Mnemosyne and my musings...

Mnemosyne ,a Titaness, was the daughter of Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth),
She is attributed with being the first philosopher, her gift, the power of reason.

There was a spring dedicated to Mnemosyne before the Oracle of Trophonius at Lebadea. The mortals who came to consult the Oracle had a choice afterwards to either keep their Memory and drink from the Spring of Mnemosyne or to forget their past and drink from the Spring of Lethe.

Memory was of the utmost importance at the time of Mnemosyne. Even before the invention of the alphabet and the written word, it was vital to the well-being of an individual or a society who had to rely solely on the lessons passed on in an oral history

By Zeus (king of the gods) she became the mother of the nine younger greek goddesses.. Collectively they were known as the Muses (the Proto-Indo-European root *men- "think") and were described as "having one mind, their hearts set upon song and their spirit free from care.“ Their role was to inspire poets and musicians and to promote the arts and sciences.



After all, it is memory, some believe, that is a gift that distinguishes us from the other creatures in the animal world. It is the gift that allows us to reason, to predict and anticipate outcomes, and is the very foundation for civilization.

But then Socrates said....

“…If you had no memory.. you could not even remember that you ever did enjoy pleasure, and no recollection whatever of present… pleasure could remain with you…”

[Socrates to Protarchus. Plato, Philebus 21c]

And here i am choosing to remember....trying to hold on to stuff what i read , see,listen and wonder..... my reflections.... my musings....

Another blog.... Mnemosyne and my musings