In Greek mythology, Melite (/ˈmɛlɪtiː/; Ancient Greek: Μελίτη) was one of the Naiads, daughter of the river god Aegaeus, and one of the many loves of Zeus and his son Heracles. Given the choice, she chose Heracles over Zeus who went off in search of other pursuits. She gave birth to Hercules's son Hyllus; some suggest that he was a figure distinct from Hyllus, the son of Heracles by Deianeira.
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👉 Melite (naiad) in the context of Heracleidae
The Heracleidae (/hɛrəˈklaɪdiː/; Ancient Greek: Ἡρακλεῖδαι) or Heraclids /ˈhɛrəklɪdz/ were the numerous descendants of Heracles, especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira (Hyllus was also sometimes thought of as Heracles' son by Melite). Other Heracleidae included Macaria, Lamos, Manto, Bianor, Tlepolemus, and Telephus. These Heraclids were a group of Dorian kings who conquered the Peloponnesian kingdoms of Mycenae, Sparta and Argos; according to the literary tradition in Greek mythology, they claimed a right to rule through their ancestor. Since Karl Otfried Müller's Die Dorier (1830, English translation 1839), I. ch. 3, their rise to dominance has been associated with a "Dorian invasion". Though details of genealogy differ from one ancient author to another, the cultural significance of the mythic theme, that the descendants of Heracles, exiled after his death, returned some generations later to reclaim land that their ancestors had held in Mycenaean Greece, was to assert the primal legitimacy of a traditional ruling clan that traced its origin, thus its legitimacy, to Heracles.
In the historical period, several dynasties claimed descent from Heracles, such as the Agiads and Eurypontids of Sparta, or the Temenids of Macedonia. In modern times, the same lineage has been claimed by the House of Burgundy and the kings of Castile.
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Melite (naiad) in the context of Nausithous
The name Nausithous (/ˌnɔːˈsɪθoʊəs/; Ancient Greek: Ναυσίθοος Nausíthoos) is shared by the following characters in Greek mythology:
- Nausithous, the king of the Phaeacians who reigned in the generation before Odysseus washed ashore on their home island of Scherie (his son Alcinous was king at the time of Odysseus's arrival). He was the son of the god Poseidon and Periboia, the daughter of the Giant king Eurymedon. According to Homer, Nausithous led a migration of Phaeacians from Hypereia to the island of Scheria in order to escape the lawless Cyclopes. He is the father of Alcinous and Rhexenor. Alcinous would go on to marry his niece, Rhexenor's daughter Arete. One source relates that Heracles came to Nausithous to get cleansed after the murder of his children; during his stay in the land of the Phaeacians, the hero fell in love with the nymph Melite and conceived a son Hyllus with her.
- Nausithous, one of the two sons born to Odysseus by Calypso, the other one being Nausinous. According to Hyginus, Nausithous was a son of Odysseus and Circe; his brother was Telegonus.
Melite (naiad) in the context of Aegaeus
In Greek mythology, Aegaeus (Ancient Greek: Αἰγαῖος) was the name of multiple figures:
1. One of the river-gods. He lived on the island of Scheria, widely considered to be the modern island of Corfu. He was the father of Melite, who bore Heracles a son, Hyllus, and of the nymphs Aigaiides.