In spring and summer, on the slopes of the wooded Helikon, where the sacred waters of the Hippocrene spring mysteriously murmur, and on high Parnassus, near the clear waters of the Castalian spring, Apollo dances with nine muses. Young, beautiful muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, are Apollo's constant companions. He leads the choir of muses and accompanies their singing by playing his golden lyre. Apollo walks majestically ahead of the choir of muses, crowned with a laurel wreath, followed by all nine muses: Calliope - the muse of epic poetry, Euterpe - the muse of lyric poetry, Erato - the muse of love songs, Melpomene - the muse of tragedy, Thalia - the muse of comedy, Terpsichore - the muse of dancing, Clio - the muse of history, Urania - the muse astronomy and Polyhymnia - the muse of sacred hymns. Their choir thunders solemnly, and all nature, as if enchanted, listens to their divine singing.
When Apollo, accompanied by the muses, appears in the host of gods on bright Olympus and the sounds of his cithara and the singing of the muses are heard, then everything on Olympus falls silent. Ares forgets about the noise of bloody battles, lightning does not sparkle in the hands of the cloud suppressor Zeus, the gods forget strife, peace and silence reign on Olympus. Even the eagle of Zeus lowers its mighty wings and closes its watchful eyes, its menacing screech is not heard, it quietly dozes on the rod of Zeus. In complete silence, the strings of Apollo's cithara sound solemnly. When Apollo cheerfully strikes the golden strings of the cithara, then a bright, shining round dance moves in the banquet hall of the gods. The Muses, Charites, the eternally young Aphrodite, Ares and Hermes - everyone takes part in a merry round dance, and in front of everyone is the majestic maiden, Apollo’s sister, the beautiful Artemis. Flooded with streams of golden light, the young gods dance to the sounds of Apollo's cithara.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru