Memnon
Memnon, son of Tithonus and Aurora
- son of Tithonus and Aurora, and king of the Ethiopians; he went to the aid of the Trojans, and was slain by Achilles: nigri Memnonis arma, Verg. A. 1, 489.—When burned on the funeral pile he is said to have been changed by Aurora into a bird, while from his ashes many other birds flew up, called Memnoniae or Memnonides, who every year flew from Ethiopia to Troy and fought over Memnon's tomb, Ov. M. 13, 600 sq.; id. ib. 13, 617; Plin. 10, 26, 37, § 74. The black marble statue of Memnon, near Thebes, when struck by the first beams of the sun, gave forth a sound like that of a lute-string, which was regarded as Memnon's greeting to his mother: dimidio magicae resonant ubi Memnone chordae, Juv. 15, 5; cf.: mater lutea Memnonis, i. e. Aurora, Ov. F. 4, 714: Memnonis saxea effigies, Tac. A. 2, 61.—The fate of Memnon was the subject of a poem by Alpinus, Hor. S. 10, 36. —Hence,
- A Memnŏnĭus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Memnon, Memnonian.
- 1 Lit.: Memnoniae aves, Sol. 40.—
- 2 Transf., Oriental, Moorish, black (poet.): color, Ov. P. 3, 3, 96: regna, Luc. 3, 284.— Esp., as subst.: Memnŏnĭa (Menn-), ae, f., a precious stone, of a black color, Plin. 37, 10, 63, § 173.—
- B Memnŏnĭ-des, um, f. plur., the birds of Memnon; v. supra.
- , Μέμνων, son of Tithonus and Aurora, V., H., O.—His broken statue gave a musical sound at sunrise, Ta., Iu.
(Μέμνων). (1) The beautiful son of Tithonus and Eos (Aurora), was king of the Ethiopians, and came to the assistance of Priam towards the end of the Trojan War. He wore armour made for him by Hephaestus at the request of his mother. He slew Antilochus, the son of Nestor , but was himself slain by Achilles after a long and fierce combat. While the two heroes were fighting, Zeus weighed their fates, and the scale containing Memnon's sank. To soothe the grief of his mother, Zeus conferred immortality upon Memnon, and caused a number of birds to issue out of the funeral pile, which fought over the ashes of the hero. These birds were called Memnonides, and were said to have visited every year the tomb of the hero on the Hellespont. The Greeks gave the name of Memnonium and Memnonia to certain very ancient buildings and monuments in Europe and Asia, which they supposed to have been erected by or in honour of Memnon. Of these the most celebrated was a great temple of Thebes, behind which was a colossal statue (called the statue of Memnon, τὸ Μεμνόνιον), which, when struck by the first rays of the rising sun, was said to give forth a sound like the snapping asunder of a chord. It appears, however, that the statue represented in reality the Egyptian king Amenophis. The citadel of Susa was also called Memnonion by the Greeks. On the musical statue, cf. Pliny , Pliny H. N. xxxvi. 58; Pausan. i. 42; and a paper in the Edinburgh Review for July, 1886.
(2) A native of Rhodes, who had the command of the western coast of Asia Minor when Alexander invaded Asia. He was an able officer, and his death, in B.C. 333, was an irreparable loss to the Persian cause.
(3) A native of Heraclea Pontica who wrote an elaborate history of that city, extracts from which have been preserved by Photius and are separately edited by Orelli (Leipzig, 1816).
- Paus. 10.31.7
- son of Tithonus and Dawn: Apollod. 3.12.3
- Susa called "Memnonian": Hdt. 5.53, Hdt. 7.151
- marches from Ethiopia to Susa: Paus. 1.42.3
- subjugates the nations between Susa and Ilium: Paus. 10.31.7
- comes with a force of Ethiopians to Troy against the Greeks: Apollod. E.5.1
- fights Achilles: Paus. 3.18.12, Paus. 5.19.1, Paus. 5.22.2
- slain by Achilles: Apollod. E.5.1
- his grave annually swept by birds: Paus. 10.31.6
- colossal statue of Memnon at Thebes in Egypt: Paus. 1.42.3
- painted by Polygnotus: Paus. 10.31.5
- his sword: Paus. 3.3.8
- his road in Phrygia: Paus. 10.31.7
- Memnonian walls of Susa: Paus. 4.31.5
- a rock figure in Ionia wrongly taken to represent him: Hdt. 2.106