Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - Babu sauran bayanai game da rayuwar Melissus. Wataƙila an haife shi a kusan shekara ta 500 kafin haihuwar Yesu; ba a san ranar mutuwarsa ba. Kadan da aka sani game da shi galibi an tattara shi ne daga ƙaramin nassi a cikin "Life of Pericles" na Plutarch. Shi ne kwamandan rundunar jiragen ruwa na Samian a yakin Samian.
, kuma ya kayar da Pericles da jirgin ruwan Athens a cikin 440 BC. Plutarch ya yi iƙirarin cewa Aristotle ya ce Melissus ya kuma ci Pericles a wani yaƙi na farko. A cikin littafinsa "Life of Themistocles", Plutarch ya musanta da'awar Stesimbrotus cewa Melissus yana da daraja sosai ga Themistocles, yana da'awar cewa yana rikitar da Themistocles da Pericles. Melissus an san shi da zama almajirin Parmenides, kuma malamin Leucippus, kodayake dole ne mutum ya ɗauki irin waɗannan da'awar tare da kyakkyawan shakku.