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Brazen-crested Memnon, a comely man according to
Odysseus, is the King
of the Ethiopians who came with a great force to
help Troy against the
Achaean invaders, and was killed by
Achilles.
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Son of the immortal old man
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Tithonus 1, they say, was snatched away by
Eos (Dawn) for love, brought
by the goddess to that Ethiopia which is not in
Africa but in the east, and there he founded the
city of Susa. Tithonus 1 was made immortal when
Eos asked
Zeus that Tithonus 1 should
be deathless and live eternally. However, she
forgot to ask youth for him, and for that reason he
suffers the full weight of Old
Age, babbling endlessly and having no strength
in his limbs. But before that, Tithonus 1 and
Eos lived rapturously as
lovers do, and they had children: Emathion 1 and
Memnon.
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His brother killed by
Heracles 1
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Emathion 1 became king of the Ethiopians, and is
remembered for having attacked
Heracles 1 when the
latter, having slain Busiris 2 (the Egyptian king
who used to sacrifice strangers), sailed up the
river Nile.
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Memnon in the East
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But Memnon himself was, as Tithonus 1, related
to the East, and he is said to have built a palace
of many colored and shining white stones bound with
gold in the city of Ecbatana. For Memnon, starting
from Ethiopia, overrun Egypt and conquered the East
as far as the city of Susa, which he surrounded by
walls.
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Conquered many in his way to
Troy
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So Memnon, although being king of the
Ethiopians, came to Troy,
not from what today is called Africa, but from
Susa, not far away from the river Tigris, in the
land that later became Persia. And when he made his
march to the west, he subdued all the peoples that
lived between Susa and
Troy.
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Memnon's arrival
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When Hector 1, the
pillar of Troy, was killed
by Achilles, there was
not much hope left for the Trojans, except that
provided by Memnon, who wearing an armour made by
Hephaestus, arrived
from the east with a huge host to help the city.
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Some killed by Memnon
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Memnon is said to have killed the Pylians
Ereuthus and Pheron, who followed
Nestor to the
Trojan War, and also
Nestor's son Antilochus,
who died for his father's sake. For the horse kept
Nestor's chariot from
moving, since it had been wounded by
Paris, when Memnon
approached. Then Nestor
shouted to his son Antilochus, who came to his
rescue, and saved his father's life at the price of
his own. For, as some say, Memnon slew him,
although there are those who say that Antilochus
was killed by Hector 1.
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Achilles kills
Memnon
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Nestor, who saw his
son perish, asked
Achilles to rescue his
son's body and armour. That is why Memnon and
Achilles fought against
each other in single combat, and although Memnon
wounded Achilles in the
arm, he himself lost his life when
Achilles plunged his
sword beneath his breast-bone. But some say that it
was Achilles' spear
that killed Memnon.
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Eos caring for her
dead son
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Soldiers turn into birds
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In any case, some have told that when Memnon
died, the whole Ethiopian army vanished with his
king, the soldiers turning into birds.
Now, some may feel tempted to reason that this
is just a way of expressing the idea of the
Ethiopian army escaping or being disbanded. And
they may also feel that if the army was dispersed
it would be better just to say so instead of making
up capricious tales, which are most implausible.
But, whatever they may feel, the Achaeans and
Trojans were most amazed when they watched the
Ethiopian army fly away. For current things amaze
nobody, but extraordinary and impossible things do.
And that was a great marvel, unlikely to happen in
our time, as no one has ever since claimed to have
witnessed anything of the sort.
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Eos begs Zeus for her son
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Anyway, the death of this magnificent king
caused great grief to his mother, and because of
her pain the colours of the morning skies grew
dull, and the heavens were overcast with clouds.
And Eos came to
Zeus and asked him to grant
Memnon special honours as consolation for his
death.
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Special honours for Memnon
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Accordingly, the smoke of Memnon's funeral pyre
turn into birds, some of which killed each other
over the flames. These birds, which are called
Memnonides, used to return on stated days every
year to Memnon's grave, in a hill above the outlet
of the Aesepus River, which flows from the
mountains of Ida in the Troad, and sprinkle it with
the water of the river from their wet wings. But
others say that Memnon was buried in Paltus, which
is on the coast of Syria in front of the island of
Cyprus.
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The tears of Dawn
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Eos herself never ceased
to lament the death of her handsome son, who was
also a magnificent king. For the dew, they say, is
the tears shed by the goddess for the death of
Memnon. And yet it has also been told that
Zeus bestowed immortality
upon Memnon at Eos' request.
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Statue
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Such is the story of Memnon. But others have
said that this son of Eos
neither went to Troy nor
died there, but that he died in Ethiopia after
ruling the country for five generations. That may
seem a long time. However, the Ethiopians, being
the longest lived men on earth, deplored his death
as premature, mourning him as a youth.
They also tell that a wonderful statue of a
young and still unbearded Memnon had been made out
of black stone, and turned towards the sunrise. The
sitting figure was represented in the very act of
rising up, with the lips as about to speak. They
affirm that the lips spoke when the sun's rays fell
upon them at dawn, and that the eyes of the statue
seemed to stand out and gleam against the light.
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