2; 5. 81. 1; 9. 100. 3, al.). The song or formula is a mánman- or a mántra-
(Avestan ma ̨θra-). It can also be referred to as a sumatí- or sumnám, both
meaning literally ‘good thought, good disposition’. It has been proposed to
derive the Greek μνο from the same elements, su-mn-o-;^27 this has its
attractions, though it is hard to account for 0 - instead of the normal Greek
ε1- unless on the assumption (historically conceivable –– see pp. 21 f.) that the
word came into Mycenaean from an Iranian source.
The poets of the Homeric Hymns often conclude with the formula ‘I will
bethink me (μν σομαι) both of you (the god addressed) and of other
singing’. Similarly the Maidens of Delos are described as first hymning
Apollo, Leto, and Artemis and then, ‘bethinking themselves (μνησα ́ μεναι)
of the men and women of old, they sing a song ( μνο) that charms the
peoples’ (Hymn. Ap. 160 f.). The Muses can assist by putting the poet in mind
of the relevant material (Il. 2. 492 μνησαατο; Pind. Pae. 14. 35). This is why
they are called the daughters of Memory, Mnemosyne. The word Muse itself
is derived from the men root: Μου
σα < món-t-ih 2 or mon-tu-h 2.^28
When Livius Andronicus translated Homer’s Μου
σ’ $δδαξε as Diua
Monetas filia docuit (fr. 21 Blänsdorf ), he was adopting the Greek filiation of the
Muse to Mnemosyne. But Moneta does not mean ‘memory’; it signifies the
goddess who monet, who puts in mind, moneo being a causative formation
from *men-. Virgil employs it in asking for the Muse’s help at Aeneid 7. 41: tu
uatem, tu diua mone (cf. Ovid, Fasti 5. 447). This usage cannot be accounted
for from the Greek models, but must come from native Italic tradition.
Old English and Norse poetry provides further evidence. After Beowulf has
killed Grendel, a poem about the exploit is composed by one of Hrothgar’s
thanes, a man with a memory for tales (gidda gemyndig), who recalled
(gemunde) a multitude of old legends (Beowulf 868–70). In Widsith (54 f.) the
poet says ‘I can sing, therefore, and tell a tale, and recall (mæ ̄ ̄nan) before
the crowd in the mead-hall.. .’, while The Whale begins ‘Now will I once
more in a song... make known in words, with poetic craft, by mental recall
(þurh mo ̄dgemynd).. .’. The Eddic Sibyl of Vo ̨luspá begins her prophecy
with a general call to attention: Odin has asked her to recount the ancient
histories, ‘those earliest that I recall’ (um man). ‘I recall (ec man) the giants
... I recall nine worlds.. .’. Odin himself, as a god of poetic inspiration,
is attended by two ravens called Huginn and Muninn, Thought and Recall
(Gylf. 38).
(^27) A. Kuhn, ZVS 2 (1853), 131; 4 (1855), 25; Durante (1976), 155–60; cautious approval in
Euler (1979), 66 f. See above for an alternative etymology.
(^28) Watkins (1995), 73, 110. Cf. also Tyrt. 12. 1; Sappho fr. 55; Pind. Ol. 8. 74, Nem. 1. 12, 7. 15,
- 10, Isth. 8. 62; fr. 341 μνα<μο>νο ́ οι Μοι
σαι; Theoc. 16. 42–5. According to Plutarch, Quaest.
conv. 743d, the Muses were in some places called the Mneiai.
34 1. Poet and Poesy