Life Melinno (Μελιννῶ) was a Greek poet known only from a single hymn preserved in the 5th-century CE anthology of John Stobaeus. No ancient sources beyond this mention her, and her biographical details are lost. Scholarly debate places her life between the 3rd century BCE and the 2nd century CE, based on the content of her sole surviving poem [1][2].

Works Her only known work is the "Hymn to Rome" (Ὕμνος εἰς Ῥώμην), a poem of five Sapphic stanzas addressing the personified power of Rome. Stobaeus records the full text (Anthologium 3.7.12) [1][2].

Significance Melinno's significance rests entirely on this hymn, a rare Greek literary celebration of Rome. The poem is stylistically anachronistic, employing the archaic Aeolic dialect and Sapphic meter for a contemporary Roman subject. It is a key artifact for understanding Greek cultural responses to Roman hegemony and the deliberate revival of classical forms in later periods [1][2].

Sources 1. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics: Melinno. https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4042 2. Perseus Digital Library: Stobaeus, Anthologium 3.7.12 (Text of Melinno's Hymn). http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Stob.+3.7.12&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0620