Melikertes

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Ino and Melikertes (sculpture by Pierre Granier in the park of the Palace of Versailles )

Melikertes ( Greek  Μελικέρτης ) was the son of Athamas and Ino , daughter of Kadmos . Melikertes is thrown into a kettle of boiling water by his mother, who has been maddened by Hera . When the mother comes to her senses again, she plunges into the sea with the body of the son (according to legend, from the Molurian rock near Megara ). Both are transformed into sea ​​gods : Ino becomes Leukothea , Melikertes becomes Palaimon , who, riding a dolphin, guides the ships safely into the harbor. In Roman mythology , Leukothea and Palaimon were equated with Mater Matuta and Portunus .

According to Nonnos ( Dionysiaka 5,556) Melikertes was the milk brother of Dionysus . That was also the reason for his deification and that of his mother.

The Isthmia of Corinth were celebrated in honor of Melikertes .

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