified as the mother of Hymenaios, the God of weddings.
Role and Significance[]
Clio is one of the Nine Muses, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts, Clio was named the Goddess of History during the classical era. She is also associated with Lyre-playing and poetry and credited as the inventor of the guitar. She is known as "the proclaimer, glorifier and celebrator of history, great deeds and accomplishments,"
She and the other Eight Muses had shrines and temples across Ancient Greece, but were most popular in Mount Helikon and Pieria in Macedonia. The Castalian Spring near Delphoi was also considered sacred to The Muses.
Appearance and Personality[]
Clio was depicted as a youthful and beautiful woman, often holding an open scroll or seated beside a chest of books.
Stories[]
Powers and Abilities[]
As a Muse Goddess, Clio has eternal youth, immortality and perfect health, she does not and cannot suffer with tiredness, old age, diseases and disorders, like mortals do, she can also bless mortals with artistic gifts, help improve their artworks and bring comfort and healing to the poorly and heartbroken.
Titles and Epithets[]
Relationships[]
Emblems[]
Her emblems are books and scrolls.
Modern Depictions[]
Disney[]
(left to right): Thalia, Melpomene, Calliope, Clio, and Terpsichore.
Clio was depicted in Disney's 1997 animated film Hercules, alongside four of her Muse sisters. Where she was voiced by Vanéese Y. Thomas and animated by Thomas Show. In the movie, she was shown as the second tallest Muse sporting a small ponytail and carrying a scroll.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
Clio's official Greek name is Κλειω, which means "make famous". Her name can also be spelt as Kleio.