Metamorphoses: Book 5: Minerva and the Muses Summary & Analysis

After supporting Perseus, Minerva goes to visit the Muses—the sisters of the arts. She tells the Muses that she heard a rumor that a winged horse emerged from Medusa when she died, striking the earth with its hoof and causing a fountain to spout. The Muses take Minerva to the beautiful fountain.

The Muses confess to Minerva that they are frightened by how much crime has been happening lately. They tell of a wicked tyrant who deceptively welcomed the Muses inside to take shelter from the rain. When they tried to leave after the storm, the tyrant locked the door and tried to assault them. They took flight, and the tyrant climbed on the roof, calling after them in madness and finally falling to his death.

Suddenly, a group of magpies alight in a nearby tree. The Muses explain that these magpies used to be nine ignorant sisters who lost a contest with the Muses and were turned into birds. The sisters had come to the Muses, boasting that their voices were nicer than the Muses’ voices. The sisters suggested a contest, judged by nymphs, to determine the better singers. In the contest, one of the sisters sang a song that exalted the giants and belittled the gods. It told how the giants pursued the gods and forced them to transform into animals. The Muses then perform the song that they sang in response to the sisters, accompanied by Calliope—one of their band—on the lyre.