Melpomene (minor planet designation: 18 Melpomene) is a large, bright main-belt asteroid that was discovered by J. R. Hind on 24 June 1852, and named after Melpomenē, the Muse of tragedy in Greek mythology. It is classified as an S-type asteroid and is composed of silicates and metals. This asteroid is orbiting the Sun at a distance of 2.296 AU with a period of 3.48 years and an eccentricity (ovalness) of 0.22. The orbital plane is tilted at an angle of 10.1° to the plane of the ecliptic.

Melpomene occulted the star SAO 114159 on 11 December 1978. A possible Melpomenean satellite with a diameter at least 37 km was detected. The satellite candidate received a provisional designation S/1978 (18) 1. In 1988 a search for satellites or dust orbiting this asteroid was performed using the UH88 telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatories, but the effort came up empty. Melpomene was observed with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1993. It was able to resolve the asteroid's slightly elongated shape, but no satellites were detected.

Melpomene has been studied by radar. Photometric observations during 2012 provided a rotation period of 11.571±0.001 h with a brightness variation of 0.34±0.02 in magnitude, which is consistent with previous studies. It has a mean diameter of 141±2 km.

Melpomene can reach an apparent magnitude of +7.9 at a favorable opposition near perihelion, such as occurred in September 2002 when it was 0.814 AU (121.8 million km; 317 LD) from Earth.