![The muse sisters](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/greekgoddesses/images/2/26/The_muse_sisters.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/300?cb=20131214003128)
Nine Muses artwork depicting Urania in the third box on the second row.
Urania is the goddess of Astronomy and the youngest member of The Nine Muses.
Genealogy and Family[]
Urania is the youngest daughter of Mnemosyne, the Titan goddess of memory and Zeus, the King of the Gods, her older sisters are Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia and Urania, they form The Nine Muses. Some of her half siblings are Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe, Eileithyia and Dionysus.
Apollo, Hermes and Amphimarus were listed as her lovers. In some accounts, she is the mother of Linus and Hymen with Apollo.
Role and Significance[]
As a Muse, Urania is a goddess associated with memory, literature, science, and art. In the Classical era, when the Mousai were assigned specific artistic and literary spheres, Urania was named Muse of astronomy and astronomical writings. In this guise she was depicted pointing at a celestial globe with a rod. Urania is often associated with Universal Love.
Myths[]
She and her sisters were conceived in nine days and would be birthed nine months later by Mnemosyne, however another account proclaims The Nine Muses emerged from the four sacred springs that flowed on Mount Helicon, after Pegasus stamped his hooves on the ground, making them Water Nymphs too,
The Muses lived on the summits of Mounts Helicon, Parnassus, Pindus, or Olympus. They haunted the wells, springs and fountains of these rocky summits, which were sacred to them and to poetic inspiration.
The sisters were lead and taught by their elder half brother, Apollo, an Olympian god of the sun, healing, music, poetry and much more, who helped them develop their talents.
In one myth, the Muses judged a contest between Apollo and Marsyas. They also gathered the pieces of the dead body of Orpheus, son of Calliope, and buried them in Leivithra. In a later myth, Thamyris challenged them to a singing contest. They won and punished Thamyris by blinding him and robbing him of his singing ability.
According to a myth from Ovid's Metamorphoses—alluding to the connection of Pieria with the Muses—Pierus, king of Macedon, had nine daughters he named after the nine Muses, believing that their skills were a great match to the Muses. He thus challenged the Muses to a match, resulting in his daughters, the Pierides, being turned into chattering jays (with κίσσα often erroneously translated as 'magpies') for their presumption.
Appearance and Personality[]
Urania was described as inheriting Zeus' majesty and power and the grace and beauty of her mother, Mnemosyne. She was depicted dressed in a cloak embroidered with stars, she keeps her eyes and attention focused on the heavens. She is usually represented with a celestial globe to which she points with a little staff, and depicted in modern art with stars above her head. She is able to foretell the future by the arrangement of the stars.
Those who are most concerned with with philosophy and the heavens are dearest to her. Those who have been instructed by her she raises aloft to heaven, for it is a fact that imagination and the power of thought lift men's souls to heavenly heights.
Powers[]
As a Muse goddess, Urania has eternal youth, immortality and perfect health, being immune to tiredness and old age, she also does not suffer with diseases or disorders. She can also bless mortals with artistic gifts, help them in their creative endeavours and bring comfort and healing to the ill and heartbroken.
Relationships[]
Names and Epithets[]
Symbols[]
Urania's symbols are the Celestial globe and rod.
Sources[]
Trivia[]
Urania's official Greek name is Ουρανιη, it means 'heavenly one'.
Her name can also be spelt as Ourania.
Urania has a similar name to her grandfather, Uranus.