InGreek mythology,Melantho (/mɪˈlænθoʊ/;Ancient Greek:Μελανθώ,romanized: Melanthṓ) is one of the minor characters in theOdyssey.
Melantho was the sister toMelanthios, a goatherd inIthaca, and the daughter ofDolios.
Melantho was amongPenelope'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 toOdysseus and his household. She was one of the slaves who slept with thesuitors ofPenelope; "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 inIthaca 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 byTelemachus.[7]
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