I first came across Mnemosyne when I was reading the Times Lit in Malmesbury Library ... at least I think that was where I saw this playful poem by Sylvia Kantaris ...
The Tenth Muse
My muse is not one of the nine nubile
daughters of Mnemosyne
in diaphanous nightshifts
with names that linger in the air
like scent of jasmine
or magnolia on Mediterranean nights.
Nor was any supple son of Zeus appointed
to pollinate my ear with poppy dust
or whispers of sea-spray.
My muse lands with a thud
like a sack of potatoes.
He has no aura.
The things he grunts
are things I’d rather not hear.
His attitude is ‘Take it or leave it, that’s the way it is’,
drumming his fingers on an empty pan by way of music.
If I were a man I would enjoy such grace and favour,
tuning my fork to Terpsichore’s lyre,
instead of having to cope with this dense late-invented eunuch
with no more pedigree than the Incredible Hulk,
who can’t play a note and keeps repeating
‘Women haven’t got the knack’
in my most delicately strung and scented ear.
Mnemosyne's tale can be found in ancient Greek texts ... and yet, although she represents the power of memory, the Greeks didn't give her a lot to say about it.
https://www.greeklegendsandmyths.com/mnemosyne.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mnemosyne
https://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanisMnemosyne.html
I am rarther fond of Lord Leighton's brooding image of the Goddess, although I don't think he evokes the eloquence that might have come with the power of remembrance she represents.
And those moody eyes remind me of a Welsh girl who studied at my school.
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2021/european-british-art/mnemosyne-mother-of-the-muses
I don't think much of Rossetti's Mnemosyne ... when he painted this he may have been very ill
his affair with the model Jane Morris is well known ... you can find out for yourself
anyway, he drew and painted her many times, and many of the drawings are still well-loved
https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/mnemosyne/CAFiCt_QZ3eh4A?hl=en
we should not forget aby warburg's mnemosyne atlas
this was an attempt to chart the labyrinth of interconnected ideas and beliefs across many cultures
i haven't studied in a way that would enable me to begin to explain
do click on the link because it was and is a fascinating project
https://warburg.library.cornell.edu/about
