The Muses
- Looks after
- Love poetry
- Often shown with
- A lyre, myrtle or roses.
Erato
Ἐρατώ
Erato is the Muse of love poetry, shown with a lyre. Her name is related to eros.
Erato is one of the nine Muses. Her name comes from the same root as eros, and means lovely or desired. She was later regarded as the Muse of erotic and lyric poetry.
In Apollonius of Rhodes's Argonautica, the poet invokes her at the start of Book 3, when Medea falls in love with Jason. This is the best known ancient use of her.
She is usually shown with a lyre or kithara and sometimes with myrtle or roses.
Ancient sources
- Hesiod, Theogony 78
- Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 3.1-5