New Readers!
About the Series:
“When Destiny Fails You…Make
Your OWN Path.”
Scholars have for centuries set aside one perplexing poem inexplicably written in Spartan dialect from the Ennead, the nine books authored by Sappho. Why Sappho kept this poem in her collection has never been explained. Sappho had among her students a girl named Mnasidika, a Spartan name that means, ‘In Remembrance of Justice’. Another translated restoration of a little-known poem of Sappho’s, shredded by the early Church and left in fragments because of its ‘offensive’ subject matter revealed a haunting tale of ‘immortal lovers’. The details of this novel are derived primarily from the works of Alkaios, not Sappho, in his recounting of their early youth during the Civil War in Mytilene, the War with Athens, and the activities of the House of Penthilos. Many are unaware–or their understanding uncertain–about the part the Poetess of Mytilene played in the court intrigues, political upheavals and assassination plots of the time.
About the House of the Muses
House of the Muses was conceived in my early college days back when I was studying Biblical Greek at Western Kentucky University. I had always enjoyed languages, and it was while digging thru the university library that I was able to find other works in Greek to explore. Then I happened on the works of Sappho, and it was not until some years later that I realized this discovery was a fateful one.
I found a mystery in the fragments, and was intrigued. By 1987 I had written a good many pages of the story that began to write itself in my head. By the time I achieved my Associate degree in graphic design I had the skills and tools to finally present this story the way I wanted to. The mounting pile of manuscript had begun to tire me. I wanted the bring the story to life, or it would never be read at all.
The Cast (In Order of Appearance)
(And How Do We Pronounce All These Crazy Greek Names, Anyway?)
Dika | Isthia | Niobe | Timas | Euneika | Euripates | Sappho | Hero | Anaktoria | Gongyla | Mika | Kydro | Praxinoa | Gyrinno | Alkaios | Selene | Kleis | Atthis
________________________________________________________________
| Country of Origin:Greece, SpartaThe Name: Dika [DEE-kah] or Mnasidika [MNAS-ee-DEE-kah] Means ‘Justice’ and full name means ‘In Remembrance of Justice’ Backstory: Haunted by her troubled past. Cast aside by her father as an infant, Dika grew up among the Helots (slaves) of her father’s estate. It was in her early teens that she survived an annual extermination–a Helot War–by a fluke, and she was brought before the Pythia, the chief Oracle of Delphi. The Pythia brought to light the bloodguilt Dika’s father was hiding and declared that the girl was one of the Sacred Ones, an Oracle by birth, who on another lifepath would have been her apprentice. She announced that Dika’s stolen Destiny would lead her elsewhere, and her father Lykomedes vowed to reconcile with her or be rid of her once and for all. Signature Comic (click to read in the archives): Back to Top |
________________________________________________________________
Country of Origin:ScythiaThe Name: Isthia [Iss-THEE-ah] Real name Daria Took many aliases in her adventures; the Greek name Isthia pokes fun at all with its meaning: ‘I Am Whom I Am’.
Backstory: A wandering Amazon mercenary from Scythia, Isthia headed west after a dispute with her stepmother over the funeral of her father, the warlord of one of the Scythian clans. It was while she served as a mercenary under Diathokles in Messenia that she and a number of the Irregulars under her command saw a young Helot slave being treated shabbily by one of the Ephors, advisors to the King of Sparta. She vowed to do right by the girl, and so her journey took her first to Sparta, then to Athens as the adopted mother of Dika.
Signature Comics (click to read in the archives): Back to Top
|
________________________________________________________________
Country of Origin:Meroe, EgyptThe Name: Niobe [Nee-OH-ba] or [Nee-OH-bee] (I prefer Nee-OH-bee) Name is taken from the goddess Niobe of myth who offended Leto, the mother of Artemis and Apollo and as a consequence lost her entire family. She was turned to stone, and the mountain that bears her likeness weeps to this day.
Backstory: Niobe was purchased in the marketplace of Athens by Athenaios, who saw the young girl weeping bitterly and could not help himself. When he brought her home she was still inconsolable, hence he named her Niobe.
Niobe was given to Dika to be her slave when the two were about thirteen. Dika tried hard to learn her language, but never did learn what Niobe’s real name was. As they grew up, the two considered themselves sisters; Dika insisted on this, and with it came all the usual complications of sisterhood. Despite all their highs and lows, there is nothing these two would not do for one another.
Signature Comic (click to read in the archives):
 Back to Top |
________________________________________________________________
| Country of Origin:Assyria (Modern Turkey), PhokaiaThe Name: Timas [TEE-mas] Means ‘Honor’ Dika later gives her the nickname ‘Timadia’, a warm and fuzzy that literally means ‘Little Timas’ but in Dika’s intent roughly means ‘Timas, darling’ Backstory: Dika’s soulmate and best friend thru enormous trials. The two were given the name ‘Immortal Lovers’ by Sappho. The day Dika and Timas met in Athens, they were drawn irresistibly to one another from first glance, complicated by the fact that Dika had already been pledged to marry Euripates, the nephew of her adoptive father Athenaios. Things became further complicated when Dika found that Timas’ father was cruel to her. When Dika and Timas were caught together in her room early one morning, her father beat her for disgracing him in such a fashion. He packed their things to return to Phokaia, but not before Isthia gave him a black eye. Athenaios, who had been planning to send Dika to school on Lesbos, had words with his business partner and made arrangements for Timas to be sent there, too. Signature Comic (click to read in the archives): Back to Top |
________________________________________________________________
| Country of Origin: Greece, Sparta The Name: Euneika [Ev-NEE-kah] Interestingly enough, the name Euneika comes from the Greek words ‘Eu’ meaning good, well; and ‘Neika’ meaning ‘strife’, ‘battle’, or ‘quarrel’ and therefore means ‘One who fights well’. Backstory: A fitting Spartan name for this elder sister to Dika, who learned by chance they were sisters when her little sister crept up to the villa late nights to commune with the statue of their deceased mother. Euneika hid her friendship with her sister from their father until he caught them one day. In his rage he cast Euneika down the well, and she was left in the cold until Dika could find enough Helots to help. Euneika’s health was broken by this trauma, and Dika notices throughout the series that her sister’s health is declining. After their brother was killed in the last Helot War before Dika was taken away to Athens, Euneika was her sister’s mortal enemy until the full truth of that day was finally revealed. Lived with her uncle Diathokles for a time in Salamis. Signature Comic (click to read in the archives): Back to Top |
________________________________________________________________
|
Country of Origin: Greece, Athens The Name: Euripates [Every-PAT-teese]
Backstory: Dika’s fiancé, the two were pledged for marriage not long after she was adopted by his uncle Athenaios and Isthia. Not long after events in House of the Muses #1, Dika confessed to him that she could not marry him: she had fallen in love with the Phokaian guest, Timas. After Dika had fallen in with the Cult of Dionysos and his brother’s plot began to fall through, Euripates risked all to get Dika safely out of Athens. Euripates returns in House of the Muses #8 for a brief visit. Although he is pleased to see that Timas and Dika are still together, he has one last surprise left in store. Signature Comic (click to read in the archives): Back to Top |
________________________________________________________________
Country of Origin: Greece, Lesbos The Name: Psappha [PSAF-ah] Sappho is actually the Roman version. Means ‘Lapis Lazuli‘ according to modern scholars. Like the late Dame Elizabeth Taylor, Sappho was said to have violet-colored eyes. The root of the name Psappha is lost to time. The Greek dictionary also has a word, Psappharos or Psapphara meaning ‘coarse’ or ‘shaggy’ and could also be construed to mean ‘wild-haired’. Your guess is as good as mine. It wouldn’t be the first time in history that someone’s story was rewritten to make them look more glamorous. :/
 Backstory: Sappho, the famed Tenth Muse of Mytilene, had a colorful past before becoming one of the most legendary poetesses in all of history. Her struggles with Mytilene’s ruling House of Penthilos are illustrated in detail in the signature comics below.
Signature Comic (click to read in the archives):
Back to Top
|
________________________________________________________________
| Country of Origin: Greece, Island of Gyaros The Name: Hero [HAIR-oh] Means ‘I will tell, proclaim, announce; hence: I will promise’; Root of the modern word, ‘Herald’. The athletic Hero of Gyaros came from an island famed for its fishermen and seafarers. Backstory: Hero was the first to reach Dika the day she washed up on the shores of Lesbos, stumbled into Sappho’s courtyard and ‘cowered frightened by the bay tree’. So moved by Dika’s condition, Hero fell in love with Dika at the onset. When it appeared that Dika and Timas were having problems, Hero, not liking Timas much anyway, took it on herself to step between the two and make Dika her own. Hero was heartbroken when it proved that Timas was the only one who could soothe Dika’s nightmares. She was big enough to step aside, but clearly mourned her loss of Dika until the two of them maneuvered to match her up with the beautiful Kydro, who had until that time worshipped Hero from afar. Hero remains Dika’s staunchest friend as well as Timas’. Signature Comic (click to read in the archives): Back to Top |
________________________________________________________________
| Country of Origin: Assyria (Modern Turkey), Lydia The Name: Anaktoria [An-ak-TOR-ee-ah] from the words ‘Anaktorios’ and ‘Anaktorion’; Means ‘Belonging to a Lord or King’; and the noun meaning ‘a temple’. It could also mean, ‘Belonging to the Temple of the King’. In other words, Anaktoria was a temple prostitute before she made her way into Sappho’s Hetairai. She found Timas living on the streets in Lydia and kept her for awhile before Timas’ father reclaimed her and took her with him to Athens (House of the Muses #1). Backstory: Lydians were also skilled healers. Little is known about the real Anaktoria, but it was not hard to make her a vivid character. Herodotus spoke of the people of Lydia in his Histories, 1, 93: “…the greatest work of human hands in the world apart from Egyptian and Babylonian: I mean the tomb of Croesus’ father, Alyattes. The base of this monument is built of huge stone blocks; the rest of it is a mound of earth. It was raised by the joint labour of the tradesmen, craftsmen and prostitutes, and on the top of it there survived to my own day five stone phallic pillars with inscriptions cut in them to show the amount of work done by each class. Calculation revealed that the prostitutes’ share was the largest….Apart from the fact that they prostitute their daughters, the Lydian way of life is not unlike the Greek.” Signature Comic (click to read in the archives): Back to Top |
________________________________________________________________
Country of Origin: Assyria (Modern Turkey), Kolophon, under rule of Lydia The Name: Gongyla [Gong-EE-lah] One of Dika’s best friends and considered one of the lighter-hearted of Sappho’s companions. Her name means…a turnip. No, I’m not kidding. 
 Backstory: The Kolophonians became very wealthy owing to the fertility of their land and their skill as mariners. Kolophon came successively under the dominion of Lydia and of Persia. First Gyges seized Kolophon some time in the first half of the 7th century and came under Persian rule in the second half of the 6th century.
Gongyla herself becomes more complex and plays a greater part in the last two issues of House of the Muses, especially attending to Sappho as times grow more troubled.
Signature Comic (click to read in the archives):
Back to Top
|
________________________________________________________________
|
Country of Origin: Greece, city unknown The Name: Mika [MEE-kah] Means possibly ‘Little’
Backstory: Mika was aboard the ship headed to eastern seas when Dika had been stolen away by Eurykles, a villain who met a horrid end by Dika’s hand in House of the Muses #3. Mika tended Dika while she was chained below decks, and brought help to rescue her when the ship ran aground in a storm. Mika was Dika’s friend on Lesbos until the stories of Sappho’s colorful past came out. Her loyalties shifted as well as those of other girls at the school, until she chose “to take sides with the ladies of the House of Penthilos”. Gorgo’s attacks against the House of the Muses continued until Mika repented to Sappho and begged to be allowed to return home. Her sins were so great that Sappho branded her, “Mika, traitor” and sent her away unforgiven.
Signature Comic (click to read in the archives): Back to Top
|
________________________________________________________________
Country of Origin: Greece, Presumably Lesbos The Name: Kydro [KEE-droh] Means ‘(from the word Kudos) Glorious, illustrious, noble; of a horse: proud, stately
Backstory: Mentioned by Sappho herself as ‘the beautiful Kydro’, this gentle beauty became Hero’s lover after Dika noted her mooning for the athletic beauty from afar long after the lines between Hero and Timas had been drawn. Kydro made a name for herself in House of the Muses #7 during a historically noted performance (the details of which were also notably obliterated), of which historians stated the songs and performances contained a considerable amount of Lesbian content for its day.
Signature Comic (click to read in the archives):
 Back to Top |
________________________________________________________________
|
Country of Origin: Greece, City unknown The Name: Praxinoa [Prak-see-NOH-ah] Means ‘Distinguished action’ Backstory: The daughter of a distinguished family, Praxinoa has been a foil for Dika from the very beginning, insulting Dika’s humble background at every opportunity. Her preoccupation with money, reputation and stature make her one of the first among those Mika and Atthis urge to jump ship and abandon Sappho at the end.
Signature Comic (click to read in the archives):
Back to Top
|
________________________________________________________________
| Country of Origin: Greece, Lesbos The Name: Gyrinno [Gear-EE-noh] Name is taken from an odd collection of words possibly meaning: ‘A polished circle’. Backstory: ‘Slender Gyrinno’, a tomboyish lass, is Hero’s best friend and a pragmatic little thing. She is mentioned several times in Sappho’s poetry: “Mnasidika more shapely than tender Gyrinno” and “By ‘proud’, she means women with too much privilege, Gyrinno…” Signature Comic (click to read in the archives): Back to Top |
________________________________________________________________
Country of Origin: Greece, Lesbos The Name: Alkaios [Al-KAY-ohse]
Backstory: A legendary poet known for his fiery, patriotic bent, an eye for handsome lads, his role in the Civil War of Mytilene and his struggles against the House of Penthilos, Alkaios is the second poet responsible for the tale of House of the Muses as we now know it.
The writings of Alkaios chronicle the Civil War in which he and Sappho were embroiled in their youth, and are essential in letting us know the backstory of not only Sappho herself, but how this tale began.
Signature Comic (click to read in the archives):
 Back to Top |
________________________________________________________________
Country of Origin: Assyria, (Modern Turkey), Ephesus The Name: Selene [Seh-LAY-nah] Means ‘The Moon’ A very gifted transgender priestess of the Cult of Cybele, the Mother Goddess, in Ephesus.
Backstory: Drawn to Selene’s doorstep by chance, or meddling of the gods–you decide–Dika learned from The Priestess Selene to come to terms with who she is, and Selene later returns to warn Dika of impending doom in her dreams.
Here is an interesting note about the Priestesses of Cybele, written by a modern priestess herself:
 “…One of the most fascinating and impressive qualities of the religion was the ability of some of our Priestesses, who were known as Sibyls , to receive prophetic communications from the Goddess, through dreams or in a state of trance. Exactly when this practice began is uncertain, however we find reference to it from very early times, for example in the Mari tablets , which date to around 1800 BCE. It should be noted that a prophecy, in the ancient world, was not a prediction of the future… it was an answer to a question, advice, or guidance with a particular problem.”The Greeks were especially interested in the concept of prophecy, and maintained some seven major temples in the region of the Aegean Sea that had Sibyls. Each temple was independent, and there were slight variations in their operation, but in general the Sibyl was served by her own staff of Priestesses from the temple of Cybele, and supervised another group of Priestesses, known as the Oracles, who worked at a nearby temple dedicated to Apollo.”Signature Comic (click to read in the archives): Back to Top
|
________________________________________________________________
| Country of Origin: Greece, Lesbos, Mytilene (Born in Sicily) The Name: Kleis [KLEE-iss] The lovely daughter of Sappho has an interesting ancient name which means ‘A bolt to bar the door’. In modern terms this name could come to mean, stalwart, protective, keeping all enemies away. Backstory: Kleis is a woman in her late 30s now and married. She spends a great deal of time with her mother and the girls at the school, seemingly overshadowed by her mother’s fame but apparently content to be her own person. Signature Comic (click to read in the archives): Back to Top |
________________________________________________________________
| Country of Origin: Greece, Mytilene, Lesbos The Name: Atthis [ATH-iss] Means ‘Attic dialect’ or ‘From Attica’ even though it appears Atthis grew up with Sappho from childhood in Mytilene. Backstory: “I LOVED you, Atthis, once long ago…You seemed to me a small, graceless child.” These two consecutive lines in Sappho’s Book 2 have been embellished upon likely more than any other two lines of poetry in history. A modern version has had bits added: “I loved you, Atthis, once long ago, when our girlhood was all flowers, and you seemed to me a small, graceless child.” There appear to have been as many as 10 years difference between Sappho and Atthis, and the fact that they remained friends throughout their adulthood is cemented by the fact that Atthis is mentioned more in Sappho’s poetry than most anyone else. When Atthis sides with Andromeda and Gorgo and forsakes Sappho and all her friends, the Poetess doubtless spent countless nights invoking Aphrodite for her safe return and writing letters to Atthis trying to convince her to reconsider the bond between them. Signature Comic (click to read in the archives): Back to Top |
________________________________________________________________
This comic updates three days a week, Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, at around midnight EST. The story has a planned ending, and is set to wrap up with Book Nine, Pleistodika: Ultimate Justice, in December 2011. Read more details and synopses about all books in the series at Buy The Paperback.
Share this:
