Melaeneus

In the genealogical framework of Arcadian myth Melaeneus is named as one of the fifty sons of King Lycaon. Ancient and modern reference compilations identify him as the founder or eponym of the town Melaeneae (Μελαινέαι). He is embedded in the Lycaon narrative in which Lycaon and his sons are described as impious; Zeus visits in disguise and, when the family serves him a meal containing a child's entrails, destroys Lycaon and his sons with a thunderbolt. Melaeneus’s attestation is primarily as a named member of this kin-group and as the eponymous ancestor of a local settlement.

No physical description, iconography, epithets, or distinctive bodily traits for Melaeneus survive in the supplied sources. He is attested solely as a named son of Lycaon and as an eponymous founder; primary ancient authors cited in reference compilations do not preserve any descriptive passage for him.

The cited materials ascribe no supernatural abilities, magical skills, or independent heroic deeds to Melaeneus. His role in the sources is genealogical (founder/eponym) and as part of the collective impiety of Lycaon’s family; he is killed along with his father and brothers by Zeus according to the tradition summarized in the references.