In Greek mythology, Melantho (/mɪˈlænθoʊ/; Ancient Greek: Μελανθώ, romanized: Melanthṓ) is one of the minor characters in the Odyssey.
Family
Melantho was the sister to Melanthios, a goatherd in Ithaca, and the daughter of Dolios.
Mythology
Melantho was among Penelope's favorite female slaves; she had "reared and looked after her as tenderly as her own child" and given "all the toys she could desire"[1] growing up.
Despite this, Melantho was disloyal and ungrateful to Odysseus and his household. She was one of the slaves who slept with the suitors of Penelope; "she was in love with" Eurymachus and had become his "mistress".[2]
Described as having a "sharp tongue", upon Odysseus's arrival in his own home, disguised as a beggar, Melantho treated him harshly and rudely asked why he has not gone to sleep in the smithy, the location where chance visitors in Ithaca tended to go.[3] She is rude to Odysseus again, urging him to leave, for which Odysseus and Penelope respond intensely to her.[4]
After Odysseus and his men kill the suitors, it is not clear[5] if Melantho is among the slave girls that are forced to clean the hall and are then hanged by Telemachus.[6]
Notes
References
- Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. ISBN 978-0674995611. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by E.V. Rieu and D.C.H. Rieu. Penguin Books 2003.
- Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
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