In Greek mythology, Melantho (/mɪˈlænθoʊ/ ⓘ; Ancient Greek: Μελανθώ) may refer to the following women:
- Melantho, also called Melanthea, a Phthian princess as the daughter of King Deucalion1 and Pyrrha, daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora. She was the sister of Hellen, Protogenea and Amphictyon.2 Melanthea’s other possible siblings were Pandora, Thyia,3 Orestheus, Marathonios, Pronous45 and Candybus6. Her choice of consort and offspring are dubious:
- In often told stories, Melantho was seduced by Poseidon the shape of a dolphin7 and by him, bore a son Delphus.8
- In one account, Melantheia instead married Hyamus, son of Lycorus, King of Hyampolis, and though a union with him, she became the mother of two daughters, Melanis9 and Celaeno10. Either of her daughters may have been mother of Delphus by Apollo, making Melantheia the grandmother of Delphus.
- Melantho, also called Melantomice,11 an Argive queen as the wife of King Criasus. She was the mother of Phorbas, Ereuthalion and Cleoboea.12
- Melantho, the disloyal maid of Penelope.13
Notes
Notes
- Tzetzes ad Lycophron, 208; Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 1094
- Hesiod, Catalogue of Women fr. 5 Most, pp. 46, 47 [= fr. 4 Merkelbach-West, p. 5 = Scholia ad Homer's Odyssey 10.2 (Dindorf, p. 444)].
- Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 2, 5 & 7; cf. M.L. West (1985) The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women. Oxford, pp. 50–2, who posits that a third daughter, Protogeneia, who was named at (e.g.) Pausanias, 5.1.3, was also present in the Catalogue.
- Hecateus, fr. 1F13
- Gantz, p. 167.
- Stephanus_of_Byzantium, s.v. Kandyba (Κάνδυβα)
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.120
- Tzetzes ad Lycophron, 208
- Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 1094
- Pausanias, 10.6.3
- Augustine, City of God 18.8
- Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 932; ad Phoenician Women 1116
- Homer, Odyssey 18.320
References
References
- Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: ISBN 978-0-8018-5360-9 (Vol. 1), ISBN 978-0-8018-5362-3 (Vol. 2).
- Hesiod, Catalogue of Women from Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. Online version at theio.com
- 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.
- 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.
- Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.