Random musing

[wombat1138]

Other "Girl Genius" readers are likely to've tried this already, but here's my stab at identifying Van Rijn's muses as seen from left to right, with brief rationales:

1.) halo of trumpets -> Euterpe (music) classically depicted with a flute
2.) globe -> ? maybe Erato (lyric/love poetry), if the globe is a vaguely Sparky analogue of a lyre) or Clio (history)-- this isn't Urania, because that's who #7 has to be.
3.) book -> ? Clio, if analogous to a scroll) or Calliope (epic poetry), if analogous to a writing tablet
4.) black hair/collar: Thalia (comedy), as paired with #6.
5.) wings and tiara -> Calliope?
6.) black gown: Melpomene (tragedy), as paired w/ #4
7.) compass and staff, looking upward -> Urania (astronomy); usually she holds these items to point to a globe, but #2 has that instead.
8.) Moxana; resting her elbows and raising fingers up toward her mouth, also looking upward -> Polyhymnia (choral poetry and mime)
9.) Tinka; smiling, with only one foot on the earth: Terpsichore (dance)

By process of elimination through my guesses for #2, 3, and 5, that makes them Euterpe (music), Erato (lyric/love poetry), Clio (history), Thalia (comedy), Calliope (epics), Melpomene (tragedy), Urania (astronomy), Polyhymnia (mime/chorals), and Terpsichore (dance).

Anyway, whoever #5 is, Lucrezia seems to've made her very unhappy.

(Belated headbonk-- the Muses' association with the "Storm King" reinforces his role as an analogue of the "Sun King" because of the connection with Apollo.)

Comments

[nerdsholmferret.livejournal.com]

Hrm.
I wonder if the entirely-too-many-kinds-of-poetry didn't confuse things a bit.
But if #4 is the unhappy one, why isn't she Melpomene (tragedy)?
I'd be inclined to call #2 Urania even though I don't know what #7 would then become. Maybe some aspects got redistributed and #7 is the muse of navigation or something. What's that keyring-like object dangling from her belt?
I don't know what that cauldron thing is, either, but if Polyhymnia does mime, maybe that's why she lacks a visible mouth.

[wombat1138.livejournal.com]

Oops-- corrected the number in the last sentence of the original post from #4 -> #5, referring to this (http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ggmain/strips/ggmain20100120b.jpg) (20 Jan. 2010).

Moxana (#8) is shown in more detail earlier in the series; she has no mouth/voice and communicates via symbolic tarot-like cards. The cauldron/table thing may be permanently attached to her, with the wheels for movement; I'm not sure whether she actually has legs, either.

A-muse-ing

[http://users.livejournal.com/jane_drew_/]

I think #7 might be Euterpe (music)-- according to Wikipedia, Euterpe can be associated with a double flute (Aulos)... which looks kinda like the thing #7 is holding. At any rate, it isn't a compasss-- it can't bend or adjust to different angles (unless you're saying the pointy wandlike bit does? Hmm...). Although it doesn't look much like a musical instrument; perhaps she is the Muse of Plumbing?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/1740_-_Milano_-_Via_Morigi_-_Statua_700sca_di_Euterpe_-_Foto_Giovanni_Dall%27Orto_-_18-May-2007.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aulos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass_(drafting)

Then #1 would be Erato (lyric poetry, associated with the lyre or cithara)--which would mean Erato and Euterpe have similar hairstyles and dress colors (both green, with... um.. roller-curls... and then Euterpe has the marching-band hat). Dunno; since Comedy and Tragedy have a similar black-and-white color scheme and hair styles, as well as Mime/Chorals and Dance having a similar pink-based color scheme, it makes sense to me that lyric poetry and music would end up similarly attired and coiffed. Then #2 would be Urania, of course, since she has the globe, and is dressed in sky-related blue shades. Color-scheme wise, you could then argue she matches with Clio (#3) and her purpley-blue dress... and then Calliope is on her own, with wings and gold and a totally different hairstyle.

Still no clue about the chain or urn on wheels.

Ok, I think I am officially overthinking this. ;-)

Re: A-muse-ing

[wombat1138.livejournal.com]

I figured that Moxana's urn-on-wheels was a portable analogue of Polyhymnia's elbow-rest pillar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyhymnia)?

Hadn't noticed the chain on #7 before, but perhaps it's meant to imply an anchor, which would tie in with navigation as suggested by herdsholmferret... it's hard to tell behind Moxana's hat, but it looks like the object held by #7 may have a lower semicircular arc-- could it be a sextant or similar instrument? OTOH, good catch on #7's marching-band hat and color-matching to #1-- now that you mention it, the visual effect of #1's hairstyle inside the instrumental frame does rather resemble a lyre.

[gregmce.livejournal.com]

The timing of this post and then today's installment of Girl Genius is rather, well... genius.

[wombat1138.livejournal.com]

The post was directly inspired by the Wednesday comic, after all :) though now that #4 has been identified as "Otilia, the Muse of Protection", possibly all bets are off wrt tight correspondences to the classical Greek muses.