Melantho (Odyssey)
Character in Greek mythology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 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.
Melantho was disloyal 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] She reveals Penelope's deception in unweaving her loom every night to the suitors.[3]
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.[4] She is rude to Odysseus again, urging him to leave, for which Odysseus and Penelope respond intensely to her.[5]
After Odysseus and his men kill the suitors, it is not clear[6] if Melantho is among the slave girls that are forced to clean the hall and are then hanged by Telemachus.[7]
.jpg){kind=small}