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InGreek mythology,Melete/ˈmɛlɪtiː/ (Ancient Greek:Μελέτη) was one of the three originalBoeotian muses before theNine Olympian Muses were founded. Her sisters wereAoede andMneme.[1] She was the muse ofthought andmeditation. Melete literally means "ponder" and "contemplation" in Greek.
According toPausanias in the later 2nd century AD, there were three original Muses:Aoidē ("song" or "voice"), Meletē ("practice"), andMnēmē ("memory").[2] Together, these three form the complete picture of the preconditions of poetic art in cult practice. In Delphi three Muses were worshipped as well, but with other names: Nētē, Mesē, and Hypatē, which are the names of the three chords of the ancient musical instrument, the lyre. Alternatively they were calledCēphisso,Apollonis, andBorysthenis, whose names characterise them as daughters of Apollo. In later tradition, four Muses were recognized:Thelxinoē,Aoedē,Archē, and Meletē, said to be daughters of Zeus and Plusia (or of Uranus).[1]
