Memnon, in Greek mythology, son of Tithonus (son of Laomedon, legendary king of Troy) and Eos (Dawn) and king of the Ethiopians. 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. Bibliography InformationWood, James, ed.

There is nothing here to show who he is and whence he comes, but it is shown elsewhere. "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. 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. In biblical culture the word mammon often carried a negative connotation. ", 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. Every morning, when the rays of the rising sun touched the statue, it gave forth musical sounds like the twang of a harp string.

[12], According to Manetho Memnon and the 8th Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty Amenophis was one and the same king. Some of those who have seen these figures guess they are Memnon, but they are far indeed from the truth. The more northerly of these was partly destroyed by an earthquake in 27 bc, resulting in a curious phenomenon. During the Trojan War, he brought an army to Troy's defense and killed Antilochus during a fierce battle. In the Prologue of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, Memnon is cited as the father of the Germanic God Thor. Ultimately, mammon described an idol of materialism, which many trusted as a … In this way, Memnon is seen as very similar to Achilles – both of them have strong sets of values that are looked upon favourably by the warrior culture of the time. At the Trojan War, he brought an army to Troy's defense and was killed by … c. 650 bc). Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Who led the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece? 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. The Nuttall Encyclopedia. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.

After the restoration of the statue by the Roman emperor Septimius Severus (ad 170) the sounds ceased; they were attributed to the passage of air through the pores of the stone, caused chiefly by the change of temperature at sunrise. [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. In Greek mythology, Memnon was an Ethiopian king and son of Tithonus and Eos. [15] Zephyrus, god of the west wind, like Memnon was also the first-born son of Eos by another father Astraeus, making him the half-brother of Memnon.

More Bible History Mythology & Beliefs : Memnon in Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (Μέμνων), a son of Tithonus and Eos, and brother of Emathion. 1183 BC. Corrections?

[6], Herodotus called Susa "the city of Memnon,"[7] Herodotus describes two tall statues with Egyptian and Ethiopian dress that some, he says, identify as Memnon; he disagrees, having previously stated that he believes it to be Sesostris. In both places, the figure is over twenty feet high, with a spear in his right hand and a bow in his left, and the rest of his equipment proportional; for it is both Egyptian and Ethiopian; and right across the breast from one shoulder to the other a text is cut in the Egyptian sacred characters, saying: 'I myself won this land with the strength of my shoulders.'

As a warrior he was considered to be almost Achilles' equal in skill. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/nut/m/memnon.html.

In the Odyssey and Hesiod he is described as the handsome son of Eos, who assisted Priam with his Ethiopians against the Greeks. The death of Memnon echoes that of Hector, another defender of Troy whom Achilles also killed out of revenge for a fallen comrade, Patroclus. [8] One of the statues was on the road from Smyrna to Sardis.

"The Origin of Memnon."

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.