Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, Melus or Melos () can refer to one of these figures: *

Melos Milos or Melos (; , ; ) is a volcanic Greek island in the Aegean Sea, just north of the Sea of Crete. It is the southwestern-most island of the Cyclades group. The ''Venus de Milo'' (now in the Louvre), the '' Poseidon of Melos'' (now in the ...

, a childhood friend and kin of

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis (; ) was the mortal lover of the goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone. He was considered to be the ideal of male beauty in classical antiquity. The myth goes that Adonis was gored by a wild boar during a hunting trip ...

who took his life after the later's passing.

Servius Servius may refer to: * Servius (praenomen), a personal name during the Roman Republic * Servius the Grammarian (fl. 4th/5th century), Roman Latin grammarian * Servius Asinius Celer (died AD 46), Roman senator * Servius Cornelius Cethegus, Roma ...

, ''Commentary on Virgil's Eclogues'
8.37
/ref> * Melos, the son of the Melos above and Pelia. After the deaths of his parents he went to

Delos Delos (; ; ''Dêlos'', ''Dâlos''), is a small Greek island near Mykonos, close to the centre of the Cyclades archipelago. Though only in area, it is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. ...

, founded the city of Melon and taught the locals how to shear sheep and make wool clothing. * Melus, the son of the river-god

Scamander Scamander (), also Skamandros () or Xanthos (), was a river god in Greek mythology. Etymology The meaning of this name is uncertain. The second element looks as though it is derived from Greek (), meaning "of a man", but there are sources w ...

, central in an alternative narrative of the myth of Aphrodite,

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; ; in Ionic Greek, Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women, and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she is queen of the twelve Olympians and Mount Oly ...

and

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarde ...

vying over the Apple of Discord. Melus was a handsome young man so all three goddesses fought over who would have him as her priest; Alexander (

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was tasked with solving the issue, and he decreed that Melus would serve Aphrodite. Ptolemaeus Chennus wrote that the story concerning the golden apple was inspired by this incident, in an example of rationalizing Greek myth also seen in the works of

Palaephatus Palaephatus (Ancient Greek: ) was the author of a rationalizing text on Greek mythology, the paradoxographical work ''On Incredible Things'' (; ), which survives in a (probably corrupt) Byzantine edition. This work consists of an introduction an ...

and

Heraclitus Heraclitus (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratic philosopher from the city of Ephesus, which was then part of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Empire. He exerts a wide influence on Western philosophy, ...

Ptolemaeus Chennus Ptolemy Chennus or Chennos ("quail") ( ''Ptolemaios Chennos''), was an Alexandrine grammarian during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. According to the ''Suda'', he was the author of an historical drama named ''Sphinx'', of an epic, ''Anthomeros'' ...

6.17, as epitomized by Photios I '' Myriobiblon'' 190

References

Bibliography

Maurus Servius Honoratus Servius, distinguished as Servius the Grammarian ( or ), was a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian. He earned a contemporary reputation as the most learned man of his generation in Italy; he authored a set of commentaries o ...

, ''In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii;'' recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Photius Photius I of Constantinople (, ''Phōtios''; 815 – 6 February 893), also spelled ''Photius''Fr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., and Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Mate ...

, '' Bibliotheca'' excerpts, sections 1-166 translated by John Henry Freese, from the SPCK edition of 1920, now in the public domain, and other brief excerpts from subsequent sections translated by Roger Pearse (from the French translation by René Henry, ed. Les Belles Lettres). {{Greek myth index Mythological people from Anatolia Judgment of Paris Mythological Cypriots Delian mythology Textiles in folklore