Melpomene lyrical poetry), Terpsichore (muse of dancing), Erato (muse of erotic poetry), Thalia (muse of comedy), Polyhymnia (muse of hymns), and Urania (muse of astronomy). She is also the mother of several of the Sirens, the divine handmaidens of Kore (Persephone/Proserpina) who were cursed by her mother, Demeter/Ceres, when they were unable to prevent the kidnapping of Kore (Persephone/Proserpina) by Hades/Pluto. In Roman and Greek poetry, it was traditional to invoke the goddess Melpomene so that one might create beautiful lyrical phrases (see Horace's Odes). Melpomene Melpomene (; ), initially the Muse of Chorus, she then became the Muse of Tragedy,
Poetry and mated with the goddess Inanna to ensure fertility and prosperity; it is considered the world's oldest love poem. An example of Egyptian epic poetry is "The Story of Sinuhe" (c. 1800 BCE). Other ancient epic poetry includes the Greek epics, the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey"; the Avestan books, the "Gathic Avesta" and the "Yasna"; the Roman national epic, Virgil's "Aeneid"; and the Indian epics, the "Ramayana" and the "Mahabharata". Epic poetry, including the "Odyssey", the "Gathas", and the Indian "Vedas", appears to have been composed in poetic form as an aid to memorization and oral transmission, in prehistoric and