A line written and read aloudBay leafHoneyMilkWineThe naming of a source
Invocation Approach
Tone
Formal attentive
Address
CalliopeFair-VoicedLeader of the Nine
Relationship
The voice that is lent and not owned
Warning
The muses give speech and can take it away
Resonance
Writers teachers and those beginning a long work
Symbols
The tabletThe stylusThe laurelThe book
Mythology Summary
Calliope is one of the nine Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, born in Pieria after nine nights; Hesiod names her first and calls her the chief of them all because she attends on worshipful princes (Theogony 79-80). She is the Muse of epic poetry and heroic song, and the later handbooks made her the mother of Orpheus by Oeagrus. The Muses were honoured as a college rather than individually, at their sanctuary on Helicon and in the Thespian festival of the Mouseia (Pausanias 9.29-30).
Modern Practice
The Muse of the long work: invoked at the beginning of a book, a course of study, or any undertaking that will take years. The old practice is invocation and attribution - name the source and the gift stays a gift. The Hesiodic warning is real: the Muses give voice and can also take it away.