Thread by @VeraCausa9

The ancient Greek word μέλισσα mélissa, “honey bee” comes from μέλι méli, “honey. Priestesses worshipping Artemis and Demeter were called Melissae or "bees"

Minoan gold Bee ornament decorated with filigree & granulation, Crete c. 1700 BC
#WorldBeeDay

This exquisite Minoan gold bee ornament is at the British museum [1]

In Bk. II of the Iliad, Homer uses his first full simile [and the 1st simile in Western Lit] when he likens the hurrying gathering Achaean army to the "swarms of clustering bees" μελισσάων ἁδινάων.

This passage from Homer's Iliad was translated into English by Richmond Lattimore [1]

In Book XII of The Odyssey, Homer calls the Sirens meligerus/μελίγηρυς "honey-voiced", mellifluous voices full of beguile and enchantment.

The English word 'mellifluous' is my favorite word deriving from the ancient Greek μέλι méli, “honey".

This passage from Homer's Odyssey was translated into English by Robert Fagles [1]

Sappho's fragment 146 speaks of love through the dual nature of the bee, producer of [sweet] honey and [bitter] sting:

Μήτ’ ἔμοι μέλι μήτε μέλισσα.

"Neither honey nor honeybee for me"

The above Sappho's fragment 146 is considered the oldest trace of the common proverb: "Who licks honey will get stung"

In Plato's Dialogue Ion, Socrates reminds the rhapsode Ion that inspired poets are like bees gathering honey [melodious poems] from the "gardens of the Muses"

Plato's argument through Socrates is that Ion’s talent as an interpreter [rhapsode of Homeric epics] cannot be a rational knowledge or skilled art/ human workmanship but must come through a kind of sacred madness or divine inspiration of the Muses [1]

Finishing this thread about the Ancient Greek word μέλι méli, “honey" with a wonderful Greek compound word:

Oenomeli οἰνόμελι, "wine-honey", a beverage made by the Ancient Greeks mixing oinos (wine) and meli (honey) where strength and sweetness are combined.

Red-Figure Neck Amphora with a youthful dancer holding a Kylix or drinking cup ca. 480 B.C. attributed to the Berlin Painter at the Getty Museum [1]

According to Pliny, οἰνόμελι "wine-honey" was invented by Aristaeus [Plin. H. N. XIV.6] Greek rustic god who was the first beekeeper and son of the huntress Cyrene and Apollo.

'Aristaeus Inventor Mellis' holding a beehive 1565 engraving by Cornelis Cort after Frans Floris