ancient Greek religion Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. The application of the modern concept of "religion" to ancient cultures has bee ...

and

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

, Melia (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

: Μελία), a daughter of the

Titan Titan most often refers to: * Titan (moon), the largest moon of Saturn * Titans, a race of deities in Greek mythology Titan or Titans may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities Fictional locations * Titan in fiction, fictiona ...

Oceanus In Greek mythology, Oceanus (; grc-gre, , Ancient Greek pronunciation: , also Ὠγενός , Ὤγενος , or Ὠγήν ) was a Titan son of Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys, and the father of the river gods and ...

, was the consort of

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

, and the mother, by Apollo, of the Theban hero and prophet Tenerus. She was also the mother (or sister) of Ismenus, god of the Theban river of the same name. Melia was an important cult figure at Thebes. She was worshipped at the Ismenion, the Temple of Apollo at Thebes, and was associated with a nearby spring.

Mythology

The late 6th–early 5th century BC Theban poet

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar ...

tells us that Melia, a daughter of Oceanus, was, by

, the mother of the Theban hero and prophet Tenerus. Elsewhere he refers to her as "Melia of the golden spindle". The 2nd century AD Greek geographer Pausanias provides a more complete account. According to Pausanias, Melia was abducted, and Melia's father Oceanus ordered his son Caanthus to find her. Caanthus found Melia at Thebes being held by Apollo, but unable to get Melia away from Apollo, Caanthus set fire to Apollo's sanctuary, and Apollo shot and killed him. Pausanius says that, in addition to Tenerus, to whom Apollo gave the "art of divination", Melia had another son by Apollo, Ismenus, after whom the Theban river Ismenus was named. The story of Melia and Caanthus, as recorded by Pausainus, is a close parallel to the more famous story of

Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europe * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Clif ...

and

Cadmus In Greek mythology, Cadmus (; grc-gre, Κάδμος, Kádmos) was the legendary Phoenician founder of Boeotian Thebes. He was the first Greek hero and, alongside Perseus and Bellerophon, the greatest hero and slayer of monsters before the da ...

, the founder and first king of Thebes. Like Melia, Europa is abducted by an Olympian god (in this case

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...

), and her brother Cadmus is sent by their father to bring Europa back home, and like Caanthus, Cadmus is unsuccessful. As noted by Fontenrose, there are other apparent congruences between the Theban Melia and Europa. Like Melia, Europa was also the name of an Oceanid, and

Agenor Agenor (; Ancient Greek: Ἀγήνωρ or Αγήνορας ''Agēnor''; English translation: "heroic, manly") was in Greek mythology and history a Phoenician king of Tyre or Sidon. The Doric Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC), born in ...

, the usual father of Europa, had, according to the fifth-century BC mythographer Pherecydes, a daughter named Melia who was a wife of

Danaus In Greek mythology, Danaus (, ; grc, Δαναός ''Danaós'') was the king of Libya. His myth is a foundation legend of Argos, one of the foremost Mycenaean cities of the Peloponnesus. In Homer's ''Iliad'', "Danaans" ("tribe of Danaus") and ...

, while, according to the mythographer Apollodrus, one of Danaos' wife's was also named Europa. There were apparently other versions of this Theban Melia's story. In some traditions perhaps, the Thebans Melia and Ismenus were siblings, rather than mother and son. A scholiast on Pindar says that Ismenus was Melia's brother. According to the

Oxyrhynchus Papyri The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt (, moder ...

, the first fratricide occurred at Thebes when Melia's brothers, Ismenus and Claaitus (a corruption or variant of Caanthus?) fought over her. A version of Melia's story perhaps also involved the Theban Amphion. Pherecydes says that Melia was the name of one of the daughters of Amphion and his wife

Niobe In Greek mythology, Niobe (; grc-gre, Νιόβη ) was a daughter of Tantalus and of either Dione (mythology), Dione, the most frequently cited, or of Eurythemista or Euryanassa, the wife of Amphion and the sister of Pelops and Broteas. Her ...

, while later sources tell us that Ismenus was the name of one of their sons. Like Caanthus, Amphion was shot and killed by Apollo because of an attack on his temple. The 3rd century BC poet

Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide varie ...

appears to make this Theban Melia, rather than a daughter of Oceanus, one of the "earth-born"

Meliae In Greek mythology, the Meliae (also called Meliads) (; grc, Μελίαι, or , ) were usually considered to be the nymphs of the ash tree, whose name they shared. Mythology According to Hesiod, the Meliae (probably meaning all tree-nymphs) w ...

, the ash tree nymphs, who, according to

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

, were born, along with the

Erinyes The Erinyes ( ; sing. Erinys ; grc, Ἐρινύες, pl. of ), also known as the Furies, and the Eumenides, were female chthonic deities of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology. A formulaic oath in the ''Iliad'' invokes the ...

and the Giants, from Gaia (Earth) and the blood of

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. Its name is a reference to the Greek god of the sky, Uranus ( Caelus), who, according to Greek mythology, was the great-grandfather of Ares (Mars), grandfather of Zeus (Jupiter) and father of ...

(Sky), which dripped on Gaia when Uranus was castrated by his son

Cronus In Ancient Greek religion and mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos ( or , from el, Κρόνος, ''Krónos'') was the leader and youngest of the first generation of Titans, the divine descendants of the primordial Gaia (Mother Earth) an ...

. According to the mythographer

Apollodorus Apollodorus (Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: :''Note: A f ...

, the mother of

Phoroneus In Greek mythology, Phoroneus (; Ancient Greek: Φορωνεύς means 'bringer of a price') was a culture-hero of the Argolid, fire-bringer,law giver, and primordial king of Argos. Family Phoroneus was the son of the river god Inachus and e ...

, and Aegialeus, by her brother, the river god

Inachus In Greek mythology, Inachus, Inachos or Inakhos ( Ancient Greek: Ἴναχος) was the first king of Argos after whom a river was called Inachus River,Apollodorus2.1.1/ref> that drains the western margin of the Argive plain. Biography Fo ...

, was also a daughter of

named Melia.

Cult

Melia was an important object of cult worship at the Ismenion, the major sanctuary of Apollo Ismenios at Thebes. In at least three separate poems, Pindar mentions Melia in connection with the Theban sanctuary. In one he refers to the Ismenion and "the splendid hall of Oceanus’ daughter . . . Melia". In another, Pindar summons the local heroines, the daughters of Cadmus,

Semele Semele (; Ancient Greek: Σεμέλη ), in Greek mythology, was the youngest daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus in one of his many origin myths. Certain elements of the cult of Dionysus and Semele came fr ...

and Ino Leucothea, along with the mother of

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

, to "join Melia at the treasury of the golden tripods," that is in the '' adyton'', the inner inviolate sanctuary of the Ismenion where the votive tripods were dedicated. Also at the Ismenion, Pindar locates the "immortal couch 'λέχει''of Melia", the child-bed, where Melia gave birth. A spring near the Ismenion was identified with Melia, perhaps the source of the Ismenus river, and perhaps the same spring as the one mentioned by Pausanias as the spring, above the Ismenion, by which her brother Caanthus was buried. The Thebans traced their descent from the union of Apollo and Melia, through the heroes Tenerus and Ismenus. According to Larson, while their descent from Apollo—a panhellenic Olympian god—increased their prestige, and connected them to other Greeks, their descent from Melia—a nymph associated with the local landscape—helped to establish their connection with the land that they inhabited.Larson, pp. 40–41.

Notes

References

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Internet Archive
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University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by facul ...

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Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...

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, ''

Theogony The ''Theogony'' (, , , i.e. "the genealogy or birth of the gods") is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contain ...

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Fabulae Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...

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Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom ...

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Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works of ancient Greek and ...

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Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his '' magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...

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Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies The Institute of Classical Studies is a research institution associated with the University of London and a member of the School of Advanced Study. The institute is a national and international research institute in the languages, literature, his ...

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Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...

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{{Authority control Oceanids Women of Apollo Women in Greek mythology Theban mythology