Memnon: The African Warrior And Mythical King Of The Ethiopians Who Made Achilles Bleed

• One of the most remarkable figures in all of Ancient Mythology is Memnon. He was a great hero, not Greek nor Roman, but an African(Ethiopian). He was a king of the Ethiopians and he played a critical role in the Trojan War.
• While Memnon ruled the great kingdom of Ethiopia and commanded its large army, which regarded by the Greeks as a more powerful and civilized kingdom than many of their European countries, he was a great king and warrior.
• This story of Memnon lays credence to the involvement of Africans in ancient legendary world events. It contradicts the usual narrative of European history that underplays or gives the impression that no Africans played an important role in world history.

There are many extraordinary characters and events in Greek and Roman mythology. One of the most remarkable figures of Classical Mythology is Memnon. However, the role Africans played in ancient mythologies has been largely downplayed or misrepresented by many historians and filmmakers. One of the most remarkable figures in this instance is that of Memnon. He was a great hero, not Greek nor Roman, but an African. He played a crucial role in the Trojan War and was regarded by the Greeks and others as one of the greatest heroes and semi-gods. Indeed, he almost turned the tide of the Trojan War, and such was his prowess and bravery. He was a king of the Ethiopians and he played a critical role in the Trojan War. Memnon, who was the son of Tithonus and Eos king of ancient Aethiopia, as modern historian calls it Africa.

Memnon was a revered figure, and he inspired great works of literature and also art. The story of this African hero provides a crucial insight into the worldview of the Ancient World. It demonstrates that they were often more tolerant regarding race and saw all people as inherently equal. The story of Memnon needs to be better known and understood in today’s very divided world. As a warrior, he was considered almost Achilles’ equal in skill. During the Trojan War, he brought an army to Troy’s defense and was killed by Achilles in retribution for killing Antilochus. Memnon’s death is related at length in the lost epic Aethiopis, composed after The Iliad circa the 7th century BC.

Son of the immortal old man

Homer makes only passing allusions to Memnon, and he is essentially a postomeric hero. According to Homer, Memnon was the son of Tithonus, a prince of Troy, and his father was King Laomedon. Troy was a large city and capital of a powerful kingdom in what is today modern Turkey. His mother was the goddess Eos, a daughter of the Titan Hyperion. Eos was the goddess of the Dawn, and she fell in love with Tithonus. She had been cursed by Aphrodite with an insatiable sexual desire and quickly fell in love. Eos took Tithonus with her to an area east of Ethiopia. According to legend the goddess swept the Trojan Prince away and took him to the farthest reaches of the earth, known as Oceanus in Greek mythology. Ethiopia in Classical Geography was a name given to the vast tract of lands in the African Continent.

Although the goddess of the Dawn Eos and Tithonus had two sons Memnon and Emathion, Memnon had many half-brothers from different fathers. Because of Aphrodite’s curse, Eos had many other lovers, and as a result, Memnon had many half-siblings, including Stilbon, Phaethon, Phainon, Euros, Vulturnus Anemoi Venti, Aquilon Anemoi Venti, and about eight others. Even though the goddess of the Dawn bore the Trojan a son, he was usually referred to as bronze-armed Memnon and he grew up to be a great warrior. Memnon enjoyed the great favor of the gods and he retained it for all his life.

Tragically, there are only fragments of an epic poem, the Aethiopis, written in the 7th or 6th century B.C., based on his life and death, which have survived. If this poem had survived, the story of Memnon would be better known, and he would be as famous as his great rival Achilles. In his legendary story, Memnon came to the assistance of his uncle Priam, for Tithonus and Priam were step-brothers, being both sons of Laomedon by different mothers.

The rise of Memnon

Memnon was regarded as one of the most handsome of all men (often depicted to have dark skin and curly hair) and possessed all the masculine virtues. Memnon was a great warrior from an early age. This was in part because he was a favorite of the gods, and his mother Eos was the goddess of Dawn. Because of his nobility of character all his life, Memnon received many favors from the gods. As a result, his bravery and his military skills were unmatched by any man Memnon. He was considered to be superior to all the Greek heroes and to be almost Achilles’ equal in skill. Emathion, who had been King before him, was killed by the most significant Greek hero Hercules. which led him to become the ruler of the Ethiopians.

The Greeks regarded Ethiopia as a powerful kingdom and civilized, much more so than many of their European countries. While he ruled this great kingdom and commanded a large army, Memnon was a great king and warrior. At the request of his mother Eos, Memnon’s armor is said to have been made by Hephaestus – the god of fire, forges, and masonry. From Ethiopia, he conquered Egypt and the east as far as the ancient land of Susa which later came to be known as Persia.

In Homer, he is referred to as bronze-armed Memnon, which references to his great strength and power conquered great swathes of countries. There are several references to him as a conqueror, and it appears that he conquered many lands in what the sources refer to as the east. This is a reference to the fact that he waged wars in the modern Middle East. There are some accounts that he conquered Egypt and campaigned as far east as Persia. Memnon had all the virtues that the Ancients admired, and one of these was loyalty to his kin.

There are references in the Iliad to him maintaining close connections with his father’s homeland and his relatives, the Trojan royal family. It appears that he maintained close ties with the home city of his father. This ultimately led to him marrying a Trojan Queen, Troana Ilium, and they had a son more widely known as Thor. There is only little known about the early life of the great hero because the epic poems based on his life have sadly (deliberately) been lost.

The Cypria, described in the preceding book, has its sequel in the Iliad of Homer, which is followed in turn by the five books of the Aethiopis, the work of Arctinus of Miletus. Their contents are as follows.

The Amazon Penthesileia, the daughter of Ares and of the Thracian race, comes to aid the Trojans, and after showing great prowess, is killed by Achilles and buried by the Trojans. Achilles then slays Thersites for abusing and reviling him for his supposed love for Penthesileia. As a result, a dispute arises amongst the Achaeans over the killing of Thersites, and Achilles sails to Lesbos and after sacrificing to Apollo, Artemis, and Leto, is purified by Odysseus from bloodshed. Then Memnon, the son of Eos, wearing armor made by Hephaestus, comes to help the Trojans, and Thetis tells her son about Memnon. A battle takes place in which Memnon and Memnon slay Antilochus Achilles. Eos then obtains Zeus and bestows upon her son immortality; but Achilles routs the Trojans, and, rushing into the city with them, is killed by Paris and Apollo. A great struggle for the body then follows, Aias taking up the body and carrying it to the ships, while Odysseus drives off the Trojans behind. The Achaeans then bury Antilochus and lay out the body of Achilles, while Thetis, arriving with the Muses and her sisters, bewails her son, whom she afterward catches away from the pyre and transports to the White Island. After this, the Achaeans pile him a cairn and hold games in his honor. Lastly, a dispute arises between Odysseus and Aias over the arms of Achilles.

THE TROJAN WAR

There are so many accounts of the legendary Trojan War. However, there seems to be a basic storyline. Paris a prince of Troy and one of the many sons of king Priam of Troy, met and fell in love with Helen. Although Helen and Paris were both in love with each other, Helen, who was adjudged to be the most beautiful woman in the whole world was married to King Menelaus of Sparta. Since love provoked people to make inconceivable decisions, Paris took Helen and they both fled to Troy. This greatly provoked king Menelaus who was not only angered by the action of Paris but saw it as an embarrassment, disrespect, and insult to the whole of Greece by the Trojan.

Troy was a great and very powerful Kingdom at the time and was highly revered; there was no way Sparta alone could have successfully invaded Troy. In sympathy, all the kings of Greece joined forces with Menelaus and sailed for Troy in a war to help Sparta. The war included: Agamemnon brother of Menelaus and king of Mycenae (or Argos), Achilles the greatest of the warriors and son of king Peleus of the Myrmidons, Odysseus king of Ithaca, Ajax king of Salamis, Nestor king of Pylos, Phoenix king of the Dolopians and many other mighty Greek warriors.

The odds were stacked against Troy despite their strength; although, they were protected behind the walls of the kingdom which the Greeks found impossible to breach. Several attempts were made to settle the rift between the Trojans and the Greeks like Paris and Menelaus confronting each other in single combat to end the war, but it did not end the hostilities. The Trojan War was a 10-year battle between the Trojans and the Greeks.

Memnon and the Trojan War

In the heat of the ten-year war, Hector mistook the weaker Patroclus for Achilles, he fought and killed him thinking he was fighting Achilles. Patroclus was Achilles’ best friend and in retaliation Achilles easily killed Hector in single combat. The death of Hector, the champion of the Trojans demoralized the Trojan forces, caused panic, and fear amongst the men, and seemed as if their city would fall. Hector’s death prompted King Priam, the King of Troy implored the gods to help him and his people in their darkest hour to seek help. At this time, the Trojans were penned up in their town by a massive collation of armies under the command of Agamemnon. Only the legendary strong walls of their city saved the Trojans from destruction. Priam, in his desperation, implored his nephew to come and help in defense of Troy.

The gods heard his pleas and told Memnon to leave Ethiopia to fight the Achaeans.  According to a post-Homeric account of the Trojan War, the Ethiopian king accepted his uncle’s call to travel to Troy with a huge army. When the Ethiopian army arrived, they were forced to camp outside the walls because of their large numbers. In many accounts, the soldiers of Memnon were shown to be highly trained and worthy opponents of the Greeks. This included specialist units and soldiers that all had ‘a terrifying warlike appearance’. He and his men were so numerous that they had to camp outside the walls of the city because it could not accommodate them all. The African hero, Memnon, and the Trojans attacked the Greeks and a brutal battle ensued. The Ethiopian king was described as riding in a chariot and killing many Greeks, who he described as his uncle’s enemies from his chariot.

Nestor, the king of Pylos came to battle with his two sons Antilochus and Thrasymedes. Memnon eventually caught up with him but Nestor’s son Antilochus came to the defense of his father and was slain by Memnon, although there are some who say Memnon killed Antilochus as revenge for killing his dear friend Aesop. Having witnessed his son perish and being grief-stricken, he challenged Memnon to single combat, but Memnon a man of honor refused to fight the aged king. Nestor, therefore, pleaded with Achilles to avenge his son’s death, since he was the only person considered equal to Memnon in strength.

During one battle, Memnon came face to face with Antilochus, a hero who was considered to be one of the greatest warriors in all of Greece. The bronze-armed Memnon dueled with Antilochus, who was the son of King Nestor was killed after a single combat. After the death of Antilochus, the Greek army panicked and was driven back almost to their ships; it seemed that they were on the verge of a complete defeat. The African King had killed one of the greatest and most feared warriors in all of Greece. This changed everything, and the tide of war began to turn in favor of the Ethiopians and their Trojan allies. The army of Agamemnon soon came to dread the name of Memnon, and they were pushed back to the sea. Indeed they were prepared to leave Troy in their ships and return to their homeland.

Achilles Vs Memnon

After the death of Antilochus, the Greek army panicked and was driven back almost to their ships; it seemed that they were on the verge of a complete defeat. King Nestor challenged Memnon to a duel, but the Ethiopian refused because of the old age of the Greeks king. In his grief, Nestor beseeched Achilles to intervene and avenge his dead son. Only he had the strength to fight with the African king, accepting his call, Achilles, who, like the Ethiopian, was beloved by the gods came to challenge Memnon to single combat. Achilles was the mightiest warrior in all of Greece; he was the son of King Peleus of the Myrmidons. His mother was Thetis a nymph with divination powers. Greek mythology has it that when he was born, his mother in an attempt to make him immortal dipped him in the river Styx, he was left vulnerable at the heel where he was held while being dipped. He was powerful and had never been defeated in any battle.

Despite the warning from Achilles’s mother Thesis who had a gift of divination to him not to kill Memnon, as his death will follow not long after Memnon is killed, Achilles is proud and unable to resist the temptation of having to prove once and for all who was the greater warrior between himself and the great Memnon ignored the warning and still went ahead to fight him. The two great heroes were evenly matched. Since the two were both the favorites of the gods and saw that their two favorites would fight to the death Olympians agreed not to help one or the other. Achilles and Memnon fought a long and grueling duel. After a prolonged battle between the two men and even though Memnon injured Achilles in the arm, the Greek was able to thrust his spear through the shield of Memnon and drive it into his side. pierced Memnon’s heart with his spear killing him.

Paris a prince of Troy, who took Helen and fled to Troy fired an arrow at the wounded Achilles from the top of the wall, when he was waiting for the arrival of Polyxena, the daughter of Priam, in the temple of Apollo Thymbraeus. According to Greek mythology the arrow was guided by Apollo the archer god and it directly struck Achilles piercing his heel, the only vulnerable spot on his body killing him, thus the phrase “Achilles heel.”. While Achilles was making a sacrifice in honor of his forthcoming marriage to Polyxena, Paris, shot him in his only vulnerable spot – the heel. The dying Achilles is supported by a man who has been identified as Automedon or Odysseus. The priest looks at Achilles in despair, and Antilochus turns away in fear toward Paris and Apollo. This is the last of a series of eight oil sketches showing scenes from the life of the Greek hero Achilles.

Eos begs Zeus for her son

The death of the great African warrior and King greatly demoralized the Trojans and his men. They made a hasty retreat back into the city where there was safety behind its walls with Achilles and his Greek countrymen in hot pursuit, and they retreated from the battlefield and returned to their homes. Some of his faithful men stayed to bury him and perform the necessary burial rites. In one myth, they buried the King in a tomb, and they were eventually turned into birds who would clear the dust from Memnon’s tomb. In another account, the gods, who were grieved over their favorite’s hero death to commemorate him, collected his blood and turned it into a river it would turn red, to mark the anniversary of his death.

Anyway, the death of this magnificent king caused great grief to his mother, and because of her pain the colors 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 honors as consolation for his death. Accordingly, the smoke of Memnon’s funeral pyre turns 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, on 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 Pilatus, which is on the coast of Syria in front of the island of Cyprus, and also in Ethiopia. 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.

The importance of the Memnon myth

This myth is significant in Classical Mythology. Firstly, it shows that the Greeks were very aware of the world around them. It appears that they were mindful of the existence of powerful African kingdoms south of Egypt. Indeed, from the Hellenistic period forward, the Hellenistic kingdoms often traded directly with these Africans. However, the legend of Memnon predates these contacts’ and this illustrates that the Greeks were aware of African societies at an early date. The story of Memnon also provides evidence that Africans played a part in the Classical World. It also helps to undermine the narrative that Africans have not played an essential role in history and the development of culture.

This myth depicts the Africans in a very positive light and as someone with the virtues revered by the Ancient Greeks and later the Romans. It shows that the Ancients had no set ideas about race, unlike the modern world ^[9].

They would have been baffled by the idea of dividing people into different races based on physical differences. This is not to say that they did not have strong ideas about ethnic identity and the Greeks saw themselves as culturally superior to barbarians. However, they did not categorize people into races. The respect that they had for Africans is evident in the story of Memnon and their high regard for him. This is also apparent in the Roman World. For example, Septimus Severus, the mighty Emperor, was born and bred in North Africa. The story of Memnon remained influential even after the collapse of the Classical World after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (476 AD). His story spread all over Europe, and in some accounts in Norse Mythology, Memnon is the father of the god Thor, who is now best known as a character from the Marvel franchise of comics and movies.

Conclusion

This story of Memnon lays credence to the involvement of Africans in ancient legendary world events. It contradicts the usual narrative of European history that underplays or gives the impression that no Africans played an important role in world history. 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 were 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 generation such story amaze nobody because such does not exist, but extraordinary and impossible things happened in the past. 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.

One of the reasons why we still are fascinated by Ancient myths is that they are great stories. We, humans, require stories and heroes. Memnon is one such hero, a great king, warrior, and noble. He was someone who almost changed the course of the most critical war in Classical mythology. However, like other myths, there is much to learn. In the story of the Ethiopian King, we have evidence that the Greeks were aware of Africa and that they played a part in Classical culture.

SOURCES

• https://chs.harvard.edu/CHS/article/display/6510.1-the-aethiopis-and-the-iliad
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memnon_(mythology)
• https://www.maicar.com/GML/Memnon.html
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Memnon-Greek-mythology
• https://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_homer_iliad.html
• http://www.maicar.com/GML/Memnon.html
• https://dailyhistory.org/Who_was_Memnon_the_African_hero_in_Greek_Mythology
• https://classicalwisdom.com/mythology/heroes/memnon-the-mythical-king-of-the-ethiopians-2/