Molpis of Elea (Μόλπις ὁ Ἐλεάτης) was a 6th-century BCE historian from the Greek colony of Elea (Velia) in southern Italy. His dating derives from the colony's foundation around 540/535 BCE [1]. Beyond his name, origin, and classification as a writer of history, no biographical details survive.

His sole known work is the lost Founding of Elea (Κτίσις Ἐλέᾱς), cited only once by Athenaeus. That citation preserves Molpis’s record that the city’s founders, the Phocaeans, initially called it "Hyele" (Ὑέλη) [1]. No other fragments exist.

Molpis was a local historian or kitsiologos, chronicling his city's origins. His significance lies in being one of the earliest attested historians of Magna Graecia. His work, however, appears to have had minimal circulation or influence, and he remains a minor figure in the fragmentary record of pre-Herodotean historiography.

Sources 1. Perseus Digital Library, Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae, Book 13, 576a: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2013.01.0002%3Abook%3D13%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D576a