The Dispute between the Muses and the Daughters of Pierios on Parnassus

A Renaissance printmaker who also reproduced ancient medals, Enea Vico engraved this scene of embattled female artistry. The Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne and companions of Apollo on Mount Parnassus, spread art and culture throughout the world. But their gifts also inspired hubris. According to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the mythical Macedonian king Pierios named his nine daughters after the Muses, believing they would be as talented. Here Apollo, a wreathed Dionysos, and other gods watch as the Muses (the nudes at left) challenge the king’s daughters. The Muses prevailed in the competition, and Pierios’s daughters were turned into chattering magpies as punishment, a fate suggested by the flock of birds in the distant background.