Evolution Of A Myth – 25th April 2026

~ shaun tenzenmen

Written for dVerse OLN #406 – Pegasus and the Muses – a mythical story that I was not very familiar with until today and doing some research. Some of the contradictions in the myth raised the questions in the second stanza and had me contemplating how stories evolve over time.

Pegasus, already a devoted companion,
a gift to the Muses as proof
of favour from goddess Athena,
struck the ground with his hoof.

But what were the Muses musing
before the Hippocrene was created?
Just singing, dancing and bathing,
as the daughters of Pierus awaited?

The challenge laid down, divine,
Mount Helicon rose to the skies.
The nymphs declared the Muses won
and the Pierides turned to magpies.

11 thoughts on “Evolution Of A Myth – 25th April 2026”

  1. Shaun, I appreciate you digging deeper to get to the origin stories of the mythical creatures, and then being inspired to know more. I covered the Muses today in my A2Z 2026 “U” post, and Jim commented about part of the story (the singing competition) you’ve included. I think art changes us, through creating, beholding, and pondering. And yes, editing through the ages 😉

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    1. When I moved to Australia, in my late 20s, I went back to study and it was a toss up between journalism and IT. I enrolled in the journalism course with the first unit being Greek Mythology and bought the course book. At the last minute though I switched to IT, which served me well financially in the long run. Since then my only real learning about Greek Mythology was through Stephen Fry’s books.

      Cheers Hank 🙏

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