MELDS (mod. Milo), an island of the Aegean Sea, at the S.W. corner of the Cyclades group, 75 m. due E. from the coast of Laconia ; about 14 m. from E. to W., 8 m. from N. to S ; area about 52 sq.m. The greater portion is rugged and hilly, culminat ing in Mount Elias in the west (2,538 ft.). It is of volcanic origin, with tuff, trachyte and obsidian. In one of the caves on the south coast the heat is still great, and there are hot sulphurous springs. The harbour, a crater with depths from 7o to 3o fathoms, entered from N.W., cuts the island into two, with an isthmus 1 4 m. broad. Sulphur is found on Mount Kalamo and else where. In ancient times the alum of Melos was reckoned next to that of Egypt (Pliny xxxv. 15 [52]). The Melian earth MnXtli,$) was employed as a pigment by ancient artists. Millstones, salt and gypsum are still exported. Orange, olive, cypress and arbutus grow throughout the island: vine, cotton and barley are the main objects of cultivation.
Above the harbour town, Adamanta, lie Plaka, the chief town, Kastro, on a hill above, and other villages. The ancient town occupied the slope between the village of Trypete and the landing place at Klima. Here are a Roman theatre, town walls, and other buildings, one with a fine mosaic excavated by the British School at Athens in 1896. Numerous fine works of art have been found on this site, notably the Aphrodite of Melos in the Louvre, the Asclepius in the British Museum, and the Poseidon and an archaic Apollo in Athens.
The site of Melos and its obsidian made it an important centre of early civilization. At this time the chief settlement was at Phy lakopi, on the north-east coast, where the British School at Athens has cleared a town wall and houses of all the main periods of the Bronze Age and carried out other archaeological investiga tions in the district. There are traditions of Phoenician occupation,
but in historical times Melos was occupied by Dorians from La conia. In the 6th century it produced remarkable terra cotta, reliefs, and large vases, with mythological subjects and orientaliz ing ornament.
Melos sent a contingent to the Greek fleet at Salamis, but held aloof from the Attic league, and remained neutral during the Peloponnesian War. But in 416 B.C. the Athenians attacked the island and compelled the Melians to surrender, slew all men of military age, enslaved the women and children, and introduced 50o Athenian colonists. Lysander restored the island to its Dorian possessors, but it never recovered its prosperity. Later there were many Jewish settlers in Melos and Christianity was introduced early. Under Frankish rule the island formed part of the duchy of Naxos, except for the few years (1341-1383) when it was a separate lordship under Marco Sanudo and his daughter.
Antimelos or Antimilo (Eremomilo), 5j m. north-west of Milo, is an uninhabited mass of trachyte. Kimolos, or Argentiera, less than 1 m. to the north-east, was famous in antiquity for figs and fuller's earth and contained a considerable city, the remains of which cover the cliff of St. Andrew. Polinos, Polybos or Polivo (anc. Polyaegos) lies rather more than a mile south-east of Kimo los. It was the subject of dispute between the Melians and Kimolians, but has long been almost uninhabited.