Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse paintings of Melpoméne, she is represented with a tragic mask and also often holds in her other hand a knife or club. In Greek mythology, she is the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, who had eight other daughters, Melpoméne's sisters and the eight other muses are: Calliope, muse of epic poetry; Clio, muse of history; Euterpe, muse of flute playing; Terpsichore, muse of dancing; Erato, muse of erotic poetry; Thalia muse of comedy; Polyhymnia, muse of hymns; and Urania, muse of astronomy. Reynolds was inspired not only by Sarah Siddons' extreme talent to embody the tragic heroine in Macbeth, but
Goddess movement of the Greek mythology such as the ritual year and annual sacrifice of the king were adopted as the basis to describe the goddess' aging and rejuvenation with the seasons. Myths from ancient cultures are often reinterpreted as new evidence comes to light. Reinterpretation becomes necessary because myths from religions that included goddesses, those after the Bronze Age, including Greek and Roman mythology, are believed to have a patriarchal bias. These new interpretations by Goddess movement authors and women scholars help to provide a truer mirror of the social set up of the period in which the story was written.