When I joined Steemit in November 2016, I had to choose a nickname for myself. My son @exyle (who as you might suspect or know introduced me to Steemit) and I thought about a good nickname.
We chose for Clio. I will tell you something about Clio and I will try to explain why I chose that name.
Why do I think I want to explain the name, Clio?
Because recently there were a few people who asked me, why I named myself after a car. A car??? Yes, a car.
There is a car named Clio, it's a Renault and there are several types.
When I chose the name Clio I never thought about a car. I am a historian and for a historian, the name Clio means something completely different.
She is a woman (like I am), but a special woman. I will tell you about her and I think you will understand why I chose her name as my name on Steemit.
First some pictures of Clio:
Clio on the “Muses Sarcophagus” (2nd century AD, Louvre).
Clio on a Greek vase
A statue of Cio
Clio (detail of the painting “Allegory of Painting”, by Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675)
Clio is a figure from Greek mythology.
Clio was one of the nine Muses. The nine Muses were the daughters of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory.
Zeus is well known for having many children by women other than his wife Hera. He slept with Mnemosyne for nine days in a row and the end result is that she became pregnant with all nine of the muses at once.
Yes, Greek mythology is full of stories like this. Beautiful stories about all kinds of gods, children of gods and children of gods and people (demigods) revenge and love, cruel punishments and wonderful salvations or destructions. Consider, for example, the stories of the historian Herodotus about Odysseus and about Troy.
Back to the muses! All nine of the muses lived together in one place, but the location changes depending on whose account it is. Some have the muses living at Mount Parnassos, while other say Mount Helicon or even near Mount Olympus.
They entertained and joined the Olympian gods in their feasts drinking water, milk, and honey, but never wine (that's different from me of course, living in Burgundy for half of the year, I like wine a lot!)
The names of the nine Muses were Clio, Thalia, Erato, Euterpe, Polyhymnia, Calliope, Terpsichore, Urania, and Melpomene.
Here you see Thalia, Clio, and Urania on a Greek stamp. So even today the muses are famous in Greece.
The sisters were originally the goddesses of poets and musicians but over time their roles extended to include comedy, tragedy, history, poetry, music, dancing, singing, rhetoric, sacred hymns, and harmony.
Here you see the nine Muses.
Clio was the Muse of history. Her name was derived from the Greek verb kleô, "to make famous" or "celebrate."
You can identify Clio in statues etc. as a woman who is holding a scroll or sometimes she is holding tablets. Writing down what happens or has happened is very important of course. In Ancient Greece, before books (scrolls) were available, all forms of knowledge, so also knowledge of history was transmitted orally. And during the ages, the oral stories can change a lot.
Here you see a statue of Clio in the Vatican Museums, Rome.
Kleio is an alternative spelling of her name. When I was a history teacher in the Netherlands, we had our own journal as historians. The journal was called Kleio. Not a surprise as you can understand.
According to the traditions and beliefs of the ancient Greeks, historians would seek assistance from Clio to guide them in their work. As the muse of history, she was responsible for all knowledge that came from the past.
That is why I like the mythical figure Clio so much. She was concerned about history and wanted the truth to be told, not a story made up by a dictator or somebody who wanted to influence the past, so no fake news!
Of course, subjective (history) writing still happened in the old days, sadly enough just as it still happens today as you all know. Think for instance about the way people write about the causes of the wars in the world or the way politicians talk or even how people write about crypto.
I am happy to say that most modern historians are as objective as possible and write in a scientific way.
As I explained above, Clio was known as the muse of history. However, in some traditions, she is also the muse who is in charge of the music associated with the lyre. So she was often shown playing the lyre, regardless of whether or not she is actually the muse of this instrument.
When learning about the different creatures and stories in Greek mythology, it is important to understand that everyone may tell it differently.
But isn't that the same in our time? When you read newspapers or watch the news, it is very important to know what kind of newspaper you read or what political direction a TV station has. The news you read or hear can be completely different.
I think you understand why I like Clio so much and why I choose her name for Steemit. I detest fake news, I love the past.
I know how difficult it is to know exactly what happened in the past, but we can try and if we can not we have to tell it and give more than one interpretation and tell people it's an interpretation. Don't tell them it is the truth!
You also have to tell where your information comes from. In my case, it came partly from my memory but I also found pictures and info on the internet. My sources were:
www.Brittannica.com
www.greekboston.com
www.theoi.com
www.talesbeyondbelieve.com
www.istockphoto.com
www.pinterest.com
When you sometimes have some free time, I mean when you are not writing or developing for Steemit, please read some stories from Greek mythology, you will enjoy it.
Have a nice day,
Clio
You know, I never paid attention in school re Mythology so I never learned it. Your post was very interesting and I love that you took on a name that means so much to yourself.
I agree with you re some of the news biases. It drives me crazy when I listen and wonder how they can believe what they are saying - especially after I heard the same thing? ugh.
I like to hear the facts and the story without emotions or speculations attached. That way I can understand and interpret them for myself without a commentator telling me what to believe.
Thanks for taking so much time to write this @clio. I really enjoyed it :)
Thank you @countrygirl. You were right, it took me almost all day yesterday to make this post, but I enjoyed making it, so time was not an issue. But it is a reward in itself that so many people liked the story.
Glad to know about the history behind @clio ...I like it very much, easy to remember...
Thank you @hms818
u can write and have such great background and story behind ur name what will it be i asked about ur life!love that u have choose cause of some reason literally i was unaware that cilo is the of a car:D
Thank you for your comment. For your convenience, I post a picture of a Renault Clio, the car.
haha thanxs alot wawoow but one is similar in u both is beauty u both are beautiful!
I never heared Clio before but I am not that familiar with Greek history, I don't think we learned much of Greek back in school, sadly
It's wonderful to learned a new thing on Steemit
Thanks for sharing!
You are welcome. I like to tell stories about the past and this one was indeed very nice to tell.
I have always enjoyed history, even as a young child. Mythology was a favourite subject in school. No wonder you chose Clio as your name here on Steemit. I don't listen to a lot of newscasts or read a lot of news as most of it is fake or twisted so badly it doesn't resemble the thread of truth that it started with.
I also loved history even as a young child. A read a lot of historical novels and I had a very good history teacher at high school. So it wasn't a hard decision when I was older what to chose. I studied history with much pleasure.
Your handwriting is very effective.
And every picture is very beautiful.
thanks for sharing
Bit late for an introductory post, isn't it? :D
I didn't mean it as a true introductory post. But more as an introductory of my name. I did not know how to tell it otherwise than in this way. Had it been a real introductory post, I had used that tag as a first tag.
Wow, I have learnt a lot from this post @Clio. Why not please do some posts on history on certain days of the week? I personally would appreciate
Thank you @bait002. I will definitely think about it.
So, I guess I now finally know where the car's name comes from! I think the name suits you better though!
What an outstanding nickname. Fits perfectly. Very interesting background. Do not forget: You are special too!
Thank you very much, my dear!
What a good chosen name @clio and what a interesting and amusing information. I love Greece and it’s history. Above all I like travelling in Greece when I am on holiday with my family.
Thanks for sharing!
Greetings,
Ray #lifeisforliving
Thank you very much @raypelsteeltje. I wish you a lot more beautiful holidays with your family in Greece.
Thanks for sharing such a beautiful story from Greek mythology and your good choice for the users name as clio. Yes friend history is one of my favorite subjects till now, but due to the language problem as English is my 2nd language so I have only little knowledge about the history of the world. I had no idea about the name of clio, so thank you so much for your great post. I really means a lot for me.
Thank you for your honest comment on my post. I think you will know a lot more about the history of India than I do so maybe one day you will write a story about it. I can fully understand you had no idea who Clio was, I don't blame you, as I do not know many mythological stories about India.
I also don't know that Cilo is the name of Car. I was totally unawared of it but after reading your post in detail I came to know what is the story behind this name which is really interesting one. Cilo is the name of women and name actually came from Greek Language as well and the picture of Cilo is just amazing piece of that time.
Your post is remarkable. I learned much from it. :)
That is so nice about Steemit. I also learned a lot through posts from other Steemians. Steemit has also an educational side and I like that very much.
Exactly, you have hit the nail on the head. I also learned a lot from numbers of posts. In fact, I saved their steemit usernames on Notepad just for the purpose of not missing a single post even after following them. I didn't follow you yet but now this post compelled me to follow you. :) One of the more reason to follow you is that you're a Retired Principle and I respect all of the teacher from the core of my heart. :)
I loved to read such stories which are acknowledged and worth to read. Looking forward you..!!
Thank you very much @ikrahch. I will try to post a lot more interesting stories and I also hope to read a lot in the future.
Yeah, I'll definitely read them out whenever you post. :)
@clio your post really inspires me a lot event the things that you share are so relevant and really each and every individual can relate himself with that...... Keep steeming and inspiring me!!
Thank you @sid9999.
Its a really fantastic piece of knowledge, which I have learn from your post, which is really appriciatable. I also confused about your name that what does it mean? Because I dont know much about Greek language. Thankyou for clearing my confusion.
You are very welcome @sanach.
Although I am not much of a history buff, it is always interesting to hear the mythology. It continually amazes me the depth that it runs and how much educational, moral and philosophical question is embedded within. I wish there were more story tellers of this quality now. Thanks for the background :)
Thank you for the compliment @tarazkp. It is very clear to me that in mythology there is a lot of educational, moral and philosophical truth. The Ancients were not so much different from us. They also struggled with moral matters. They had different answers because they lived in a different time. But they struggled, just like we do.
So much interesting and engaging stuff here! I really enjoyed your post. It's funny how a few silly puns about your screenname have actually inspired this interesting piece of writing! :)
Yes, they definitively inspired me. Thank you for the compliment.
wonderful content and photos. i like your post.
thanks for sharing
Thank you @rimon24
welcome
nice i like this ...
Thank you.
oh that's really cool named and Good to know history behind this name @clio
Greek mythology has always been interesting to me, but the title of your post is what made me read it. It sounds really intriguing. Good job! :)
Thank you.
Wow, I love this! I have always been fascinated with Greek and Roman mythology and it's cool to learn more about this topic through your post.
Welcome to Steemit, and thank you for sharing!
You are welcome!
wow awesome nice name clio
Hi. Welcome to this wonderful group of steemit, I hope this tool helps your life better.
I invite you to visit my blog, here I leave my vote.
@clio i love history nice post to share with us the thing is its too easy for me to check out your blog <3