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,
Erotic literature Fellini) is an ancient Roman novel, which has partially survived, narrating the misadventures of an impotent man named Encolpius, who has been cursed by the god Priapus. The novel is filled with bawdy and obscene episodes, including orgies, ritual sex, and other erotic incidents. The discovery of several fragments of Lollianos's "Phoenician Tale" reveal that a genre of picaresque erotic novel also existed in ancient Greece. Meanwhile, some of the ancient Greek romance novels, such as "Daphnis and Chloe", also contain elements of sexual fantasy. From the medieval period, there is the "Decameron" (1353) by the Italian Giovanni Boccaccio (made