Muses "music", and "musing upon". In current literature, the influential role that the Muse plays has been extended to the political sphere. In "Down to Earth", the Muses, espcially Terpsichore (Rita Hayworth), are offended by a vulgar Broadway musical called "Hot Muses", in which they are portrayed as besotted by two American flyers who crash-land on Parnassus. Terpsichore masquerades as a mortal to get the show "improved". All nine Muses appear in the 1980 film "Xanadu", with actress Olivia Newton-John as Terpsichore. Many of the Greek gods, including five of the Muses (Thalia, Clio, Calliope, Melpomene, and Terpsichore) appear in the
Transmission of the Greek Classics were sought after, but eventually works on philosophy became popular. Most scholars agree that during this period rhetoric, poetry, histories, and dramas were not translated into Arabic, since they were viewed as serving political ends which were not to be sought after in Arab states. Instead, philosophical and scientific works were almost the entire focus of translation. This has been disputed by a minority of scholars, however, who argue that stories such as the "Arabian Nights" carry clear parallels to Greek literature—evidence that many Arabs were familiar with Greek humanities more than is thought. Al-Kindi ("Alkindus"), a famous logician and