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
Muse (children's magazine) exploding trousers, Rube Goldberg inventions, "The Lord of the Rings", and blind cavefish. The Muses were drawn by cartoonist Larry Gonick. Among them, only Urania was one of the original Greek muses; Kokopelli, a trickster, is a god in many Native American tribes. As of September 2015, the Muses have been removed from the magazine, replaced with a new comic called "Parallel U" drawn by Caanan Grall. Muse (children's magazine) Muse is a children's magazine published by Carus Publishing, the publishers of "Cricket". Launched in January 1997, it is published in Chicago, Illinois, and has readers throughout the United States