Melētus. An obscure tragic poet, one of the accusers of Socrates.
Mĕlia. A Nereid, mother of the river-god Ismenus.
Melicertes. See Athamas.
Menander. A distinguished Athenian poet of the New Comedy, 342-291 B.C.
Menelaus. Brother of Agamemnon, and Helen's husband. The abduction of Helen by the Trojan Paris was the cause of the Trojan War.
Menippus. A Cynic philosopher, originally a slave, of Gadara in Coele-Syria. His date is placed about 60 B.C. It is probable that Lucian was much indebted to the writings of Menippus, which are now lost, though an imitation of them is still preserved in the Menippean Satires of Varro. Among the titles of his works are A Visit to the Shades, Wills, and Letters of the Gods. He appears frequently as a character in Lucian's dialogues.
Mentor. A famous silversmith, before 356 B.C.
Metrodorus. A distinguished Epicurean philosopher, 330-277 B.C.
Midas. A king of Phrygia, to whom Dionysus granted the power of changing all that he touched into gold. Being unable in consequence to obtain any nourishment, Midas was permitted to cancel this privilege by bathing in the Pactolus. Chosen as a judge in a musical contest between Pan and Apollo he decided against the latter, who changed his ears into those of an ass.
Midias. A wealthy Athenian, and a bitter enemy of Demosthenes, whose speech against him is extant.