Melampus (seer)

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Melampus ( Greek Μελάμπους Melampous , Doric Μέλαμπος Melampos , Latin Melampus , "black foot ") is in Greek mythology a son of Amythaon and Aglaia or Eidomene , brother of Bias and Aiolia . In ancient Greece he was famous as a seer and doctor.

Dionysus cult

Herodotus suspected that Melampus came into contact with the Dionysus cult from Kadmos and the Phoenicians or the Egyptians . Dionysus was equated with the Egyptian god Osiris because of similar cult practices . He is also said to have been the first to bring the myths about Kronos and the battle of the titans with him from Egypt. He is also credited with the custom of mixing wine with water.

Visionary gift

Melampus lived in the realm of Neleus near the city of Pylos . There was an oak tree in front of his house and in it there was a snake's nest. His servants killed the adult snakes and Melampus burned them. He raised the young. One day they licked his ears in his sleep, after which he understood the language of animals and was able to predict the future with the help of it. He also learned to say wisdom from animal sacrifices and had a meeting with the god Apollo on the Alpheios river .

The cattle of Phylakos

His brother Bias wanted to marry Pero the daughter of Neleus, but her father only wanted to give her as a gift in exchange for the cattle of Phylakos von Phylake . However, Bias failed to steal the cattle because they were guarded by a dog. Melampus now tried to steal the cattle for his brother, although he foresaw that he would be caught doing this. So he was caught and imprisoned for a year. When the year was almost up, the woodworms told him that they would soon collapse the roof. Melampus demanded immediate relocation, and immediately afterwards the old quarters collapsed.

Convinced of his abilities, Phylakos promised to give him the cattle if he could cure his son Iphiklos of his impotence. Melampus sacrificed two bulls and a vulture came to eat from the carcasses. He told him that the last time he had such a feast was at a sacrifice made by King Phylakos. The then young Prince Iphiklos was also present at this sacrifice. At the sight of the big, bloody knife in his father's hand, he was startled and ran away. Phylakos put the knife in an oak that enclosed the knife. The vulture told Melampus that the prince would be healed if you pull the knife out of the tree, scrape off the rust and give it to the prince to drink with water for ten days. The knife was found under the bark of the tree and the bird's instructions were followed. Iphiklos was healed and became the father of Podarkes . Now Melampus moved with the cattle to Pylos, received Pero and gave her bias to the wife.

Healing of Argive Women

The daughters of Proitos , the king of Tiryns , were attacked by madness because they disregarded the cult of Dionysus or, according to other information, the image of Hera . According to another tradition, this happened during the reign of Anaxagoras . So the three daughters Iphinoe , Iphianassa and Lysippe raged in the Argolis and the whole Peloponnese . Melampus offered to heal them. However, he demanded half of the kingdom for this, so Proitos refused. When the daughters became even madder and in the meantime all Argive women had become infected with their madness, the king asked Melampus for help, although he now demanded a third of the land for himself and his brother bias. He chased women as far as Sicyon . Iphinoe had already died, but he was able to heal the other two sisters by atoning for Iphianassa and Lysippe in the sanctuary of Artemis in the mountains of Aroania . It was said that the fish in the Anigros River became inedible because Melampus sank the atonement that contaminated the water in it. According to Pedanios Dioscurides , Melampos had observed the laxative effect of the Hellebore on his goats and gave it to the royal daughters in milk.

King of Argos

Now he and Bias each received a third of the royal dignity, and Melampus married Iphianassa, the daughter of Proitos. After Diodorus Siculus he married Iphianeira, the daughter of Megapenthes . With his wife he fathered the Antiphates , the Abas , the Bias, the Mantios , the Manto and the Pronoe. He became the progenitor of a whole race of seers, the Melampids .

In Aigosthena there was a sanctuary for Melampus, where a festival was celebrated annually in his honor. Hesiod wrote the poem Song on the Seer Melampus , the so-called Melampody , which has only survived to this day in fragments.

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literature

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Remarks

  1. ^ Libraries of Apollodorus 1, 9, 12.
  2. ↑ Materia Medica F. 151r .
predecessor Office successor
Argeus King of Argos
together with Bias and Anaxagoras
13th century BC BC
(mythical chronology) 		Antiphates
(Melampide)