View source for Meliae

{{short description|Group of tree nymphs in Greek mythology}}
{{Greek myth (nymph)}}

In [[Greek mythology]], the '''Meliae'''  (also called '''Meliads''') ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|iː|l|i|.|iː}}; {{langx|grc|Μελίαι|Melíai}} or {{langx|grc|Μελιάδες|Meliádes|label=none}}) were usually considered to be the [[nymph]]s of the [[Fraxinus|ash tree]], whose name they shared.<ref>Caldwell, p. 38 n. 178&ndash;187: "The nymphs called ''Meliai'' are properly "ash-tree" nymphs; the Greek word for ash-trees is ''meliai'' also", and according to Larson, p. 29: "most commentators agree" that "the Meliai are ash-tree nymphs", although according to West, p. 221 n. 187 '''Μελίας''', in [[Callimachus]], ''Hymn 4—To Delos'' [https://archive.org/stream/callimachuslycop00calluoft#page/90/mode/2up 79–85], and [[Nonnus]]' ''[[Dionysiaca]]'', and probably in Hesiod as well, the Meliae are simply "tree-nymphs, probably without distinction of the particular kind of tree".</ref>

==Mythology==
According to [[Hesiod]], the Meliae (probably meaning all tree-nymphs) were born from the drops of blood that fell on [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]] [Earth] when [[Cronus]] castrated [[Uranus (god)|Uranus]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:173-206 182&ndash;187]; West, p. 221 n. 187 '''Μελίας'''; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA209 p. 209].</ref> In [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Works and Days]]'', the ash trees, perhaps meaning the Melian nymphs, are said to have been the progenitors of the generation of men belonging to Hesiod's [[Ages of Man|Bronze Age]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Works and Days]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg002.perseus-eng1:140-173 140&ndash;155 (Evelyn-White)]: "Zeus the Father made a third generation of mortal men, a brazen race, sprung from ash-trees [''meliai'']", here interpreting ''meliai'' as the common noun ash-trees, as did [[Eustathius of Thessalonica|Eustathius]]. However [[Proclus]] thought it meant ash-tree nymphs (see Evelyn-White's [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg002.perseus-eng1:140-173 note]; Larson, p. 29), cf. [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/argonautica00apoluoft#page/406/mode/2up 4.1641&ndash;1642], which makes it simply "ash-trees". According to Most, p. 19 n. 9, "It is unclear what exactly the relation is between the Melian nymphs, the ash trees with which they are closely associated, and human beings, who may have originated from one or the other of these".</ref>

The Meliae were nurses of the infant Zeus in the Cretan [[Dikti]] mountains, according to the 3rd century BC poet [[Callimachus]], ''Hymn to Zeus'', where they fed him on the milk of the goat [[Amalthea (mythology)|Amalthea]] and honey.<ref>[[Callimachus]], ''Hymn 1&mdash;To Zeus'' [https://archive.org/stream/callimachuslycop00calluoft#page/40/mode/2up 42&ndash;50].</ref>

Callimachus appears to make the [[Thebes, Greece|Theban]] nymph [[Melia (consort of Apollo)|Melia]], who was, by [[Apollo]], the mother of [[Tenerus (son of Apollo)|Tenerus]] and  [[Ismenus]], one of the "earth-born" Meliae.<ref>[[Callimachus]], ''Hymn 4—To Delos'' [https://archive.org/stream/callimachuslycop00calluoft#page/90/mode/2up 79–85]; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+187 187]; Larson, p. 142.</ref> Elsewhere, however, this Melia is an [[Oceanid]], one of the many daughters of [[Oceanus]] and [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]].<ref>[[Pindar]], ''Paean 9'' fr. 52k 38–46; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+9.10.5 9.10.5], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+9.10.6 6], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+9.26.1 9.26.1]; Larson, pp. 40&ndash;41, 142.</ref> The mythographer [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]] wrote that centaur Pholus's parents were [[Silenus]] and one of the Meliae,<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.5.4 2.5.4]; Gantz, pp. 139, 392.</ref> thus differentiating him genealogically from the other centaurs.

==See also==
* [[Plant soul]]
* [[Trees in mythology]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|25em}}

==References==
* [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''Apollonius Rhodius: the Argonautica'', translated by Robert Cooper Seaton, W. Heinemann, 1912. [https://archive.org/stream/argonautica00apoluoft#page/n5/mode/2up Internet Archive].
* [[Walter Burkert|Burkert, Walter]], 1985. ''Greek Religion'' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press).
* Caldwell, Richard, ''Hesiod's Theogony'', Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company (June 1, 1987). {{ISBN|978-0-941051-00-2}}.
* [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Hesiod]]; ''[[Works and Days]]'', in ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White'', Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0132%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004, {{ISBN|9780415186360}}.
* Larson, Jennifer, "Greek Nymphs : Myth, Cult, Lore", Oxford University Press (US). June 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-19-512294-7}}
* Most, G. W., ''Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia,'' [[Loeb Classical Library]], No. 57, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2006 {{ISBN|978-0-674-99622-9}}. [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL057/2007/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Pindar]], ''Nemean Odes. Isthmian Odes. Fragments'', Edited and translated by William H. Race. [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 485. Cambridge, Massachusetts: [[Harvard University Press]], 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99534-5}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL485/1997/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
* [[Martin Litchfield West|West, M. L.]] (1966), ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-814169-6}}.
{{Greek mythology (deities)|state=collapsed}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dryads]]
[[Category:Fraxinus]]
[[Category:Children of Gaia]]