MELEAGER MELITA. 



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MELEAGER ; the son of (Eneus, king of Caly- 

 don ; according to some, of Mars and Althaea. After 

 the birth of the child, the Parcae came to Althaea, 

 and determined his fate. Clotho said that he would 

 be magnanimous, Lachesis that he would be valiant, 

 and Atropos that he should not die until the brand 

 which lay upon the hearth was consumed. Althaea 

 immediately snatched the brand from the fire, and 

 preserved it with the utmost care. Meleager soon 

 distinguished himself as a hero. He accompanied 

 the Argonautic expedition, gained the prize for 

 throwing the discus at the funeral games established 

 by Acastus, and distinguished himself particularly 

 at the Calydonian hunt. (See Calydon.) He killed 

 the boar, and gave the skin of the animal, as the 

 highest token of regard, to his beloved Atalanta, 

 who had given the beast the first wound. The 

 brothers of his mother, Idrus, Plexippus and Lyn- 

 ceus, conceiving themselves to have been injured, 

 robbed Atalanta of the skin, while she was returning 

 home to Arcadia. Meleager, unable to persuade 

 them to restore the skin, slew them all three. 

 Althaea, furious with grief for the death of her 

 brothers, seized the fatal brand, and cast it into the 

 fire ; upon which Meleager died in great agony. 

 This story is differently told by other writers. Two 

 excellent statues of Meleager have come down to 

 us from antiquity. 



MELEAGER, a Greek poet, in the first century 

 before the commencement of the Christian era, a 

 native of Gadara in Syria, and a resident at Tyre, 

 died in the isle of Cos, whither he had removed in 

 the latter part of his life. His compositions, consist- 

 ing of short pieces, or epigrams, are among the most 

 beautiful relics preserved in the Grecian Anthology 

 (q. v.), and, in the simple elegance of their style and 

 sentiment, are finely contrasted with the productions 

 of more recent bards in the same collection. Some 

 of the verses of Meleager have been translated into 

 English by the reverend R. Bland and others, in 

 Selections from the Anthology. 



MELEDA, or MELITA ; a small island of the 

 Adriatic, on the coast of Dalmatia ; Ion. 17 30' E.; 

 lat. 42 45' N. From 1822 to 1825, loud explosions 

 were repeatedly heard on the island, attended with 

 a considerable agitation, and supposed to be occa- 

 sioned by the shocks of an earthquake, or by dis- 

 charges of some kind of gas formed in the interior of 

 the earth. (See Partsch's Account (in German, 

 Vienna, 1826.) Some writers consider it the place 

 of St Paul's shipwreck. See Melita. 



MELETIANS ; the followers of Meletius, bishop 

 of Lycopolis, in Egypt, who, in the year 306, 

 during the persecution under Diocletian, had a dis- 

 pute with Peter, bishop of Alexandria, on the sub- 

 ject of the re-admission of some lapsed Christians, 

 whom he (Meletius) rejected. Meletius was deposed 

 by Peter, but paid no attention to the sentence, 

 and even assumed the right of consecrating pres- 

 byters, which, by the laws of Egypt, belonged 

 only to the bishop of Alexandria. His gravity and 

 eloquence drew many to his party. The dissensions 

 thereby caused among the Egyptian clergy lasted, 

 even after the council of Nice had forbidden Meletius 

 to exercise the episcopal duties, till almost the end of 

 the fourth century. The Meletians joined with the 

 Arians against the party of the orthodox Athanasius, 

 bishop of Alexandria, but without adopting their 

 heresy. Schismatics of the same name arose, at 

 Antioch, when Meletius of Melitene, in Armenia, 

 was chosen bishop (360) by the Arians, and was 

 afterwards driven out, on account of his orthodoxy. 

 Those who considered him as the true bishop, and 

 adhered to him alone, when he returned in the reign 

 of Julian, were called Meletians. At his death, 



which took place in the year 381, this name was dis- 

 continued ; yet the dissensions of the church at 

 Antioch did not cease till a later date. The Roman 

 and Greek churches reckon this Meletius among 

 their saints. 



MELICERTA, MELICERTES, or MELICER- 

 TUS ; son of Ino, or Leucothea, who, being perse- 

 cuted by Juno, leapt into the sea. (See Ino, and 

 dthumas.) Melicerta was changed into a sea-god, 

 and received the name of Puleemon. Sailors rever- 

 enced him as their protector, who carried their shat- 

 tered ships safely into port, whence he was called 

 Portumnus (q. v.) by the Romans. He is commonly 

 represented with a large blue beard, a key in his 

 hand, or hanging over his shoulder, and swimming. 

 The chief deities of the sea are described riding in a 

 chariot. In many seaport towns, temples were 

 erected in honour of him, and, on the island of Tene- 

 dos, children were offered to him. 



MELILOT (melilotus qfficinalis) a leguminous 

 plant, somewhat resembling clover, and formerly 

 referred to that genus. It is a native of Europe, and 

 is now naturalized in some parts of the United States. 

 The root is biennial, and gives out one or several stems, 

 which attain the height of one or two feet, and are 

 provided with trifoliate leaves ; the leaflets are ser- 

 rated on the margin ; the flowers are small, numerous, 

 pale yellow, and are disposed in long racemes in the 

 axils of the superior leaves ; they are succeeded by 

 an almost globular pod, containing a solitary seed. 

 When fresh, the plant has a slight odour, which 

 becomes stronger, and very pleasant, after it has been 

 dried. It seems to render hay more agreeable to the 

 taste of cattle, who, in general, and more especially 

 sheep and goats, are very fond of it. It is adapted 

 to every kind of soil, but, in general, is not cultivated 

 separately. The celebrated Gruyere cheese is saic\ 

 to owe its excellence partly to the flowers and seeds 

 of this plant, which are bruised and mixed with the 

 curd. 



MELINDA ; a kingdom of Zanguebar, on the 

 eastern coast of Africa, in the Indian ocean, having 

 the kingdom of Magadoxo on the north, and that of 

 Zanzibar on the south. Little is known of the coun- 

 try, except its sea-coast. The mass of the popula- 

 tion is composed of native negroes, but the rulerj 

 and principal people are Arabs. Melinda, the capital, 

 is situated on the Indian ocean, in lat. 3 15' S., Ion. 

 40 5' E. It is large, well built, and contains a great 

 number of mosques. Its commerce is considerable, 

 and is in the hands of Asiatics, being rarely visited 

 by Europeans. The exports are gold, copper, iron, 

 and wax ; provisions are abundant, and easily ob- 

 tained. Vasco de Gama was well received here, but 

 the arrogance of the Portuguese soon became insup- 

 portable to the inhabitants ; a war ensued, and the 

 city was captured by the Portuguese, who retained 

 possession of it till 1698, when it was retaken by the 

 Arabs. 



MELISSUS, son of Ithagenes, and a native of 

 Samos, flourished about 444 B. C. He is distin- 

 guished in the history of his country as a statesman 

 and naval commander. As a philosopher, he is con- 

 sidered as belonging to the Eleatic (q. v.) school ; he 

 differed from Parmenides in many points, by develop- 

 ing the Eleatic system with still stricter consistency. 

 Parmenides allowed credit to experience obtained 

 through the senses ; Melissus represented all exist- 

 ence as one eternal, unlimited, and immutable, yet 

 material being, and rejected the experience obtained 

 through the senses ; he also maintained that nothing 

 could be known, with certainty, respecting the 

 gods. 



MELITA. It is related in the Acts of the Apos- 

 tles, that Paul, on his voyage to Rome, was cast 



