Melanippus
Μελάνιππος
(Μελάνιππος), a youth of Agrigentum, who, having been treated with injustice by Phalaris, proposed to his friend Chariton to form a conspiracy against the tyrant. Chariton, alarmed for the safety of Melanippus, urged him to say nothing to any one of his intention, and promised to devise a fitting opportunity for the enterprise. Haying then resolved to take the whole risk upon himself, he attempted the life of Phalaris, and, being apprehended, was put to the torture, which he bore resolutely, refusing to confess that he had any accomplices. Melanippus hereupon came to Phalaris and avowed himself the instigator of the design, and the tyrant, struck with their mutual friendship, spared the lives of both on condition of their leaving Sicily. (Ael. VH 2.4.)
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.