Date
Name Melinoe
Gender Feminine
Usage Greek Mythology
Scripts Μηλινόη
Pronounced Pron. mə-LIN-o-ee
Other Forms FormsMelinoë, Meilinoe, Milinoe
Theme dark
Edit Status Status
Meaning & History
Name of a minor figure in Greek mythology, spelled Μηλινοη (Mêlinoê) or Μειλινοη (Meilinoê), possibly derived from Greek μήλινος (mêlinos) "of a quince-yellow, having the colour of quince", quince being a type of fruit, the yellowish-green colour of which allegedly "evoked the pallor of illness or death for the Greeks." If originally spelled Meilinoe, it may be derived from Greek μείλια (meilia) "propitiations, offerings to the dead".
In Greek legend she was a chthonic nymph or goddess, often given as the daughter of Persephone and Zeus, and occasionally suggested to be the daughter of Hades (in his role as a kind of "underground or chthonic Zeus"). Melinoe presided over the propitiations offered to the ghosts of the dead and was depicted with her limbs black on one side and white on the other. As a divinity she seems to have been worshipped only in the Orphic mysteries.
In Greek legend she was a chthonic nymph or goddess, often given as the daughter of Persephone and Zeus, and occasionally suggested to be the daughter of Hades (in his role as a kind of "underground or chthonic Zeus"). Melinoe presided over the propitiations offered to the ghosts of the dead and was depicted with her limbs black on one side and white on the other. As a divinity she seems to have been worshipped only in the Orphic mysteries.