Melissa was a Pythagorean

Pythagoreanism

Pythagoreanism was the system of esoteric and metaphysical beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans, who were considerably influenced by mathematics. Pythagoreanism originated in the 5th century BCE and greatly influenced Platonism...

 philosopher and mathematician

Mathematician

A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....

 from the 6th century. Her name derives from the Greek word melli meaning honey

Honey

Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...

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Little is known about her life and works, although remaining letters point to a neo-Pythagorean thought.

Themistoclea

Themistoclea

Themistoclea was a priestess, philosopher and mathematician at Delphi.. According to surviving sources she was Pythagoras’ teacher, although she may also have been his sister...

  and she were the only ones not to belong to the Pythagorean household.

She is considered, along with his wife and daughters, as one of those who might have inherited the Pythagorean School after Pythagoras

Pythagoras

Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...

' death.