In
Greek mythology,
Melampus (,
Melampous), was a
legendary soothsayer and
healer, originally of
Pylos, who ruled at
Argos. He was the introducer of the worship of
Dionysus, according to
Herodotus, who asserted that his powers as a seer were derived from the
Egyptians and that he could understand the language of animals. A number of
pseudepigraphal works of
divination were circulated in Classical and Hellenistic times under the name Melampus. According to Herodotus and
Pausanias (vi.17.6), on the authority of
Hesiod, his father was
Amythaon, whose name implies the "ineffable" or "unspeakably great"; Thus Melampus and his heirs were
Amythaides of the "House of Amythaon".
