Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, Melete (Μελέτη) was one of the three original

Boeotian muses The three original, Boeotian muses were Mneme (the muse of memory), Melete In Greek mythology, Melete (Μελέτη) was one of the three original Boeotian muses before the Nine Olympian Muses were founded. Her sisters were Aoede and Mneme. ...

before the Nine Olympian Muses were founded. Her sisters were

Aoede In Greek mythology, Aoede ( grc, Ἀοιδή, ''Aoidē'') was one of the three original Boeotian muses, which later grew to five before the Nine Olympian Muses were named. Her sisters were Melete and Mneme. She was the muse of voice and song. ...

and

Mneme In Greek mythology, Mneme ( grc-gre, Μνήμη, Mnḗmē) was one of the three original Boeotian muses, along with her sisters Aoede and Melete before Arche and Thelxinoë were identified, increasing the number to five. Later, the Nine Olym ...

. She was the muse of

thought In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, a ...

and

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...

. Melete literally means "ponder" and "contemplation" in Greek. According to

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

in the later 2nd century AD, there were three original Muses:

Aoidē In Greek mythology, Aoede ( grc, Ἀοιδή, ''Aoidē'') was one of the three original Boeotian muses, which later grew to five before the Nine Olympian Muses were named. Her sisters were Melete and Mneme. She was the muse of voice and song. ...

("song" or "voice"), Meletē ("practice" or "occasion"), and

Mnēmē In Greek mythology, Mneme ( grc-gre, Μνήμη, Mnḗmē) was one of the three original Boeotian muses, along with her sisters Aoede and Melete before Arche and Thelxinoë were identified, increasing the number to five. Later, the Nine Olym ...

("memory"). Together, these three form the complete picture of the preconditions of poetic art in cult practice. In Delphi three Muses were worshipped as well, but with other names: Nētē, Mesē, and Hypatē, which are the names of the three chords of the ancient musical instrument, the lyre. Alternatively they were called

Cēphisso In Greek mythology, Cephisso, Cephiso, or Kephiso (;Ancient Greek: Κηφισώ) was one of the three Muses that were daughters of Apollo. Her sisters were Apollonis and Borysthenis. Eumelus fr. 35 as cited from Tzetzes on Hesiod Hesiod (; g ...

Apollonis Apollonis (; grc, Ἀπoλλωνίς means "of Apollo") was one of the three younger Mousai Apollonides (Muses) in Greek mythology and daughters of Apollo, who were worshipped in Delphi where the Temple of Apollo and the Oracle were located. T ...

, and

Borysthenis In Greek mythology, Borysthenis () may refer to two distinct individuals: * Borysthenes, one of the three Muses that were daughters of Apollo. Her sisters were Apollonis and Cephisso. * Borysthenis, daughter of Borysthenes, god of the Dneper Rive ...

, whose names characterise them as daughters of Apollo. In later tradition, four Muses were recognized: Thelxinoē,

Aoedē In Greek mythology, Aoede ( grc, Ἀοιδή, ''Aoidē'') was one of the three original Boeotian muses, which later grew to five before the Nine Olympian Muses were named. Her sisters were Melete and Mneme. She was the muse of voice and song. ...

Archē ''Arche'' (; grc, ἀρχή; sometimes also transcribed as ''arkhé'') is a Greek word with primary senses "beginning", "origin" or "source of action" (: from the beginning, οr : the original argument), and later "first principle" or "element". ...

, and Meletē, said to be daughters of Zeus and Plusia (or of Uranus).

See also