climb into the attic to write me a classic
.the myth;
» God(dess): Calliope
» Reference: Theoi
» Family: {mother & father} Mnemosyne & Zeus {spouse}No thank you. Very fond of Oiagros, though. {children} Orpheus (by Oiagros), Ialmenos and Rhesos (by Strymon). The Korybantes are always up for grabs.
» Played By: Elena Satine
» Human Alias: Cadence Piper
» Human Age: 22
» God of...: As with her sisters, Calliope is a goddess of music and dance. Her particular area, however, is epic poetry and eloquence.
» Flair: If you're stuck for words, this girl can make you spit it out in an articulate manner. Of course, if she doesn't much want to hear what you have to say, you'll find yourself floundering as she sits by and doesn't help.
» Flair Type: ACTIVATED
» Fitting in: Calliope is a music teacher at a junior high school and, on the side, she gives private music lessons to youngsters.
» History: Calliope is the eldest of the Muses, the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne.
Her gift, as mentioned previously, is for epic poetry and eloquence. She can give her inspirees quite the flair when it comes to public-speaking.
Her most famous contribution to history was, of course, her son, Orpheus. There are myths that place him as Apollo's son (and certainly Calliope was no stranger to Apollo's bed) but it is certain that Apollo taught young Orpheus the ways of the lyre. Of note, when Orpheus was killed, she and her sisters gathered together all the bits and pieces of Orpheus and laid them to rest.
How her son's end came about is a bit unfortunate. When Aphrodite and Persephone were bickering over Adonis, Calliope, as Zeus' appointed judge, decreed that Adonis should spend half the year with Persephone and half the year with Aphrodite. (Look, it made sense and there was a precedent in the Demeter Vs Hades case of Whenever BC). Aphrodite, greedy goddess that she was, didn't approve. She used her mojo on the women of Thrace and they ripped poor Orpheus, limb from limb. Aphrodite has a shit-ton to answer to.
Her other sons were of a similar musical bent and, unfortunately, were not especially long-lived either. Rhesos, the son of the river Strymon, died at Troy and Ialmenos died of a sickness (he always was a sad little soul but that took some getting over on Calliope's part).
Calliope was pretty much the go-to girl for poets and orators. Even that nice blind man began an entire (epic) poem with the words Sing O Muse.
» Personality: Because Calliope has always been so highly regarded by mortals, especially poets and musicians, she frequently takes herself far too seriously. She is serious!muse. She has a sense of humour; it just takes longer to emerge than the humour of her sisters. She is simply very aware of her position in this world and the etiquette and behavior that must go with it. Being mortal will be a difficult pill to swallow.
She adores all eight of her sisters and is very much conscious that she is the 'big sister'. Yes, she may well mother them all to death but it's only because she cares so much and if there's one thing that Calliope understands, it's this: she would be nothing, no Muse at all, if not for her darling sisters. She would do anything for them.
On that note, Calliope is very loyal to certain people. Her parents. Apollo. Her sisters. Dear Oiagros. Her beautiful sons. For these people, she would die. (By the way, Calliope is as prone as any Muse to being rather dramatic. Over-dramatic? Never!) She has an incredibly strong sense of family. Outside of her family, though… well, let's just say she tolerates other people. She might smile, if they praise her appropriately.
Like Kleio, Calliope has a great love for orators, more than musicians perhaps (only don't tell the musicians that; for one thing, their poor, darling artistic temperaments couldn't take it and, for another, Calliope doesn't like to play favorites).
Calliope is pretty even-tempered. She is more inclined to sorrow than to rage. She mourned her sons, so deeply and so beautifully. For all of her apparently passive appearance, she really does feel extremely deeply. Orpheus' death hurt her desperately. She is inclined to retreat into her shell when she's feeling particularly low or even when she just needs to have a think about something. She trusts that her sisters will draw her back out again, as the need arises.
Ironically, for one so enamoured of great speeches (but never purple prose), Calliope has a very sparse way of speaking. She is very quiet, in general, and will seldom volunteer her opinion, unless expressly asked. With her sisters, she alternates between gentle chiding and outright adoration. She loves to see them have fun, even if she rarely partakes. (Someone has to post bail, after all!)
Even though she is very quiet, Calliope does love to be in the thick of things. Wherever her sisters party, she'll be there, enjoying and absorbing the atmosphere and maybe, just maybe, encouraging the mayhem and chaos, if she is feeling particularly daring.
Calliope, as with most of her sisters, has had a number of lovers (fewer than some, more than others). What she seeks in a lover is, perhaps, unsurprising. Someone who will put her on a pedestal, even for a night. Someone who will praise her. In turn, she might inspire them to make that statement they have never quite been brave enough to utter.
» Sample Journal:
[Video]
[Calliope stands in front of the camera, stock still. She almost looks like a statue (and she has already seen the statues of herself in museums around the world). There is slight movement. Her forefinger moves to hover over her pursed lips.]
No. No, this won't do at all.
[She leans in close to the computer and presses a button on the keyboard.]
Words on a screen. No, no. This. This silence is too much to bear. Where are my sisters? My son?
[Her expression closes up again; she has rarely said so many words together. With a sigh, she peers at the camera once more and shakes her head, sadly, closing the lid of the laptop and ending the feed]
» Sample Roleplay:
"Miss Piper?"
Calliope gathered her bag against her chest and stood up. "Yes, sir."
"My name is Broderick Sampson. I'm the headmaster here at [-----] Junior High. Might I just say that I am delighted that you were able to take up this position at such short notice?"
"You may."
The headmaster looks at her strangely. She doesn't understand. She doesn't think she has spoken out of turn. She does wish he would get to the point. She blinks.
"Well, I'd best get to the point, then."
Good boy.
"Our previous music teacher left because of stress issues."
Calliope thinks there might be more to it than stress; she is a muse and Keats was right: Truth is beauty.
"Well, in truth, our seventh graders are terrors."
Ah, that's it, then.
"But I am sure that you are more than capable of dealing with them."
"I have eight little sisters," says Calliope, volunteering information for the first time in centuries. It is left unsaid; they keep her on her toes.
"Very well, then! Your resumé is most impressive. Juilliard?"
Calliope nods. She doesn't know what a Juilliard is but she knows better than to dispute any fabrication Grandpa Cronus has come up with.
"How about I show you to your classroom?"
"Yes," says Calliope. "That would be best."
Calliope is still setting up when a hoard of children burst into her room. She blinks. And watches. As they mill around, chattering and clattering with apparently no social graces whatsoever.
She does what any good Muse would. Though she is tempted to bang heads together, she cannot imagine the resultant sound would be terribly musical. Instead, she grabs a pair of cymbals and clashes them together instead. It is delightfully cacophonous. Multiple pairs of eyes turn to look at her. Multiple mouths drop open in shock as though they honestly had not noticed the slight figure by the blackboard, cascades of red hair tumbling down her back and a fierce light in her eyes.
"The next time you enter my room so rudely, it will be one of your heads between these cymbals, understood?"
Multiple heads nod as one.
What delightful children.
--
Mun's note: I'd just like to acknowledge that, while I also mun Hyacinthus, Calliope's nephew, I foresee no issues. In 'canon', Hyacinthus likely did not know his aunt and I do not believe that direct contact between the two is necessary or even contributory.