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?)

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