MNEMOSYNE ~ THE GREEK GODDESS OF MEMORY

Mnemosyne is the Greek Goddess of memory and is one of the most powerful deities of the Greek Religion. Her name means 'Memory/ Remembrance' in Greek.She belongs to the Titanides- however, Mnemosyne did not quite fit that title. Titans were hardly worshipped in Ancient Greece.Mnemosyne, on the other hand, traditionally appears in the first few lines of many oral epic poems — both the Iliad and the Odyssey, among others—as the speaker calls upon her aid in accurately remembering and performing the poem he is about to recite.

She is called the First Philosopher, She who brought the gift of Reason to mortals. She named all things in the cosmos, and provided people with the means for dialogue, conversation and the power of memory. Memory was so fundamental for the oral culture of the Greeks that they deemed Mnemosyne as one of the essential contributors of civilization in their Religion.

Mnemosyne as the Mother of the nine Muses

Although She is such an important Goddess, Mnemosyne is more widely known as the mother of the Muses, who inspire poets and musicians and promote the arts and sciences.
After Zeus won the war against the Titans and became the leader of the Olympians, he was concerned that, although he was immortal, his great victories could be forgotten. Desiring to find a way to preserve the memory of his accomplishments, he was dressed as a shepherd and went to meet Mnemosyne, with whom he slept for nine nights. They got married and Hesiod mentions that the couple stayed together, isolated from the world for nine months.Then, Mnemosyne gave birth to the Muses,after a nine-day labour. ( For more information on the Muses, click here.)

Symbols of Mnemosyne,Apollo and the nine Muses.Greek mosaic from Elis, circa 1st BCE.

Keeping Memory Alive Beyond Death

Mnemosyne also presided over a river in Hades, which had her name and was counterpart to the river Lethe. Dead souls drank from Lethe, so they would not remember their past lives when reincarnated. In Orphism, the initiated were taught to instead drink from the Mnemosyne, the river of Memory, which would stop the transmigration of the soul.
Mnemosyne's gifts to humankind are beautifully presented in Her Oprhic hymn, which goes as follows ( English translation by Thomas Taylor): 

The consort I invoke of Jove divine,

Source of the holy, sweetly-speaking Nine;

Free from th' oblivion of the fallen mind,

By whom the soul with intellect is join'd:

Reason's increase, and thought to thee belong,

All-powerful, pleasant, vigilant, and strong:

'Tis thine, to waken from lethargic rest

All thoughts deposited within the breast;

And nought neglecting, vigorous to excite

The mental eye from dark oblivion's night.

Come, blessed power, thy Mystic's mem'ry wake

To holy rites, and Lethe's fetters break.