Melije () u grčkoj mitologiji u grčkoj mitologiji, bile su Drijade, nimfe drveta jasena, čije su ime dijelile.Caldwell, p. 38 n. 178–187: "The nymphs called Meliai are properly "ash-tree" nymphs; the Greek word for ash-trees is meliai also", and according to Larson, p. 29: "most commentators agree" that "the Meliai are ash-tree nymphs", although according to West, p. 221 n. 187 Μελίας, in Callimachus, Hymn 4—To Delos 79–85, and Nonnus' Dionysiaca, and probably in Hesiod as well, the Meliae are simply "tree-nymphs, probably without distinction of the particular kind of tree".
Mitologija Prema Hesiodu, Melije (verovatno znači sve nimfe na drvetu) su rođene iz kapi krvi koje su pale na Geju (Zemlju) kada je Kron kastrirao Urana.Hesiod, Theogony 182–187; West, p. 221 n. 187 Μελίας; Hard, p. 209. U Hesiodovim Djelima i danima, jasen, koji možda znači Melianske nimfe, kaže se da su bili praroditelji generacije ljudi koji su pripadali Hesiodovom bronzanom dobu.Hesiod, Works and Days 140–155 (Evelyn-White): "Zeus the Father made a third generation of mortal men, a brazen race, sprung from ash-trees [meliai]", here interpreting meliai as the common noun ash-trees, as did Eustathius. However Proclus thought it meant ash-tree nymphs (see Evelyn-White's note; Larson, p. 29), cf. Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.1641–1642, which makes it simply "ash-trees". According to Most, p. 19 n. 9, "It is unclear what exactly the relation is between the Melian nymphs, the ash trees with which they are closely associated, and human beings, who may have originated from one or the other of these".
Melije su bile dojilje malog Zeusa na kritskim planinama Dikti, prema pjesniku Kalimahu iz 3. vijeka p. n. e, Himni Zeusu, gdje su ga hranile mlijekom koze Amalteje i medom.Callimachus, Hymn 1—To Zeus 42–50.
Kalimah kaže da je tebanska nimfa Melija, koja je preko Apolona, majka Tenera i Ismenusa, jedna od Melija "rođenih na Zemlji".Callimachus, Hymn 4—To Delos 79–85; Hesiod, Theogony 187; Larson, p. 142. Na drugim mjestima, međutim, ova Melija je Okeanida, jedna od mnogih kćeri Okeana i Tetide.Pindar, Paean 9 fr. 52k 38–46; Pausanias, 9.10.5, 6, 9.26.1; Larson, pp. 40–41, 142. Mitograf Apolodor je napisao da su roditelji kentaura Fola bili Silen i jedna od Melija,Apollodorus, 2.5.4; Gantz, pp. 139, 392. čime se genealoški razlikovao od ostalih kentaura.
Reference
Izvori Apollonius of Rhodes, Apollonius Rhodius: the Argonautica, translated by Robert Cooper Seaton, W. Heinemann, 1912. Internet Archive. Burkert, Walter, 1985. Greek Religion (Cambridge: Harvard University Press). Caldwell, Richard, Hesiod's Theogony, Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company (June 1, 1987). . Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Hesiod; Works and Days, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, . Larson, Jennifer, "Greek Nymphs : Myth, Cult, Lore", Oxford University Press (US). June 2001. Most, G. W., Hesiod: Theogony, Works and Days, Testimonia, Loeb Classical Library, No. 57, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2006 . Online version at Harvard University Press. Pausanias, Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Pausanias, Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Pindar, Nemean Odes. Isthmian Odes. Fragments, Edited and translated by William H. Race. Loeb Classical Library No. 485. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1997. . Online version at Harvard University Press. West, M. L. (1966), Hesiod: Theogony, Oxford University Press. .
Kategorija:Grčka mitologija Kategorija:Drijade