People named Melissa who have web pages

If you have a Melissa page to submit, e-mail the URL to me m-woo(at)uiuc.edu and I'll add it to the list. Please note that your page should have the name "Melissa" or some variant of it - otherwise, what's the point?

Origin of the name Melissa

The name Melissa is derived from Greek mythology. Melissa was a nymph that cared for the infant Zeus while he was being hidden from his father, the king of the gods. Melissa plundered bee hives in order to feed honey to Zeus, who developed a permanent sweet tooth.

When Melissa's role in protecting Zeus was discovered, she was turned into some lowly species of insect (many thanks to AzurStrDst@aol.com, who tells me that she was turned into an earthworm). Zeus later took pity on her and turned her into a honeybee, which is forever involved with making honey.

(Parenthetical note: if Zeus had meant to do Melissa a favor, why didn't he turn her back into a nymph instead? Second parenthetical note: we have the following info, courtesy of Melissa Wilson - "According to Ovid, gods can't undo the actions of other gods. They have to figure out alternative actions.")

Last updated 22 January 2007