Muses (sacred poetry) is often seen with a pensive expression; Terpsichore (choral dance and song) is often seen dancing and carrying a lyre; Thalia (comedy) is often seen with a comic mask; and Urania (astronomy) carries a pair of compasses and the celestial globe. Greek "mousa" is a common noun as well as a type of goddess: it literally means "art" or "poetry". According to Pindar, to "carry a "mousa"" is "to excel in the arts". The word derives from the Indo-European root "men-", which is also the source of Greek "Mnemosyne" and "mania", English "mind", "mental" and "monitor", Sanskrit "mantra"
Muses Muses were on mountains or hills. R. S. P. Beekes rejects both etymologies and suggests a Pre-Greek origin. The earliest known records of the Nine Muses are from Boeotia, the homeland of Hesiod. Some ancient authorities thought that the Nine Muses were of Thracian origin. There, a tradition persisted that the Muses had once been three in number. In the first century BC, Diodorus Siculus cited Homer and Hesiod to the contrary, observing: Diodorus states (Book I.18) that Osiris first recruited the nine Muses, along with the satyrs, while passing through Ethiopia, before embarking on a tour of all Asia