Melanthius (/məˈlænθiəs/; Ancient Greek: Μελάνθιος), the son of Dolius, is a minor character in Homer's Odyssey: Odysseus's disloyal goatherd.
[4] Odysseus, disguised as a beggar and accompanied by Eumaeus, encounters Melanthius on his way into town, by the fountain dedicated to the nymphs.
[5] Later, when Odysseus is brought in front of the suitors, Melanthius asserts that he knows nothing of the stranger and that Eumaeus alone is responsible for bringing him in.
[7] When the battle is won, Telemachus (the son of Odysseus), Eumaeus, and Philoetius hang the twelve slaves, including Melanthius's sister Melantho.
[11] According to Davies, the nature of Melanthius's mutilation shows his low social status, compared to the more noble deaths of the suitors.