The Muses at the Vatican Museum -The Muses, the personification of knowledge and the arts, especially literature, dance and music, are the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (memory personified). Hesiod’s account and description of the Muses was the one generally followed by the writers of antiquity. It was not until Roman times that the following functions were assigned to them, and even then there was some variation in both their names and their attributes: Calliope – epic poetry Clio – history Euterpe – flutes and lyric poetry Thalia – comedy and pastoral poetry Melpomene – tragedy Terpsichore – dance Erato – love poetry Polyhymnia – sacred poetry Urania – astronomy. The Vatican Museums (Italian: Musei Vaticani), located inside the Vatican City State, are among the greatest museums in the world, since they display works from the immense collection built up by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the centuries including some of the most renowned classical sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world.