RYAN SIKKING
The city of Alexandria, once contained with the Μουσεῖον. Home to the Holy Apostolic See of Saint Mark, where lies the head of Mark the Evangelist. As the ancient capital of knowledge and the birthplace of Coptic Christianity, to retreat here is a godsend. However, lust has infected the dreams of our protagonist, Tannhäuser.
The Mouseion of Alexandria was a scholarly establishment founded in the 3rd century BCE. Its name honored the the Muses, the 9 goddesses of the arts and sciences.
A beacon for music and poetry, as well as for philosophy and literature. Over time, it became an academic foundation for some of history’s most influential scholars, including Euclid, Archimedes, and Herophilos.
The library of Alexandria is often regarded as the main, and most known institute within the Mouseion of Alexandria. It was said to have stored up to 400.000 scrolls and made Alexandria known as the ancient world’s capital of knowledge. Caesar's fire in 48 BCE was the start of the decline for the Mouseion, as it it said to have destroyed a large part of the institution. Though later conquests of Alexandria were the result of the absolute destruction of what once was one of the greatest academic organizations on earth.
"To the Muses" marks the first stage of Tannhäuser’s quest to escape his guilt. The answers he sought—in religion, knowledge, and the arts—remain clouded by temptation and dreams of it. Though he has come to the historical sites as a way to repent from his lust, in search of new muses and inspirations, and returns to where his desires are fueled: Santiago.