Memnon
Classification: Greek Hero, King
Culture: Ethiopia/ Greece
Literary Sources: Shades of Memnon, Various Greek Scholars
Memnon, by whose name the colossi became known, was the hero of the Trojan War, the king of Ethiopia, who led his troops from Africa to Asia Minor to help protect the besieged city, but was ultimately killed by Achilles. The name "Memnon" means "Ruler of the Dawn".
Memnon: The hero of the Trojan war.
This very unique Warrior is the very foundation of our literature today. Helen if Troy, Achillies, Trojan horse, or Greek Mythology surrounds this man. He was an Ethiopian, Greatest Champion, and highly ethical. The greatest swordsman who ever lived. The Book Shades of Memnon is all about this warrior. There are many vases in museums capturing hand to hand combat moments.. Historians like Diodorus Silicus will admit he was virtually unstoppable.
Killing Antilichos ( The Demi God ) Greek hero and Fighting Ajax ( only 2nd to Achllies) himself the tallest and biggest of the Greeks goes to toe, blow for blow and even Ajax himself could not defeat Memnon. Achillies himself who no man could beat said he could not defeat Memnon from a frontal position.
Memnon was compared by the Zeus himself to Achilles .
Memnon, in Greek mythology, son of Tithonus (son of Laomedon, legendary king of Troy) and Eos (Dawn) and king of the Ethiopians. 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. He performed prodigies of valour but was slain by the Greek hero Achilles.
According to tradition, Zeus, the king of the gods, was moved by the tears of Eos and bestowed immortality upon Memnon. His companions were changed into birds, called Memnonides, that came every year to fight and lament over his grave. The combat between Achilles and Memnon was often represented by Greek artists, and the story of Memnon was the subject of the lost Aethiopis of Arctinus of Miletus (fl. c. 650 BC).
Colossi of Memnon - Singing Statues.
n 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. The more northerly of these was partly destroyed by an earthquake in 27 BC, resulting in a curious phenomenon. Every morning, when the rays of the rising sun touched the statue, it gave forth musical sounds like the twang of a harp string. This was supposed to be the voice of Memnon responding to the greeting of his mother, Eos.
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