Muses, Astronomers, and Kings around the Hellenistic Mediterranean: a Historical Synthesis from an Iconographic Approach

In the Hellenistic Mediterranean, the Muses become patrons of important learning centres, called mouseia. These were appointed for the study of the Humanities and sciences. In the same period, the pillar, dramatic mask, and globe appeared for the first time as attributes of the nine goddesses in figurative monuments. I will focus here on the globe with the aim to investigate if this could be somehow connected with the areas of scientific competence of the Muses within mouseia. The investigative strategy rests on three Hellenistic reliefs that are the sole depictions of the Muses which attest all their attributes. Special attention is paid to the relief with Muses made by Archelaus of Priene, where astronomy alone of the scientific disciplines under the Muses’ patronage is represented. According to the very plausible hypothesis that the Ptolemies were represented thereon, I assume that the Muses were employed here as a vehicle of political propaganda, presenting the ruler as cultivated and liberal, familiar with poetry, philosophy, and, especially, with astronomy, which was a very well-known and cultivated subject, even among general public.