Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898)

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Melissa

（Μέλισσα).

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1.

A nymph who was said to have discovered the use of honey, and from whom bees were believed to have received their name (μέλισσαι). There can be no doubt, however, that her name really came from μέλι, “honey,” and was hence given to nymphs. The name was commonly given to priestesses of Demeter, Persephoné, Apollo, and Artemis.

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2.

The wife of Periander and daughter of Procles. She was slain by her husband.

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3.

A village of Phrygia Magna containing the tomb of Alcibiades, of whom the emperor Hadrian caused a marble statue to be erected there.