Merops
Μέροψ
(Μέροψ).
1. The father of Eumelus, king of the island of Cos, which he thus called after his daughter, while the inhabitants were called after him, Meropes. His wife, the nymph Ethemea, was killed by Artemis, because she had neglected to worship that goddess, and was carried by Persephone to the lower world. Merops, from a desire after his wife, wished to make away with himself, but Hera changed him into an eagle, whom she placed among the stars. (Hygin. Pöet. Astr. 2.16; Ant. Lib. 15; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 318; Eur. Hel. 384.
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.