Skip to content
Greek

Polyhymnia

Muse of Sacred Hymns · Muse of Eloquence · Muse of Pantomime

01Identity

Polyhymnia in Greek tradition

“Many-hymned” gives Polyhymnia her name. She is a Greek goddess and one of the Muses. Her spheres include songs performed by many voices, choral song and pantomime. Her influence also extends to historiography and rhetoric, where it overlaps with that of Clio.

Polyhymnia has no parentage given in these passages. She belongs among the Muses, the deities associated with artistic expression. Obscure legends name her as the mother of Triptolemus and the singer Orpheus, who was also said to be the son of Calliope. Plato gives another tradition, in which Polyhymnia is the mother of Eros. These accounts place her within myths concerning other figures, rather than providing her with a separate story of her own.

Top questions

The quick answers

  • Who is Polyhymnia?

    Polyhymnia is a Greek being associated with sacred hymns, religious poetry, eloquence and rhetoric, pantomime.
    Source

    Source

    • Greek Myths & Tales
    • On Greek Religion
    • Tales About the Mythology of Greece and Rome
    • Classical Mythology a to Z
    • Greek religion

  • What is Polyhymnia the god of?

    sacred hymns, religious poetry, eloquence and rhetoric, pantomime
    Source

    Source

    • Greek Myths & Tales
    • On Greek Religion
    • Tales About the Mythology of Greece and Rome
    • Classical Mythology a to Z

  • What family links are recorded for Polyhymnia?

    Father: Zeus, Mother: Mnemosyne, 8 siblings.
02Family

Polyhymnia’s family, at a glance

Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.

ZeusMnemosyne
PolyhymniaCalliopeClioEratoEuterpeMelpomeneTerpsichoreThaliaUrania
03The names

The names Polyhymnia answers to

Polymnia

Variant form of Polyhymnia's name

SourceGreek religion

Muse of Sacred Hymns

Muse associated with religious and devotional song

SourceGreek Myths & Tales

Muse of Eloquence

Muse associated with eloquent speech and rhetoric

SourceClassical Mythology a to Z

Muse of Pantomime

Muse associated with pantomimic performance

SourceClassical Mythology a to Z

04Who it is

Polyhymnia, and where the myths place it

Appears in

The myths across MythSource where Polyhymnia features, each on that figure’s page.

The film

The Underdrawing video on Polyhymnia embeds here once it publishes.

Continue the road

More of Polyhymnia’s family, sourced

ZeusFather