Melpomene

Melpomene

Melpomene was one of the nine Mousai (Muses), daughters of Zeus, and the famed inspirational goddesses of music, song and dance. Originally a choral muse and known for her beautiful voice, she later became associated with tragedy. Myth does not recall the reason for this fall. In her darker guise, Melpomene was portrayed as holding a tragic mask or sword, and sometimes wearing a wreath of ivy and cothurnus boots.

The nine sisters were led and taught by their elder half brother, Apollo, an Olympian god of the sun, healing, music, poetry, who helped them develop their talents.

Melpomene herself was at one point associated with Dionysus, as surviving art often depicts them together. It’s likely this relationship predated her fall into tragedy.

Her consort is usually thought to be the river god Achelous.

She was described as having everything a woman could possibly desire, including beauty, money, and men, yet not having happiness. It is in this way she is said to embody the nature of tragedy in and of itself.

Mother of Sirens

With Achelous she is sometimes credited as the mother of sirens. In fact it was Poseidon who tasked his son Triton to outlandish experimentation using the blood of one of the muses, only to meddle in the affair and demanded that the outcome result in the most desirable creatures in the world. Thus did the sirens, with their haunting voices, come into being.

A Knotted Soul

In the 1st Age, this soul’s close association with the Finn soul of Hel results in a knotted thread. Between Ages, the soul of Hel feeds on those who have been closest to her, and corrupts the lives of rebirths which follow. Thus it is highly likely that Roza and Esper’s relationship in the 1st Age had some influence on the tragic life of Melpomene.

Other Lives

In the First Age, Melpomene lived as Roza Vas.