Thalia (Thaleia)
the "Flourishing" is the muse of comedy and of playful and idyllic poetry,
and is
seen with
a comic mask. She is sometimes seen with a crown of ivy and a crook. By
Apollo,
Thalia had
the Corybantes, priests who castrated themselves in identification with
the goddess,
Cybele.
How light the strain when, decked in vernal bloom,
Thalia
tuned her lyre of melody
from An Ode To Music, by James
G. Percival
Jean-Marc Nattier
French, 1685 - 1766
Thalia, Muse of Comedy (Silvia Balletti?),
1739, oil on canvas
Mildred Anna Williams Collection

