What is the roman name for melinoe?

Answer 1

The female name Melinoe (alternatively Melinoë; mel-IN-o-ee) is not derived from Roman heritage; she was a Greek Goddess, daughter of Hades and Persephone. She was the Goddess of Nightmares as well as a "messenger God"; deliverer of tokens to the dead for the likes of Hermes, etc., and collected the lost souls on Earth for her father. Her name literally translates to "Dark thought."

The only possible similarity between her and a Roman Goddess is Hecate/Hekate: "In the hymn [Apostolos Athanassakis], Melinoë has characteristics that seem similar to Hecate and the Erinyes, and the name is sometimes thought to be an epithet of Hecate.

"The terms in which Melinoë is described are typical of moon goddesses in Orphic texts. Her name may derive from Greek mēlinos (μήλινος), "having the color of quince," from mēlon (μῆλον), "tree fruit"."

Persona

At night, when returning to Earth, she would have what is described as a train of ghosts follow her -- supposedly the said lost souls of which she collects to send to the Underworld. Half of her body was black to symbolise her father, and the other half white to symbolise her mother; this was allegedly why dogs would bark for no apparent reason in the middle of the night -- her very presence was frightening to mortals as well as possibly influencing some of the Gods with the same sensation of dread.

She was a shape-shifter, and able to conjure within the living nightmares which were for the purpose of giving mortals messages in one's sleep. She also had a bit of a tendency to scare the living as she passed, and procure the "I just felt someone walk over my grave" feeling. Despite this, she was not at all a hostile Goddess per se.