Μούσας. An interesting illustration is afforded by a sarcophagus in Baumeister's Denkmaeler, p.837. In the centre of the group is the raging Lycurgus, with uplifted axe, about to slay the Dionysiac nymph Ambrosia, who cowers at his feet. A Fury is on each side of him, urging him on. To the right is Dionysus.—about to save the nymph by changing her into a vine; and behind him stand his followers. At the extreme left are three Muses—Urania, with globe; Clio, with roll; Euterpè, prob. with flutes. (Zoega seems clearly right in thus explaining the three women: others have made them Moirae.)—The close relation of Dionysus with the Muses is marked by one of his Attic titles, “Μελπόμενος” (Paus. 1.2.5), as conversely Apollo had the title “Διονυσόδοτος” (id. 1. 31.4). Muses were sometimes said to have nursed him. (Cp. Welcker, Götterl. 2. 611.) The monuments relating to the myth of Lycurgus have been critically treated by Michaelis (Annal. Inst. 1872, pp. 248— 270). The Italian vase-paintings follow a version different from that of Soph. , viz. that the frenzy of Lycurgus was wreaked on his own son and wife. A large Neapolitan vase gives two pictures: in one, we see his murderous rage; in the other, Dionysus sits on his throne in calm majesty, stroking his panther.
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Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, with critical notes, commentary, and translation in English prose. Part III: The Antigone. Sir Richard C. Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1900.
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