=Mem´non.= A king of Ethiopia, son of Tithonus and Aurora. He came with ten thousand men to assist Priam in the Trojan war, where he behaved with great courage, and killed Antilochus, Nestor's son, on which Nestor challenged Memnon to fight, but he refused on account of the great age of the challenger; but he fought Achilles, who killed him. A statue was erected in his honor, which had the property of uttering a melodious sound every day at sunrise. =Menan´der.= A celebrated comic poet of Athens, educated under Theophrastus. He was universally esteemed by the Greeks. He wrote 108 comedies, but of which only a few fragments remain. =Menela´us.= A king of Sparta, brother to Agamemnon. He married Helen, the most beautiful woman of her time. Paris, having arrived in Sparta in the absence of Menelaus, persuaded her to elope with him, which was the cause of the Trojan war. In the tenth year of the war Helen, it is said, obtained the forgiveness of Menelaus, with whom she returned to Sparta, where, shortly after his return, he died. =Mene´nius Agrippa.= A celebrated Roman who appeased the Roman populace in the infancy of the consular government by repeating to them the well-known fable of the belly and limbs. He lived B.C. 495. =Menip´pus.= A Cynic philosopher of Phoenicia. He was originally a slave, and, obtaining his liberty, became notorious as a usurer. He wrote thirteen books of satires. =Men´tor.= A faithful friend of Ulysses, and guide and instructor of his son Telemachus. The term Mentor has become proverbial as applied to any one who is an educator of youth. =Mercu´rius.= A celebrated god of antiquity, called Hermes by the Greeks. He was the messenger of the gods, and conducted the souls of the dead into the infernal regions. He presided over orators, merchants, and was also the god of thieves. The invention of the lyre is ascribed to him. This he gave to Apollo, and received in exchange the Caduceus, which the god of poetry used to drive the flocks of King Admetus. =Mer´ope.= One of the Atlantides. She married Sisyphus, son of Æolus, and was changed into a constellation. =Me´rops.= A king of the island of Cos, who married Clymene, one of the Oceanides. He was changed into an eagle, and placed among the constellations. =Messali´na, Vale´ria=, was notorious for her vices. She married the emperor Claudius, who, wearied with her misconduct, cited her to appear before him and reply to the accusations which were brought against her, on which she attempted to destroy herself, but failing to do so, was slain by one of the tribunes who had been sent to summon her.