Melampus
mythological figure · 3 works · 5 mentions · 5 anchored passages
Melampus son of Amythaon · Melampus son of Amytheon
in the texts
The Histories
Legendary Greek seer credited by Herodotus with introducing Dionysiac rites to Greece, having learned them (via Cadmus) from Egypt.
For Melampus was the one who taught the Greeks the name of Dionysus and the way of sacrificing to him and the phallic procession;
But I believe that Melampus learned the worship of Dionysus chiefly from Cadmus of Tyre and those who came with Cadmus from Phoenicia to the land now called Boeotia.
I say, then, that Melampus acquired the prophetic art, being a discerning man, and that, besides many other things which he learned from Egypt, he also taught the Greeks things concerning Dionysus, altering few of them;
Protrepticus
Legendary figure said to have brought Demeter's festivals from Egypt to Greece.
Others say that Melampus son of Amythaon brought over from Egypt to Greece the festivals of Deo, a hymned mourning.
Apologeticum
Legendary seer credited with founding initiations at Argos.
To meet the Greeks — Orpheus at Pieria, Musaeus at Athens, Melampus at Argos, Trophonius in Boeotia bound men by their initiations.