MELISSA.
 

MEI-OS.
 

mfant Jupiter (Zeus) with honey are called Me-1

nssae.—2. The name of priestesses in general,

but more especially of the priestesses of Ceres

(Demeter), Proserpina  (Persephone), Apollo,

and  Diana (Artemis).—3. Wife of Periander,

tyrant of Corinth, and daughter of Procles,

tyrant of Epidaurus, was slain by her husband.

Vid. Periandek.

  [Melissa (MDuaad), a village in the eastern

part of Phrygia Magna, between Synnada and

Metropolis, with the tomb of Aloibiades, where,

at Hadrian's  order, a statue was erected  to

him  of Parian marble and sacrifices  annually

offered.]

  Melissus (MeXwaog).  1. Of Samos, a Greek

philosopher, the son of Ithagenes, was, accord¬

ing to the common account, the commander of

the fleet opposed to Pericles, B C. 440.  But he

is not mentioned  by  Thucydides, and  ought

probably to be placed much earlier, as he is said

to have been connected with  Heraclitus, and

to have been  a disciple of Parmentdes.  It ap¬

pears from the fragments of his work, which

was written in prose,  and  in the Ionic dialect,

that  he adopted the doctrines  of the Eleatics.

—2.  A Latin grammarian and a comic  poet,

was a freedman of Meeeenas, and was intrusted

by Augustus  with  the arrangement of the  li¬

brary in the portico of Octavia.

  Melita or Melite (MeXItii : M?Xiralog,  Meli-

tensis).   1. (Now Malta), an island in the Medi¬

terranean Sea,  situated fifty-eight miles from

the nearest  point  of Sicily, and one hundred

and seventy-nine miles from the nearest point

of Africa.   Its  greatest length is  seventeen

miles and a  quarter,  and  its greatest breadth

nine miles and a quarter.  The island was first

colonized by the Phoenicians, who used it as a

place of refuge for their ships, on account of its

excellent harbors.  It afterward passed into the

hands of the Carthaginians, but was taken pos¬

session of by the Romans in the second Punic

war,  and  annexed  to the province  of  Sicily.

The Romans, however, appear to have neglect¬

ed the island, and it is mentioned by Cicero as

a frequent resort  of  pirates.  It contained a

town of the same name, founded by the Cartha¬

ginians, and  two celebrated temples, one of

Juno on a promontory near  the town, and  an¬

other of Hercules in the southeast of the island.

It is celebrated in sacred history as the island

on which the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked;

though some writers erroneously suppose that

the  apostle was shipwrecked on the island of

the same name off the Illyrian coast.  The in¬

habitants manufactured fine cloth, which was

in much request at Rome.  They also exported

a considerable quantity  of  honey;  and from

this island, according to some authorities, came

the  catuli Mclitai,  the favorite lap-dogs of  the

Roman ladies, though other writers make them

come from the island  off the Illyrian coast.—2.

;Now Meleda),  a small island  in the Adriatic

Sea, off the coast  of Illyria  (Dalmatis), north¬

west of Epidaurus. — 3.  A demus in Attica,

which also formed  part of the city of Athens,

was situated  south of the inner Ceramicus, and

probably included the hill of the Museum.   It

was said to have derived its name from a nymph

Melite, with  whom Hercules was in love, arid

it therefore  contained  a  temple of this god.

         32
 

 One of the gates of Athens was called tl.o Ke

 litian gate, because it led to this demus.   Vid

 p. 122, b.—4. A lake in JEtolia, near the moutI>

 of the Aehelous, belonging to the territory of

 the town OSniadaa.

   Melit-ea, Melitea,  or Meiitia (MeXiraia,

 MeA/reia, MeXirla: MeXtraievg), a town ofThes

 saly, in Phthiotis,  on the northern slope of

 Moun', Othrys,  and near the River Enipeus  Tl

 is said to have been called Pyrrha c  icie an

 cient times,  and the sepulchre of Hellen tm

 shown in its market-place.

   Melite (MeXlrn).   1.  A nymph, one of the

 Nereides, a daughter of Nereus and Doris.—[2.

 A Naiad, daughter of the river-god iEgaeus, be¬

 came  by Hercules mother  of Hyllus, m the

 land of the Phaaacians.]

   Melitene  (MtXirrrvri),  a district of Armenia

 Minor, between the Anti-Taurus and the Eu¬

 phrates, celebrated for its fertility, and  espe¬

 cially for its fruit-trees, oil, and wine.  It poa

 sessed no great town until the first century of

 our era, when a city, also called Melitene (now

 Malatiyah) was  built on  a tributary of the Eu¬

 phrates, and  near that river itself, probably on

 the site of a very ancient fort.  This  became

 a place of considerable importance ; the centre

 of several roads ; the station, under Titus, of

 the twelfth legion ; and, in the later division of

 the provinces, the capital of Armenia Secunda.

 In A D. 577 it was the scene of a victory gain¬

 ed by  the Romans over the Persians under

 Chosroes I.

   Melito (MsXlrav), a Christian write of con¬

 siderable eminence, was bishop of Sardes in the

 reign of M. Aurelius, to whom he presented an

 Apology for the Christians.   Of his numerous

 works only fragments are extant.

   Mella or Mela (now Mella), a river in Gallia

 Transpadana, which flows^by Brixia and falls

 into the Ollius (now Oglio).

   Mellaria.   1. A town of the Bastuli in His¬

 pania  Baatica, between Belon and Calpe, on the

I road from Gades to Malaca.—2. A town in the

| same  province, considerably north of  the for¬

 mer, on the road from Corduba to Emerita

   Melodunum  (now Melun), a town of the Se

 nones in Gallia Lugdunensis, on an island of

 the Sequana (now Seine), and on the road from

 Agendicum to Lutetia Parisiorum.

   Melos (MijXog: MjJ/Uoc : now Milo), an isl¬

 and in the JSgean  Sea,  and the most westerly

 of the group of the  Cyclades, whence it was

 called Zephyria by Aristotle.  It is about sev¬

 enty miles north of tho coast of Crete, and six¬

 ty-five east of the coast of Peloponnesus.  Its

 length is about fourteen miles from  east  to

 west,  and its breadth about eight miles  It con¬

 tains on the north a deep bay, which forms an

 excellent harbor, and on which was situated  ?

 town, bearing  the  same name  as  the island

 The island is of volcanic origin; it contains hot

 springs, and mines of sulphur and alum.  Its

 soil is very fertile, and it produced in antiquity

 as it  does at present, abundance of corn, oiL

 wine,  &c.  It was  first colonized by the  Phoe¬

 nicians, who are said to have called it Byblu.\

 or Byblis, after the Phoenician town Byblus.  It

 was afterward colonized by Lacedaemonians, oi

 at least by Dorians; and consequently in the

 Peloponnesian  war it embraced the  side of

                                497