Calliope

[close] In Greek mythology, Calliope (Kalliopē "beautiful-voiced") is the muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses".

One account says Calliope was the lover of the war god Ares, and bore him several sons: Mygdon, Edonus, Biston, and Odomantus (or Odomas), respectively the founders of Thracian tribes known as the Mygdones, Edones, Bistones, and Odomantes. Otherwise these children were attributed to her namesake Calliope, daughter of river-god Nestus.

Calliope also had two famous sons, Orpheus and Linus, by either Apollo or the king Oeagrus of Thrace. She taught Orpheus verses for singing. According to Hesiod, she was also the wisest of the Muses, as well as the most assertive. Calliope married Oeagrus close to Pimpleia, Olympus. She is said to have defeated the daughters of Pierus, king of Thessaly, in a singing match, and then, to punish their presumption, turned them into magpies.

She was sometimes believed to be Homer's muse for the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Roman epic poet, Virgil, invokes her in the Aeneid. In some cases she is said to be the Mother of sirens.