Mnemosyne — Classical Greek Myth Library

Melampus, son of Amythaon and brother of Bias, received the gift of prophecy when, after he buried and mourned some killed snakes, the surviving serpents licked his ears clean as he slept; thereafter he understood the speech of birds and beasts. Living in the country, he helped Bias win Pero, daughter of Neleus: Neleus demanded the cattle of Phylacus (or Iphiclus) as bride-price. Melampus foresaw he would be caught and imprisoned for a year; he attempted the theft, was taken, and in prison heard woodworms (or termites) say the beam would soon fall. He warned his jailer, earned Phylacus’s gratitude, and learned how to cure Phylacus’s son Iphiclus of sterility (by rust from a knife that had gelding-frightened the boy). Grateful, Phylacus gave the cattle; Bias married Pero. Later, in Argos, the daughters of Proetus (the Proetides) went mad—Hera’s or Dionysus’s anger—and wandered believing themselves cows, or with diseased skin. Melampus undertook to heal them for a third of the kingdom (raised to half when the bargain was first refused and the madness spread). He cured them with rites and pursuit to the cave of Sicyon (or by drugs and prayers); one sister died in some versions. Melampus and Bias received Argive shares; Melampus founded a line of seers (including Amphiaraus’s ancestry in wider stemmata). He stands as the archetypal Greek seer whose gift comes from serpents and whose craft wins both brides and kingdoms.