Ash Tree Nymphs

The Ash Tree Nymphs, or Meliae, were nymphs born from the blood of Uranus when Cronus wounded him. Hesiod names them in the Theogony together with the Erinyes and the Giants, and their Greek name, Meliai, is the word for ash trees. They appear as nurses of the infant Zeus in Crete, and as mothers of heroes and of centaurs.

Origin

When Cronus cut off the genitals of Uranus, the drops of blood that fell were all received by Gaea. As the years went round, she bore the strong Erinyes, the great Giants in gleaming armour with long spears in their hands, and “the Nymphs whom they call Meliai all over the boundless earth” (Hesiod, Theogony 183–187). Gaea and Uranus are therefore their mother and father, as the Erinyes and the Giants are their sisters and brothers in this account.

The Bronze Race

In the Works and Days, Zeus made the third race of mortal men of bronze, “from ash trees” (ek melian), terrible and strong, who cared only for the lamentable works of Ares and for violence and ate no bread (Hesiod, Works and Days 143–146). The word is the same as the name of the nymphs. In the Theogony, Zeus withholds the force of unwearying fire from the “Melian” mortals who live on earth (Hesiod, Theogony 563–564), a phrase in which the same word stands for mankind.

Other Kinds of Tree and Water Nymphs

Pausanias says that the Greeks called some nymphs Dryads, others Epimeliads and others Naiads, and that Homer speaks mostly of Naiads (Pausanias 8.4.2).

Nurses of Zeus

In Callimachus, when Zeus was hidden from Cronus in the cave in Crete, the Dictaean Meliae took him in their arms and Adrasteia laid him to rest in a golden cradle; he sucked the milk of the goat Amalthea and ate honeycomb, while the Curetes danced their war-dance around him, beating their armour so that Cronus would not hear the baby cry (Callimachus, Hymn 1.46–54). Apollodorus names the nurses of the child as the nymphs Adrasteia and Ida, the daughters of Melisseus, who fed him with the milk of Amalthea while the Curetes clashed their weapons around the baby (Apollodorus, Library 1.1.6–7).

Individual Nymphs Named Melia

The Meliae are usually mentioned as a group, but several individual nymphs are named Melia or Melie.

• At Thebes, Pausanias tells of a Melia, a daughter of Oceanus and sister of Caanthus, whom Apollo took; she bore him Tenerus, to whom Apollo gave the art of divination, and Ismenus, from whom the river took its name. Pindar calls the daughters of Cadmus, Semele and Ino, to come with Alcmene to Melia, at the treasury of golden tripods that Apollo honoured above all (Pindar, Pythian 11.1–5; Pausanias 9.10.5–6, 9.26.1).
• Apollodorus says that Inachus and Melia, a daughter of Oceanus, had two sons, Phoroneus and Aegialeus (Apollodorus, Library 2.1.1).
• Apollonius of Rhodes names a Bithynian nymph Melie, who lay with Poseidon and bore Amycus, the king of the Bebrycians (Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 2.1–5).
• Apollodorus calls the mother of the centaur Pholus, who entertained Heracles on his way to the Erymanthian boar, a Melian nymph; his father was Silenus (Apollodorus, Library 2.5.4).

Ash Tree Nymphs Sources

Ancient sources: Hesiod, Theogony 183–187, 563–564 and Works and Days 143–146; Callimachus, Hymn 1.46–54; Pindar, Pythian 11.1–5; Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 2.1–5; Apollodorus, Library 1.1.6–7, 2.1.1, 2.5.4; Pausanias 8.4.2, 9.10.5–6, 9.26.1.

See Also: Cronus, Uranus, Gaea, Erinyes, Giants, Zeus