Melantho
Melantho (Greek: Μελανθώ), is one of the minor characters in the Odyssey. Described as having a "sharp tongue", she is sister to Melanthios, a goatherd in Ithaca, and the daughter of Dolios. She is among the favorite maids of Penelope, treated like a daughter by her, having been given trinkets and other small gifts.[1]
Despite having been much cared for by Penelope, Melantho is a disloyal and ungrateful servant to Odysseus and his household. She is one of the female servants that often sleep with the suitors of Penelope, a characteristic which is evident by her relationship with Eurymachus.[2] Upon Odysseus' arrival in his own house, dressed as a beggar, Melantho rates him harshly and rudely asks why he hasn't left to sleep in the smithy, the location where chance visitors in Ithaca tended to go.[3][4]
After Odysseus kills all of the suitors and forces the unfaithful maids to clean the hall, Telemachus hangs Melantho along with the other unfaithful maids.[5]
The name Melantho may also refer to several other minor Greek mythological figures:
- Daughter of Deucalion, whom Poseidon seduced in the shape of a dolphin.[6] She had by him a son Delphus.[7]
- Wife of Criasus, mother of Phorbas, Ereuthalion and Cleoboea.[8]