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"
Krewe of Muses heroes. The organization produced and threw a comic book, "The Adventures of Supermuse". In 2006, to honor the victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Muses had at the tail end of their parade an empty float which evoked the riderless horse that follows the caisson carrying the casket in a funeral procession. "Muses Night Fever" was a parody on disco songs (2008); "Muses 009: License to Swill" spoofed James Bond movie titles (2009); "The Muses Guide to Love and Romance" attempted to teach men what women rarely have the nerve to say (2010) and celebrated the krewe's tenth anniversary with a