Clio

Clio mocked Aphrodite for loving Adonis, a mortal. Her reproach treated such love as beneath a goddess, although love between gods and mortals was acceptable for gods. Aphrodite answered the insult by making Clio experience the same kind of passion. The Muse therefore became subject to love for a mortal herself.

Clio fell in love with Pierus, the son of Magnes. This passion came upon her through Aphrodite’s anger. Clio and Pierus had intercourse, and Clio bore a son, Hyacinthus. The account identifies this son as the Hyacinthus who later aroused the desire of Thamyris, the son of Philammon and the nymph Argiope. Thamyris was described as the first man to love other males.

Hyacinthus later died when Apollo, who had become his lover, accidentally killed him while throwing a discus. The account also links his story with Thamyris’s later challenge to the Muses. Thamyris, celebrated for his beauty and skill in singing to the lyre, challenged them to a musical contest. He agreed that, if he won, he would have intercourse with all of them, while, if he lost, they could take whatever they wished from him. The Muses defeated him and deprived him of both his eyes and his skill in singing to the lyre.