Melampus and the cure of Proetus' daughters.

In Greek mythology, Melampus, son of Amythaon was a seer and healer. His name means “black foot” or “man with the black feet” as, according to the legend, when he was a neonate he was left by his mother with his feet exposed to the bright sun. Being the Greek prototype of the shaman, he was, according to Herodotus, the introducer of the worship of Dionysus and the creator of an entire school of magic healers known as the Melampodians. He became the ruler of Argos after curing the daughters of Proetus, king of Tiryns, of insanity (Figure 1). At Argos, Melampus was held to be the first priest of Dionysus and originator of mysterious customs at ecstatic festivals and ceremonies of expiation. He is supposed to have lived at the dawn of the Mycenaean era, i.e. around 1600 BC, his lineage lasting down to the brothers Alcmaeon and Amphilochus, who fought in the Trojan War (c. 1200 BC).1 The myth The daughters of Proetus, Lysippe, Iphinoe and Iphianassa, were seized with manic madness because they despised the worship of Dionysus. They believed themselves to be cows and wandered in the wilderness, mooing, abominable in sight with bald head and skin turned white and covered with purulent wounds.