Pelia ( grc, Πελία, Pelia) in

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

is a minor Cypriot figure, kin to Adonis, who played a role in a minor myth.

Mythology

Pelia had an unspecified kinship with

Cinyras In Greek mythology, Cinyras (; grc, Κινύρας – ''Kinyras'') was a famous hero and king of Cyprus. Accounts vary significantly as to his genealogy and provide a variety of stories concerning him; in many sources he is associated with ...

, the king of

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

, and his son Adonis. Cinyras married her to Melus, a childhood friend of Adonis from

Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island are ...

. The couple had a son together, whom they also named Melus. The child was raised inside the sanctuary of Aphrodite herself, lover of Adonis. But when Adonis was slain by a boar during hunting, Melus was so distraught over his loss that he ended his life by hanging himself from an apple tree, which took his name thereafter. Pelia, not standing the loss of her kin and her husband both, took her life in the same way. After Aphrodite's own period of mourning was over, she turned Melus into an apple/apple tree, and Pelia into a dove. As for their son, Melus, who was now the only surviving member of Cinyras' family, he was sent back to Delos, where he founded the city Melon. The sheep there also took his name, for he first taught the Delians to shear them and make clothing out of their wool; the Greek means 'apple' and 'sheep' both. Smith, s.v
Melus 2
/ref>

References

Bibliography

Maurus Servius Honoratus Servius 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 on the works of Virgil. These works, ''In tria Vir ...

, ''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
* Smith, William, ''A

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

''. London. John Murray: printed by Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square and Parliament Street, 1873. {{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology Deeds of Aphrodite Metamorphoses into birds in Greek mythology Women in Greek mythology Suicides in Greek mythology Cypriot mythology Family of Adonis

Mythology

See also

References

Bibliography