Myth & LegendGreek → English
Calliope
/kəˈlaɪəpi/proper noun
The Muse of epic poetry, and the steam-whistle organ named after her.
The Greek roots
κάλλος
kállos
beauty
ὄψ
óps
voice
Literally: “beautiful-voiced”
The story of the word
Καλλιόπη is the beautiful-voiced one, eldest of the nine Muses in Hesiod and the mother of Orpheus. Joshua Stoddard patented a steam organ in 1855 and named it for her, which is either a joke or a boast, since the thing could be heard several miles away and no player could control its volume. It became the sound of the circus and the riverboat.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
calligraphykaleidoscopeCallistaMuse
In a sentence
The calliope started up at the far end of the fairground and conversation stopped being possible.