Melantho was the sister to Melanthios, a goatherd in Ithaca, and the daughter of Dolios.
Melantho was among Penelope'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.
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] 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] After Odysseus and his men kill the suitors, it is not clear[5] if Melantho is among the slave girls that are forced to clean the hall and are then hanged by Telemachus.