Melantho in The Odyssey

Who is Melantho?

Melantho is a palace handmaid who enjoys privileges inside Odysseus’ home and aligns herself with the suitors. In Book 18 she openly mocks the shabby stranger (Odysseus in disguise) when he sits in the hall, and she flirts with and favors suitors—particularly Eurymachus—demonstrating her comfort with their presence and contempt for the household’s rightful master. Her behavior exemplifies a faction of the female servants who fail Penelope and the house: Penelope later mentions that some maids have betrayed her, and Melantho’s ready insolence and courtship of the suitors mark her as one of those untrustworthy attendants. Melantho’s actions contribute to the sense of disorder in the palace and to the moral contrast between loyal servants and those who trade fidelity for security or advantage.

In the book: When we first meet Melantho, she’s one of Penelope’s handmaids, comfortable in the palace and a bit too bold for a servant. She mouths off to the ragged “beggar” in the hall and cozies up to the suitors—especially Eurymachus—showing how the household isn’t all on Penelope’s side.

Personality

Disloyal

She cozies up to the suitors and later figures among the maids Penelope says betrayed her household.

Bold

Melantho mouths off to the ragged ‘beggar’ in the hall, openly insulting him in front of the suitors.

Flirtatious

She especially favors Eurymachus, showing intimate familiarity with and preference for the suitors.

Self‑interested

Her alignment with the suitors suggests she chooses advantage and comfort in the palace over loyalty to Penelope.

Character arc

Melantho’s role is static across the scenes in which she appears: she is introduced as a comfortable, impertinent maid who insults the stranger at the hall and shows favoritism toward the suitors. Rather than experiencing a moral awakening or facing an immediate personal consequence in these chapters, she remains aligned with the household faction that supports the suitors’ claim and lifestyle. Her conduct exemplifies the ongoing internal betrayal Penelope reports when she recounts that some maids proved faithless. In the narrative order provided, Melantho does not repent or shift allegiances; she instead reinforces the portrait of a palace where social norms and loyalties have eroded, making her a stable example of the household corruption that Odysseus must ultimately purge when he reclaims his home.

Relationships

• Eurymachus A suitor with whom Melantho is particularly familiar; she flatters and courts him among the other suitors.
• The Suitors Melantho aligns with the group that occupies and consumes Odysseus’ household provisions, showing them favor and companionship.
• Penelope Her mistress, whom Melantho betrays indirectly by siding with the suitors and participating in the household’s internal disloyalty.
• Telemachus The young master whose household Melantho undermines by encouraging the suitors’ contempt and disorder, though she has no direct recorded confrontation with him.
• Odysseus (disguised as the stranger/beggar) She openly insults him when he sits in the hall, demonstrating her lack of compassion and recognition of the household’s true master.
• Eurycleia The loyal nurse contrasts with Melantho’s disloyalty; Melantho’s behavior highlights the difference between faithful servants like Eurycleia and faithless ones.

Why Melantho matters

Melantho embodies the theme of loyalty versus betrayal within the domestic sphere. Her alignment with the suitors and contempt for the disguised Odysseus dramatizes how social order in Ithaca has decayed: danger to the household comes not only from external foes but from those inside who prefer comfort and advantage to fidelity. By contrasting Melantho with loyal figures, the narrative emphasizes the moral stakes of Odysseus’ return—reclaiming his home requires rooting out the complacency and opportunism of servants as well as punishing the suitors.

Chapters with Melantho

• Book 18
• Book 19

More The Odyssey characters

• OdysseusProtagonist
• TelemachusMajor character
• AthenaMajor character
• PenelopeMajor character
• ZeusMajor character
• LaertesMinor character
• The SuitorsAntagonist
• AntinousAntagonist