Greek Name:
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Melia Melih
Melia, Meliê
Sweet, Honey (meli),
Ash-Tree (melia)
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MELIA was the Naiad Nymph of the spring, well or fountain of the city of Kios in Bithynia (Anatolia). She was loved by the old god Seilenos and bore him a son named Dolion, the eponymous king of the Doliones tribe of western Bithynia.
Her name is derived from the word meli, honey, a word which was often used to describe the sweet waters of a spring. Water and honey were also mixed with wine, further connecting her with the old wine-god Seilenos. The word "melia", also means ash-tree, from whose branches spears were crafted. She may therefore also have been regarded as one of the Nymphai Meliai.
Melia appears to be connected with two other Nymphai of the same name. Melia a Bithynian Nymphe loved by the god Poseidon, and Melia the Peloponnesian Nymphe wife of the god Seilenos.
| PARENTS |
Perhaps a daughter of the local River ASKANIOS
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| OFFSPRING |
DOLION (by Seilenos) (Strabo 12.4.8)
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"Alexander the Aitolian says, 'who have their homes on the Askanian streams [in Bithynia, Asia Minor], on the lips of the Askanian Lake, where dwelt Dolion [eponym of the Doliones tribe] the son of Silenos and Melia." - Strabo, Geography 12.4.8
Sources:
- Strabo, Geography - Greek Geography C1st BC - C1st AD
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