person

Melpomene

also: Мельпомена

The Greek Muse of tragedy, whom a poet meant to invoke for inspiration; Zeus mistakenly sends her sister Terpsichore instead, with comic consequences.

Reading notes

To A. N. Pleshcheyev, 3 August 1889. Yalta. §13 Still doing violence to Melpomene?
Melpomene, the Greek Muse of tragedy, invoked here as comic shorthand for playwriting; Chekhov jokingly accuses Shcheglov of persisting in his (in Chekhov's teasing view, ill-advised) devotion to the theater.
To I. L. Leontyev, 29 August 1889. Sumy. §4 you have cooled toward Melpomene and returned to the native bosom of belles-lettres
Melpomene, the Greek Muse of tragedy, used metonymically for "the theater"/playwriting; Chekhov teases Shcheglov for turning away from drama back to prose fiction.
A Collection for Children §40 Melpomene
The Greek Muse of tragedy, whom the poet intended to invoke; Zeus's comic error is sending her sister Terpsichore instead.
Modern Prayers §6 Melpomene, muse of the theater
One of the nine Muses, patron of tragedy and, broadly, the theater; invoked here not for art but for the restoration of actors' benefit performances and richer merchant patrons.