MELAMPUS

in Greek mythology, a seer who as a child received the understanding of the language of birds after two young snakes, whose lives he had saved, licked his ears when he was asleep. He later helped his brother Bias to marry Pero, daughter of King Neleus of Pylos. According to another legend, Melampus cured the insanity of the daughters of Proitus, prince of Tiryns; he and Bias then married two of the daughters. According to Pausanias (2nd century AD), there was a shrine to Melampus at Aegosthena (Megarid) and an annual festival.