The Muses in Greek Mythology and Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Muses in Greek Mythology and Art - Essay Example History of Greek Muses has different in a different author writing over the course of time. But the bottom line or the core idea always remains the same. Muses are associated with various arts and cultural activities, which often helped the people of the ancient time to overcome any kind of mental difficulties or stress. The Muses, as per the views of the earliest writers, was the inspirational goddesses of song, whereas according to a later set of people, theologies ruling over the various kinds of poetry along with other science and cultural activities. They were initially viewed as the sprites of inspirational wells, close to which they were loved. Later on, the Thraco-Boeotian adoration of the nine Muses started to spread out from Boeotia over other parts of Greece, and eventually became normally recognized.The origin of all these 9 Muses is not similar as there is a number of theories associated with the origin of them. Few people or the most common concept associated with the o rigin of all 9 Muses was they were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and born in Pieria, at the foot of Mount Olympus. There was another set of theory which suggested that they were the daughters of Uranus and Gaea. For a period of 2500 years, people used to believe that all 9 Muses were the base of any kind of cultural activities. Throughout all the Western Civilization, people accepted the fact that all their inspirations, creativity, and incredible talent come from his muse.

Why is there such an abundant use of irony in poe's the cask of Essay

Why is there such an abundant use of irony in poe's the cask of amontillado What thematic purposes does it serve - Essay Example The main character, Fortunato, is portrayed as an important and cultured man. His name can be interpreted as "the man of fortune", but the irony is that he is faced with bad luck to have wronged a man with a deathless memory and a commitment to "not only punish, but punish with impunity" (Poe 848). The irony is that Poe does not tell readers the exact offense he has committed, and can make no evaluation upon whether Montressor's revenge is justifiable. "Revenge is a dish best served cold" (Poe 541).Readers cannot analyze and evaluate Montressor's right for revenge. An abundant use of irony is evident in contrasting characters of Fortunato and Montressor. Poe does not directly state that Fortunato is nave or Montressor is a very cunning man. Readers can guess and predict that these characteristics are probably true. Fortunato's ability to assess and judge situations accurately is questioned at the beginning of the story when he insists upon leaving his family and friends to descend into a damp wine vault in order to answer Montressor's challenge at judging the worth of a cask of wine. Montressor describes: "Putting on a mask of black silk, and drawing a roquelaire closely about my person, I suffered him to hurry me to my palazzo" (Poe 848). His pride is great and he feels he alone is capable of making this evaluation; he pays a terrible price for this arrogance. The uniqueness of the short story is that Poe links two stylistic devices: humor and acute irony which leads to change from what is expected. As the two men proceed along toward Fortunato's ultimate resting place, Montressor's sarcastic remarks and exclamation add ironic details and black humor. He asks Fortunato about his health and long life, reveals his mason trowel when Fortunato mentions that he is a member of the secret Mason society, plays with the Fortunato by telling him that he intends to provide him "all the little attentions in my power" (Poe 852). Also, the irony is that Fortunato is dressed in the suit of a clown to join in the celebration of carnival. This detail gives some hints to readers about true nature and personality of this character. The irony is evident in the setting of the story. During the carnival season, Montresor encounters Fortunato and reports that he has purchased some Amontillado. It was about dusk, one evening during the supreme madness of the carnival season, that I encountered my friend. He accosted me with excessive warmth, for he had been drinking much" (Poe 846). Fortunato becomes anxious to sample the wine in question and deliver an opinion as to its merits; so he is easily led into a niche where he is fettered with chains and immured by Montresor, who has both a trowel and some fresh mortar handy. Fortunato, who has been drinking and coughing, quickly becomes sober and begs to be released, but to no avail. An abundant use of irony is evident when Poe unveils life and destiny of Montressor. Through this character, Poe's portrays a fanatical person who has spent the best part of his life first planning and then executing the murder of Fortunato. Fifty years later, Montressor is still thinking about the corpse that has been quietly