The nine classical Muses have accused the Royal British Columbia Museum of racist discrimination against their heritage and culture. “As our home (“seat of the Muses”), the Museum should be sheltering, not throwing us to the ideological wolves”, says Calliope, Chief of the Muses.
In a document crafted by Melpomene (Muse of Tragedy), Thalia (Muse of Comedy) and Polyhymnia (Muse of Rhetoric), the Muses charge that they have been victims of hate speech and ethnic cleansing.
“Clio, Muse of History, is a particular target of hate speech, not only by those who wish to eradicate her along with her mother Mnemosyne (Memory) and who have already claimed that “History Is Dead”, but also by those who charge that “History is a whore”.
“Clio is anybody's,” say these detractors, “she will change her game to suit the requirements of whatever client is most ideologically pushy.”
Clio's enemies have tried to “disappear” her, but she keeps turning up again. “History is what it was,” she assures her supporters. She leaves a trail of documents, letters, songs, memoirs, statues, gravestones, globes and charts so that scholarly detectives have so far been able to trace her, often as secret agents working under cover.
The Muses, filing their complaint with the adjudicating body, have documented rights abuses “by chapter and verse”, says Euterpe, Muse of Verse.
“We will not let the adjudicators dance around the issues,” vows Terpsichore, Muse of Dance.
"We must mutually sing our own praises," point out Erato and Melpomene, Muses of Song, Poetry and Speech.
The Muses' offspring -- lyre-playing Orpheus and the Sirens -- will mark the launch of their Nonhuman Rights Complaint with a celebratory performance at Olympus Park. The human race is invited to attend.
