Editing Melete

{{Short description|Muse of thought and meditation in ancient Greek mythology}}
{{For|the genus of butterfly|Melete (genus)}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2024}}
{{Greek deities (personifications)}}

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Melete''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|ɛ|l|ᵻ|t|iː}} ({{langx|grc|Μελέτη}}) was one of the three original [[Boeotian muses]] before the [[Muses|Nine Olympian Muses]] were founded. Her sisters were [[Aoede (mythology)|Aoede]] and [[Mneme]].<ref name="smith"/> She was the muse of [[thought]] and [[meditation]]. Melete literally means "ponder" and "contemplation" in Greek.

According to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] in the later 2nd century AD, there were three original Muses: [[Aoidē]] ("song" or "voice"), Meletē ("practice"), and [[Mnēmē]] ("memory").<ref name="hardie"/> Together, these three form the complete picture of the preconditions of poetic art in cult practice. In Delphi three Muses were worshipped as well, but with other names: Nētē, Mesē, and Hypatē, which are the names of the three chords of the ancient musical instrument, the lyre. Alternatively they were called [[Cēphisso]], [[Apollonis]], and [[Borysthenis]], whose names characterise them as daughters of Apollo. In later tradition, four Muses were recognized: [[Thelxinoë|Thelxinoē]], [[Aoedē]], [[Arche (mythology)|Archē]], and Meletē, said to be daughters of Zeus and Plusia (or of Uranus).<ref name="smith"/>

==See also==
*[[56 Melete]] - an asteroid named after Melete.

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="smith">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Smith |first1=William|title=Musae|encyclopedia =A classical dictionary of biography [&c.]. |date=1858 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |page=460 |edition=4th |language=en}}</ref>
<ref name="hardie">{{cite journal |last1=Hardie |first1=Alex |title=The Aloades on Helicon: Music, Territory and Cosmic Order |journal=Antike und Abendland |date=2006 |volume=52 |pages=42–71 |doi=10.1515/9783110186345.42 |language=en}}</ref>
}}

{{Muses}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Muses (mythology)]]
[[Category:Mythological Boeotians]]

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