My name is @clio. Why? I am not a car. Read about the importance and influence of a goddess in Greek mythology

When I joined Steemit in November 2016, I had to choose a nickname for myself. My son @exyle (who as you might suspect or know introduced me to Steemit) and I thought about a good nickname.

We chose for Clio. I will tell you something about Clio and I will try to explain why I chose that name.

Why do I think I want to explain the name, Clio?

Because recently there were a few people who asked me, why I named myself after a car. A car??? Yes, a car.
There is a car named Clio, it's a Renault and there are several types.

When I chose the name Clio I never thought about a car. I am a historian and for a historian, the name Clio means something completely different.

She is a woman (like I am), but a special woman. I will tell you about her and I think you will understand why I chose her name as my name on Steemit.

First some pictures of Clio:

Clio on the “Muses Sarcophagus” (2nd century AD, Louvre).

Clio on a Greek vase

A statue of Cio

Clio (detail of the painting “Allegory of Painting”, by Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675)

Clio is a figure from Greek mythology.

Clio was one of the nine Muses. The nine Muses were the daughters of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory.

Zeus is well known for having many children by women other than his wife Hera. He slept with Mnemosyne for nine days in a row and the end result is that she became pregnant with all nine of the muses at once.

Yes, Greek mythology is full of stories like this. Beautiful stories about all kinds of gods, children of gods and children of gods and people (demigods) revenge and love, cruel punishments and wonderful salvations or destructions. Consider, for example, the stories of the historian Herodotus about Odysseus and about Troy.

Back to the muses! All nine of the muses lived together in one place, but the location changes depending on whose account it is. Some have the muses living at Mount Parnassos, while other say Mount Helicon or even near Mount Olympus.

They entertained and joined the Olympian gods in their feasts drinking water, milk, and honey, but never wine (that's different from me of course, living in Burgundy for half of the year, I like wine a lot!)

The names of the nine Muses were Clio, Thalia, Erato, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, Calliope, Terpsichore, Urania, and Melpomene.

Here you see Thalia, Clio, and Urania on a Greek stamp. So even today the muses are famous in Greece.

The sisters were originally the goddesses of poets and musicians but over time their roles extended to include comedy, tragedy, history, poetry, music, dancing, singing, rhetoric, sacred hymns, and harmony.

Here you see the nine Muses.

Clio was the Muse of history. Her name was derived from the Greek verb kleô, "to make famous" or "celebrate."

You can identify Clio in statues etc. as a woman who is holding a scroll or sometimes she is holding tablets. Writing down what happens or has happened is very important of course. In Ancient Greece, before books (scrolls) were available, all forms of knowledge, so also knowledge of history was transmitted orally. And during the ages, the oral stories can change a lot.

Here you see a statue of Clio in the Vatican Museums, Rome.

Kleio is an alternative spelling of her name. When I was a history teacher in the Netherlands, we had our own journal as historians. The journal was called Kleio. Not a surprise as you can understand.

According to the traditions and beliefs of the ancient Greeks, historians would seek assistance from Clio to guide them in their work. As the muse of history, she was responsible for all knowledge that came from the past.

That is why I like the mythical figure Clio so much. She was concerned about history and wanted the truth to be told, not a story made up by a dictator or somebody who wanted to influence the past, so no fake news!

Of course, subjective (history) writing still happened in the old days, sadly enough just as it still happens today as you all know. Think for instance about the way people write about the causes of the wars in the world or the way politicians talk or even how people write about crypto.

I am happy to say that most modern historians are as objective as possible and write in a scientific way.

As I explained above, Clio was known as the muse of history. However, in some traditions, she is also the muse who is in charge of the music associated with the lyre. So she was often shown playing the lyre, regardless of whether or not she is actually the muse of this instrument.

When learning about the different creatures and stories in Greek mythology, it is important to understand that everyone may tell it differently.

But isn't that the same in our time? When you read newspapers or watch the news, it is very important to know what kind of newspaper you read or what political direction a TV station has. The news you read or hear can be completely different.

I think you understand why I like Clio so much and why I choose her name for Steemit. I detest fake news, I love the past.

I know how difficult it is to know exactly what happened in the past, but we can try and if we can not we have to tell it and give more than one interpretation and tell people it's an interpretation. Don't tell them it is the truth!

You also have to tell where your information comes from. In my case, it came partly from my memory but I also found pictures and info on the internet. My sources were:
www.Brittannica.com
www.greekboston.com
www.theoi.com
www.talesbeyondbelieve.com
www.istockphoto.com
www.pinterest.com

When you sometimes have some free time, I mean when you are not writing or developing for Steemit, please read some stories from Greek mythology, you will enjoy it.

Have a nice day,
Clio