A muse might be a lover, a friendly crush, or even a stranger with whom the artist never communicates. It's sometimes considered that the muse is a lover, but this isn't always the case, and some of the finest muses never end up in a partner or romantic connection at all. The word comes from the Greek μουσική (mousike) meaning "that which inspires creativity" or "a musician". Muses were originally deities who inspired artists to create. Thus, an artist was someone who created works of art for others to enjoy, and a muse was someone or something that inspired him to do so. The term "muse" has since become used more generally to describe any person or thing that inspires creativity. In ancient Greece, there were many different types of muses. Some were associated with particular arts - Apollo inspired poets, for example - while others had no specific connection to anything else about artists' lives. What all muses had in common was that they gave creators the motivation to produce their work. Sometimes this was only inspiration, but often it was also guidance on how to go about doing so. Many artists have spoken of having a kind of vision during times when they were working on their projects that told them what type of artwork belonged on which project or device, for example.