(anc. geogr.), a town of Crete mentioned by Homer; but where situate does not appear. It is said to be the mother-town of Miletus in Caria, whither a colony was led by Sarpedon, Minos's brother, (Ephorus, quoted by Strabo). Mileti, the people, (Ovid).

Miletus (anc. geogr.), the capital of Ionia, formerly a leading and principal town in the arts of war and peace, (Mela); of great antiquity, (Nonnus); built by Miletus the companion of Bacchus, (Apolodorus); famous above all for its colonies, (Herodotus, Strabo). The only town that made head against Alexander, and with much difficulty taken, (Arrian). The country of Thales, one of the seven wise men, and the first who applied himself to the study of nature. It was also the country of Anaximander, the scholar and successor of Thales, the inventor of sun-dials and the gnomon, and the first that published a geographical map; of Anaximenes, scholar and successor to the foregoing; and of other great men. It was famous for its excellent wool, according to Virgil. Mileti, the people; who, from being powerful, becoming afterwards opulent and abandoned to pleasures, lost both their riches and their power.