Melia (consort of Inachus)

In Greek mythology, Melia (Ancient Greek Μελία, Μελίη) was an Oceanid, one of the 3,000 water nymph daughters of the Titans Oceanus and his sister-spouse Tethys.^[1] She was the mother of culture hero Phoroneus, and Aegialeus^[2] (or Phegeus^[3]), by her brother Inachus, the river-god of Argos.^[4] However, in some accounts, Inachus fathered Phoroneus by an Oceanid nymph named Argia.^[5] According to Argive tradition, Phoroneus was the first man, or first inhabitant of Argos, who lived during the time of the Great Flood, associated with Deucalion.^[6]

Melia was also said to have been the mother, by Inachus, of Mycene, the wife of Arestor, and eponym of Mycenae.^[7] Melia was also perhaps considered to be the mother, by Inachus, of Io,^[8] the ancestress, by Zeus, of the Greek dynasties of Argos, Thebes, and Crete.^[9]

The consort of Apollo, who was an important cult figure at Thebes, was also said to be a daughter of Oceanus named Melia.^[10]