Melissus of Samos (5th century BC) Greek philosopher statesman a pupil of Parmenides, commanded the Samian fleet which defeated the Athenians under Pericles in 441 BC.

Melissus was the third and last member of the ancient school of Eleatic philosophy, whose other members included Zeno and Parmenides. He may have been born around 500 BC; the date of his death is unknown. The little which is known about him is mostly gleaned from a small passage in Plutarch’s Life of Pericles.