Melino

Melino; is described in the invocation of the Orphic Hymn as ;;;;;;;;;;; (krokopeplos), "clad in saffron" (see peplos), an epithet in ancient Greek poetry for moon goddesses.[27] In the hymns, only two goddesses are described as krokopeplos, Melino; and Hecate.[28]

Melino;'s connections to Hecate and Hermes suggest that she exercised her power in the realm of the soul's passage, and in that function may be compared to the torchbearer Eubouleos in the mysteries.[29]

According to the hymn, she brings night terrors to mortals by manifesting in strange forms, "now plain to the eye, now shadowy, now shining in the darkness", and can drive mortals insane. The purpose of the hymn is to placate her by showing that the Orphic initiate understands and respects her nature, thereby averting the harm she has the capacity for causing.

The translation of Thomas Taylor (1887) has given rise to a conception of Melinoe as half-black, half-white, representing the duality of the heavenly Zeus and the infernal Hades. This had been the interpretation of Gottfried Hermann in his annotated text of the hymns in 1805.[30] This duality may be implicit, like the explanation offered by Servius for why the poplar leaf has a light and dark side to represent Leuke ("White"), a nymph loved by Hades. The Orphic text poses interpretational challenges for translators in this passage.[3

Melino; dances in the darkness,
Bringing shadows to human souls.
People have strange dreams
And go mad
Under the moonlight.
She is mysterious and lonely,
A magician who is able to shapeshift.