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Mnemosyne (Greek , or ) (sometimes confused with Mneme
Mneme

In Greek mythology, Mneme was one of the three original Muses, though there were later nine. Her sisters were Aoide and Melete. She was the muse of memory....
 or compared with Memoria
Memoria

Memoria was the term for aspects involving memory in Western classical rhetoric. The word is Latin, and can be translated as "memory."It was one of five canons in classical rhetoric concerned with the crafting and delivery of speeches and prose....
) was the personification of memory
Memory

In psychology, memory is an organism's mental ability to store, retain and recall information. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of mnemonic....
 in Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
. This titaness
Titan (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Titans ; were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary golden age. Their role as Elder Gods was overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Twelve Olympians, effected a mythological paradigm shift that the Greeks borrowed from the Ancient Near East....
 was the daughter of Gaia
Gaia (mythology)

Gaia Gaia is a Greek primordial gods and chthonic deity in the Ancient Greek Pantheon and considered a Mother Goddess or Great Goddess....
 and Uranus
Uranus (mythology)

Uranus is the Latinized form of Ouranos , the Greek language word for sky. In Greek mythology Uranus , or Father Sky, is personified as the son and husband of Gaia , Mother Earth ....
 and the mother of the Muse
Muse

File:Muse reading Louvre CA2220.jpgThe Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature are the goddesses or spirits who inspire the creation of literature and the arts....
s by Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
.

In Hesiod
Hesiod

Hesiod was a Greek language oral poet, his date is uncertain but leading scholars agree that Hesiod lived in the latter half of the Eighth-century BCE....
's Theogony
Theogony

The Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogy of the polytheism of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC....
, kings and poets receive their powers of authoritative speech from their possession of Mnemosyne and their special relationship with the Muses.

Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
 and Mnemosyne slept together for nine consecutive nights and thereby created the nine Muses.






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Mnemosyne (Greek , or ) (sometimes confused with Mneme
Mneme

In Greek mythology, Mneme was one of the three original Muses, though there were later nine. Her sisters were Aoide and Melete. She was the muse of memory....
 or compared with Memoria
Memoria

Memoria was the term for aspects involving memory in Western classical rhetoric. The word is Latin, and can be translated as "memory."It was one of five canons in classical rhetoric concerned with the crafting and delivery of speeches and prose....
) was the personification of memory
Memory

In psychology, memory is an organism's mental ability to store, retain and recall information. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of mnemonic....
 in Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
. This titaness
Titan (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Titans ; were a race of powerful deities that ruled during the legendary golden age. Their role as Elder Gods was overthrown by a race of younger gods, the Twelve Olympians, effected a mythological paradigm shift that the Greeks borrowed from the Ancient Near East....
 was the daughter of Gaia
Gaia (mythology)

Gaia Gaia is a Greek primordial gods and chthonic deity in the Ancient Greek Pantheon and considered a Mother Goddess or Great Goddess....
 and Uranus
Uranus (mythology)

Uranus is the Latinized form of Ouranos , the Greek language word for sky. In Greek mythology Uranus , or Father Sky, is personified as the son and husband of Gaia , Mother Earth ....
 and the mother of the Muse
Muse

File:Muse reading Louvre CA2220.jpgThe Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature are the goddesses or spirits who inspire the creation of literature and the arts....
s by Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
.

In Hesiod
Hesiod

Hesiod was a Greek language oral poet, his date is uncertain but leading scholars agree that Hesiod lived in the latter half of the Eighth-century BCE....
's Theogony
Theogony

The Theogony is a poem by Hesiod describing the origins and genealogy of the polytheism of the ancient Greeks, composed circa 700 BC....
, kings and poets receive their powers of authoritative speech from their possession of Mnemosyne and their special relationship with the Muses.

Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
 and Mnemosyne slept together for nine consecutive nights and thereby created the nine Muses. Mnemosyne also presided over a pool in Hades
Hades

Hades refers both to the ancient Greek underworld, the abode of Hades, and to the god of the underworld. Hades in Homer referred just to the god; the genitive case , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades"....
, counterpart to the river Lethe
Lethe

In Classical Greek, Lethe literally means "forgetfulness" or "concealment". It is related to the Greek word for "truth": a-lethe-ia , meaning "un-forgetfulness" or "un-concealment"....
, according to a series of 4th century BC Greek funerary inscriptions in dactylic hexameter
Dactylic hexameter

Dactylic hexameter is a form of meter in poetry or a rhythmic scheme. It is traditionally associated with the quantitative meter of classical epic poetry in both Greek language and Latin, and was consequently considered to be the Grand Style of classical poetry....
. Dead souls drank from Lethe so they would not remember their past lives when reincarnated
Reincarnation

Reincarnation, literally "to be made flesh again", is a doctrine or Metaphysics belief that some essential part of a living being survives death to be reborn in a new body....
. Initiates were encouraged to drink from the river Mnemosyne when they died, instead of Lethe. These inscriptions may have been connected with Orphic
Orpheus

Orpheus was a legendary figure, probably from Thracian origin, venerated by the Greeks and Thracians of the Classical age as a chief among poets and musicians, and the perfector of the lyre invented by Hermes....
 poetry (see Zuntz, 1971).

Similarly, those who wished to consult the oracle of Trophonius
Trophonius

Trophonius or Trophonios was a Greek mythology Greek hero cult or daemon or god - it was never certain which one - with a rich mythological tradition and an oracular cult at Livadeia in Boeotia....
 in Boeotia
Boeotia

Boeotia, Beotia, or B?otia , formerly Cadmeis, was a region of ancient Greece, north of the eastern part of the Gulf of Corinth. It was bounded on the south by Megaris and the Kithairon mountain range that forms a natural barrier with Attica, on the north by Opuntian Locris and the Euripus Strait at the Gulf of Euboea, and on the...
 were made to drink alternately from two springs called "Lethe" and "Mnemosyne". An analogous setup is described in the Myth of Er
Myth of Er

The Myth of Er is an eschatology legend that concludes Plato's dialogue known as Plato's Republic . The story begins as a man named Er dies in battle....
 at the end of Plato
Plato

Plato , was a Classical Greece Greeks philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Platonic Academy in Ancient Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the western world....
's Republic
Republic

A republic is a state or country that is not led by a hereditary monarch but in which the people have an impact on its government. The word originates from the Latin term res publica....
.

Popular culture

In Hercules and Xena the Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus, Mnemosyne is re-imagined as the vicious Titaness of Fire. She also seems to be romantically involved with the Wind Titan.

In the Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess

Xena: Warrior Princess is an United States television series that aired from September 15, 1995 until June 18, 2001. The series was produced by Renaissance Pictures in association with Universal Studios....
 episode Forget Me Not
Forget Me Not

"Forget Me Not" is a 1968 single by Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas. Though the song failed to ignite charts in America barely hitting the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at #93 and failing to chart on the US R&B charts , it became a big hit on the UK Pop music singles chart peaking at #11 netting them their biggest UK hit in s...
 (Season 3, Episode 14] the character of Gabrielle goes to the temple of Mnemosyne to try to forget her painful memories. (Throughout the episode it is mispronounced in a fashion that rhymes with limousine
Limousine

A limousine is a luxury car sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coach builder....
.)

In Hercules: the Legendary Journeys
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys is an United States Television program, filmed in New Zealand. It was produced from 1995 to 1999, and was very loosely based on the tales of the classical Greek mythology culture hero Heracles....
, Episode 91 Let there be Light
List of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episodes

The following is a list of episodes from Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, starring Kevin Sorbo....
, Hercules visits Mnemosyne
List of Hercules and Xena characters

This is a list of significant characters from the television programs Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess....
 in person. This depiction combines elements of the other two depictions in the metaseries. Here, Mnemosyne is depicted as the fiery daughter of Cronos and an enemy of Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
. Though angry and hostile towards Zeus, and by extension Hercules, Hercules sought her out for her wisdom and counsel.

In Xanadu (film)
Xanadu (film)

Xanadu is a 1980 in film musical film/romance film directed by Robert Greenwald. It is an unofficial remake of the 1947 film Down to Earth starring Rita Hayworth....
, Mnemosyne is the (unnamed) mother of the Nine Muses, including Kira, the heroine.

In the fifth arc of Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon

is the title of a Japanese media franchise created by Naoko Takeuchi. It is generally credited with popularizing the concept of a sentai of magical girls, as well as "revitalizing" the magical girl genre itself....
 (manga) Sailor Mnemosyne and Sailor Lethe are twins being forced to work for Shadow Galactica
Shadow Galactica

, a fictional organization from the Sailor Moon metaseries, groups together the villains of the Sailor Stars in both the manga and the anime. Shadow Galactica is an organization dedicated to stealing "starseeds", the essence of Sentience life, from all in the universe....
. When Sailor Lethe attacks Usagi in the River of Oblivion, Sailor Mnemosyne is the one who stops Sailor Lethe from killing her.

Mnemosyne
Mnemosyne (software)

Mnemosyne is spaced repetition software developed from 2003 until the present. The software is similar to SuperMemo, commercial software developed by Piotr Wozniak....
 is the name of a computer software project that helps people to memorize facts, such as school exams, as well as builds data on memory research.

In the MMPORG Asheron's Call
Asheron's Call

Asheron's Call is a fantasy MMORPG for Microsoft Windows-based PCs, released on November 2, 1999. The land of Dereth and its surrounding islands, in which the game is based, is a large, seamless 3D world that is occupied by hundreds of players....
, green triangular devices called Mnemosynes are used to store large amounts of knowledge/history and are used to pass this information across generations.

Art

  • "Mnemosyne", a piece for solo bass flute and pre-recorded tape by Brian Ferneyhough
    Brian Ferneyhough

    Brian John Peter Ferneyhough is an England composer of contemporary classical music. His complex, multi-layered music is always distinctive when performed, and led Pierre Boulez to refer to it as a 'polyphony of polyphonies'....


  • "Mnemosyne", is also the title of a poem by Friedrich Hölderlin
    Friedrich Hölderlin

    Johann Christian Friedrich H?lderlin was a major German lyric Poetry. His work bridges the Neoclassicism and Romantic poetry schools.Having spent most of his life tormented by mental illness, he suffered great loneliness, and often spent his time playing the piano, drawing, reading, writing, and enjoyed travelling when he had the chance....
    .


See also

  • Mnemonic
    Mnemonic

    A mnemonic device is a memory aid. Commonly met mnemonics are often verbal, something such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something, particularly lists, but may be visual, kinesthetic or auditory....
  • Meme
    Meme

    A meme is a unit or element of culture ideas, symbols or practices; such units or elements transmit from one mind to another through speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena....