Mnemosyne in Greek Mythology (2024)

The Titanide Mnemosyne

Mnemosyne was a Titan goddess, a Titanide, and therefore one of the 12 children of the god Ouranus (Sky) and his mate Gaia (Earth).

​Thus, Mnemosyne had six brothers, Cronus, Oceanus, Hyperion, Iapetus, Crius and Coeus, and five sisters, Rhea, Phoebe, Theia, Themis and Tethys.

At the time of Mnemosyne’s birth, Ouranus was the supreme deity of the cosmos, but Gaia was plotting against him, and soon Gaia was enlisting the help of her children, specifically the male Titans to help her.

​Ultimately Cronus would wield a sickle to castrate his father, and it was this Titan god who took up the position of supreme deity.

Cronus would rule alongside the other Titan deities, in what became the Golden Age of Greek mythology. The name of Mnemosyne is normally translated as “memory”, and it was this sphere of influence in which the Titanide was associated.

From Menmoysne would come the ability to remember, to use power of reason and to make use of language; and therefore ultimately speech was also connected with her. Thus it was expected that all orators, kings and poet, would give praise to Mnemosyne for she allowed them to make use of persuasive rhetoric.

Mnemosyne mother of the Muses

Zeus actually held most of the female Titans in a high regard, and indeed, the lustful nature of Zeus, saw him chase after them. One of the homes of Mnemosyne was in the Pieria region, near to Mount Olympus.

​It was here that Zeus seduced the Goddess of Memory, and for nine consecutive nights, the supreme god did lie with Mnemosyne.

As a result of this coupling, Mnemosyne did give birth to nine daughters, on consecutive days. These nine daughters were Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia and Urania; nine sisters collectively known as the Younger Muses. Subsequently, these Younger Muses would make nearby Mount Pierus one of their homes, and these muses would have their own sphere of influence within the arts.

The fact that Mnemosyne was mother of the Younger Muses has often seen the Titan confused with another Greek goddess, Mnema, one of the Elder Muses. Mnema was the Muse of Memory, so the similarities are obvious, and indeed both Mnemosyne and Mnema were daughters of Ouranus and Gaia; although in the original sources, they two Greek goddesses are clearly separate deities.

After the birth of the Younger Muses, Mnemoysne is little mentioned in mythological tales, although in some geographies of the Underworld, it was said that there was a pool that bore the goddess’ name. The Mnemosyne pool would work in conjunction with the River Lethe, for whilst the Lethe would make souls forget the lives that had gone before, the Mnemosyne pool would make the drinker remember everything.