Melas
- The name of several rivers.
- 1 A river of Boeotia, now Mavropotami, Plin. 2, 103, 106, § 230; Sen. Q. N. 3, 25, 3; Stat. Th. 7, 273.—
- 2 A river of Thrace, now Kavatch, Liv. 38, 40, 5; Mel. 2, 2, 8; Ov. M. 2, 274; Plin. 4, 11, 18, § 43.—
- 3 A river of Sicily, now Nocito: sacrorumque Melan pascua laeta boum, Ov. F. 4, 476.—
- 4 A river of Cappadocia, now Jochmah Su, Plin. 6, 4, 4, § 11.—
- 5 A river of Cilicia, Plin. 5, 27, 22, § 93.—
- II A son of Phryxus, Hyg. Fab. 3.—
- III One of the Etruscan seamen whom Bacchus changed into dolphins, Hyg. Fab. 134.
MELAS(Μέλας), the name of several rivers, so called from the dark colour of their water.
1.A small river of Arcadia or Achaia, described by Dionysius as flowing from Mount Erymanthus. (Dionys. Per. 416; Callim. in Jov. 23.) Strabo (8. p. 386) confounds it with the Peirus or Pierus in Achaia; but the reading is probably corrupt. [ACHAIA14a.]
2.A river of Boeotia. [BOEOTIA,413a.]
3.A river of Malis, which in the time of Herodotus flowed into the Maliac gulf, at the distance of 5 stadia from Trachis. It is now called the Mavra-Néria, and falls into the Spercheius, after uniting its waters with the Gurgo(Dyras), which also used to flow in ancient times into the Maliac gulf. (Hdt. 7.198; Strab. 9. p. 428; Liv. 36.22; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. 2. p. 26.)
4.A river of Phthiotis in Thessaly, and a tributary of the Apidanus. (Lucan (Luc. 6.374; Vib. Sequ. de Flum. s. v. Apidanos; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. 4. p. 515.)
5.A river of Thrace, now called Saldattior Scheher-Su, falling into a deep bay of the sane name (Μέλας κόλπος), which is bounded on the east by the shore of the Thracian Chersonesus. The modern name of the bay is the gulf of Saros. (Hdt. 6.41, 7.58, 198; Strab. 7. p. 331; Liv. 33.40; Ptolem. 3.11. § § 1, 2; Mela, 2.2; Plin. Nat. 4.11. s. 18.)
MELAS(Μέλας).
1.A small river of Cappadocia, which had its sources on Mount Argaeus (Ptol. 5.6.8), and flowed in a north-western direction past the town of Mazaca, frequently overflowing its banks and forming marshes. (Strab. 12. p. 538, &c.) It emptied itself into the river Halys, opposite the town of Siva. Strabo (l. c.) erroneously describes the Melas as a tributary of the Euphrates, as has been shown by Hamilton in the Journal of the Geogr. Society, vol. 8. p. 149 (comp. his Researches, 2. p. 259, &c.). The river still bears a name answering to the ancient Melas, Kara-Su, that is, the Black River.
2.A navigable river in Pamphylia, flooring in a southern direction from Mount Taurus towards the sea, into which it emptied itself 50 stadia to the east of Side. (Plin. Nat. 5.22; Strab. 14. p. 667; Paus. 8.28.2; Mela, 1.14; Zosim. 5.16, 6.3; Stadiasm. Mar. Magn. § § 193, 194.) Its modern name is Menavgat-Su. (Leake, Asia Minor, p. 196.)
3.A small river in Pontus Polemoniacus, in the country of the Macrones. (Plin. Nat. 6.4.) [L.S]
(Μέλας). The name of several rivers, whose waters were a dark colour. (1) A small river in Boeotia, flowing between Orchomenus and Aspledon.
(2) A river of Thessaly, in the district Malis, falling into the Malic Gulf.
(3) A river of Thessaly in Phthiotis, falling into the Apidanus.
(4) A river of Thrace, falling into the Melas Sinus.
(5) A river in the northeast of Sicily, flowing into the sea between Mylae and Naulochus, through excellent meadows, in which the oxen of the Sun are said to have fed.
(6) A river in Asia Minor, the boundary between Pamphylia and Cilicia.
- crossed by Xerxes: Hdt. 7.58
- Hdt. 6.41, Hdt. 7.58
- Hdt. 7.198
- Paus. 8.28.3
- Paus. 9.38.6
- joins Dorian expedition against Corinth: Paus. 2.4.4
- obtains leave to settle at Corinth: Paus. 5.18.8
- buried by Herakles: Apollod. 2.7.7
- Paus. 7.4.8
- Paus. 7.28.5
- Apollod. 1.9.1
- Apollod. 1.7.7
- his sons slain by Tydeus: Apollod. 1.8.3, Apollod. 1.8.5
- Paus. 7.4.8