meliae

The meliae, or meliades were the nymphs of the mountain ash-tree, possibly as well as of bees and honey. They sprang from the drops of blood that fell from Uranus, and were received by Gaea. Their offspring are the race of mortal men. These sons used the wood of their mothers' trees to fuel their forges and to make spears. The meliae came from the district of Melis, near Trachis.1

The nymphs that nursed Zeus are likewise called meliae.2

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References

Notes

  1. Sophocles. Philoctetes, 715.
  2. Callimachus. Hymn to Zeus, 47; Eustathius on Homer, p. 1963.

Sources

  • Hesiod. Theogony, 178, 564.
  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.