As a warrior he was considered to be almost Achilles' equal in skill. Pausanias describes how he marveled at a colossal statue in Egypt, having been told that Memnon began his travels in Africa: In Egyptian Thebes, on crossing the Nile to the so-called Pipes, I saw a statue, still sitting, which gave out a sound. The more northerly of these was partly destroyed by an earthquake in 27 bc, resulting in a curious phenomenon. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/nut/m/memnon.html. Griffith, R. Drew. After … In Greek mythology, Memnon was an Ethiopian king and son of Tithonus and Eos. Memnon of Rhodes was a prominent Rhodian Greek commander in the service of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. Near the earth's centre was made that goodliest of homes and haunts that ever have been, which is called Troy, even that which we call Turkland. Memnon, in Greek mythology, son of Tithonus (son of Laomedon, legendary king of Troy) and Eos (Dawn) and king of the Ethiopians. Memnon's army is described as being too big to be counted and his arrival starts a huge banquet in his honour. 1900. Classical Antiquity 17, no. In: This page was last edited on 6 August 2020, at 22:09. [12], According to Manetho Memnon and the 8th Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty Amenophis was one and the same king. Despite this, Memnon is very humble and warns that his strength will, he hopes, be seen in battle, although he believes it is unwise to boast at dinner. Related to the Persian aristocracy by the marriage of his sister to the satrap Artabazus II, together with his brother Mentor he served the Persian king for most of his life, and played an important role during the invasion of Alexander the Great and the decades before that. The death of Memnon echoes that of Hector, another defender of Troy whom Achilles also killed out of revenge for a fallen comrade, Patroclus. There are statues of Amenhotep III in the Theban Necropolis in Egypt that were known to the Romans as the Colossi of Memnon. Entry for 'Memnon'. There were twelve kingdoms and one High King, and many sovereignties belonged to each kingdom; in the stronghold were twelve chieftains. Memnon was a heroic defender of Troy in Greek mythology, not a Trojan like Hector, but an ally of King Priam from Aethiopia. This was supposed to be the voice of Memnon responding to the greeting of his mother, Eos. A son of Tithonus and Aurora, who was sent by his father, king of Egypt and Ethiopia, to the assistance of Troy on the death of Hector, and who slew Antilochus, the son of Nestor, and was himself slain by Achilles, whereupon Aurora, all tears, besought Zeus to immortalise his memory, which, however, did not calm her sorrow, for ever since the earth bears witness to her weeping in the dews of the … These chieftains were in every manly part greatly above other men that have ever been in the world. In Greek mythology, Memnon (/ˈmɛmnən/; Ancient Greek: Μέμνων) was an Ethiopian king and son of Tithonus and Eos. [5], Roman writers and later classical Greek writers such as Diodorus Siculus believed Memnon hailed from "Aethiopia", a geographical area in Africa, usually south of Egypt. His companions were changed into birds, called Memnonides, that came every year to fight and lament over his grave. Heichelheim, F. M. "THE HISTORICAL DATE FOR THE FINAL MEMNON MYTH." He was a post-Homeric hero, who, after the death of the Trojan warrior Hector, went to assist his uncle Priam, the last king of Troy, against the Greeks. When Memnon reaches the Greek ships, Nestor begs Achilles to fight him and avenge Antilochos, leading to the two men clashing while both wearing divine armour made by Hephaestus, making another parallel between the two warriors. Corrections? Go to, To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use our convenient. In honour of Memnon, the gods collect all the drops of blood that fall from him and use them to form a huge river that on every anniversary of his death will bear the stench of human flesh. As a warrior he was considered to be almost Achilles' equal in skill. Before the next day's battle, so great is the divine love towards Memnon that Zeus makes all the other Olympians promise not to interfere in the fighting. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. The Thebans, however, say that it is a statue, not of Memnon, but of a native named Phamenoph, and I have heard some say that it is Sesostris. He performed prodigies of valour but was slain by the Greek hero Achilles. In Egypt the name of Memnon was connected with the colossal (70-foot [21-metre]) stone statues of Amenhotep III near Thebes, two of which still remain. More Bible History Mythology & Beliefs : Memnon in Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology （Μέμνων), a son of Tithonus and Eos, and brother of Emathion. Quintus of Smyrna records Memnon's death in Posthomerica. As per usual the two leaders (Memnon and, in this case, Priam) end the dinner by exchanging glorious war stories, and Memnon's tales lead Priam to declare that the Aethiopian King will be Troy's saviour. "To be perfectly happy," said he to himself, "I have nothing to do but to divest myself entirely of passions; and nothing is more easy, as everybody knows. Though the story of Memnon is not as famous as that of Hector, Memnon is considered to be an equal of the Achaean hero Achilles, for although Hector had the fighting prowess, Achilles and Memnon were both demi-gods, born to mortal fathers and immortal mothers. In the Prologue of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, Memnon is cited as the father of the Germanic God Thor. According to Hesiod Eos bore to Tithonus bronzed armed Memnon, the King of the Ethiopians and lordly Emathion. Dictys Cretensis, author of a pseudo-chronicle of the Trojan War, writes that "Memnon, the son of Tithonus and Aurora, arrived with a large army of Indians and Ethiopians, a truly remarkable army which consisted of thousands and thousands of men with various kinds of arms, and surpassed the hopes and prayers even of Priam."[1][2]. ", Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy book 2, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Dictys Cretensis, Trojan War Chronicle, 4.4, DICTYS CRETENSIS BOOK 4, TRANSLATED BY R. M. FRAZER, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Memnon_(mythology)&oldid=971560142, Articles needing additional references from April 2010, All articles needing additional references, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. [3] The Aethiopians that stayed close to Memnon in order to bury their leader are turned into birds (which we now call Memnonides)[4] and they stay by his tomb so as to remove dust that gathers on it. Finding the new version too difficult to understand? The death of Memnon echoes that of Hector, another defender of Troy whom Achilles also killed out of revenge for a fallen comrade, Patroclus. Memnon's death is related at length in the lost epic Aethiopis, composed after The Iliad circa the 7th century BC. Seeking vengeance and despite his age, Nestor tries to fight Memnon but the Aethiopian warrior insists it would not be just to fight such an old man, and respects Nestor so much that he refuses to fight. c. 650 bc). During the Trojan War, he brought an army to Troy's defense and killed Antilochus during a fierce battle. The many call it Memnon, who they say from Aethiopia overran Egypt and as far as Susa. He slew Antilochus, the son of Nestor, at Troy. Memnon one day took it into his head to become a great philosopher. Philostratus of Lemnos in his work Imagines, describes artwork of a scene which depicts Memnon: Now such is the scene in Homer, but the events depicted by the painter are as follows: Memnon coming from Ethiopia slays Antilochus, who has thrown himself in front of this father, and he seems to strike terror among the Achaeans – for before Memnon's time black men were but a subject for story – and the Achaeans, gaining possession of the body, lament Antilochus, both the sons of Atreus and the Ithacan and the son of Tydeus and the two heroes of the same name. Because the original historical work by Arctinus of Miletus only survives in fragments, most of what is known about Memnon comes from post-Homeric Greek and Roman writers. Frederick Warne & Co Ltd. London. One king among them was called Múnón or Mennón; and he was wedded to the daughter of the High King Priam, her who was called Tróán; they had a child named Trór, whom we call Thor. He was a post-Homeric hero, who, after the death of the Trojan warrior Hector, went to assist his uncle Priam, the last king of Troy, against the Greeks. Accessed June 15, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/41243876. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. His death is also described in Philostratus' Imagines. According to Quintus Smyrnaeus, Memnon said himself that he was raised by the Hesperides on the coast of Oceanus.

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