Memnon
Memnon, son of Tithonus and Aurora
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
Could not find Memnonis in Logeion dictionaries.
Memnonis Proper-name noun: masculine genitive singular of Memnon
- 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), a son of Tithonus and Eos, and brother of Emathion. In the Odyssey and Hesiod he is described as the handsome son of Eos, who assisted Priam with his Ethiopians against the Greeks. He slew Antilochus, the son of Nestor, at Troy. (Hes. Th. 984, &c.; Hom. Od. 4.188, 11.522; Apollod. 3.12. § 4.) Some writers called his mother a Cissian woman (Κισσια), from the Persian province of Cissia. (Strab. p. 728 ; Hdt. 5.49, 52.) As Eos is sometimes identical with Hemera, Memnon's mother is also called Hemera. [Eos.] Homer makes only passing allusions to Memnon, and he is essentially a postomeric hero. According to these later traditions, he was a prince of the Ethiopians, and accordingly black (Ov. Amor. 1.8. 4, Epist. ex Pont. 3.3. 96; Paus. 10.31.2); he came to the assistance of his uncle Priam, for Tithonus and Priam were step-brothers, being both sons of Laomedon by different mothers. (Tzetz. ad Lyc. 18.) Respecting his expedition to Troy there are different legends. According to some Memnon the Ethiopian first went to Egypt, thence to Susa, and thence to Troy. (Pats. 1.42.2.) At Susa, which had been founded by Tithonus, Memnon built the acropolis which was called after him the Memnonium. (Hdt. 5.53, 7.151; Strab. p. 728; Paus. 4.31.5.) According to some Tithonus was the governor of a Persian province. and the favourite of Teutamnus; and Memnon obtained the command of a large host of Ethiopians and Susans to succor Priam. (Diod. 2.22, 4.75; Paus. 10.31.2.) A third tradition states that Tithonus sent his son to Priam, because Prian had made him a present of a golden vine. (Serv. ad Aen. 1.493.) Dictys Cretensis (4.4) makes Memnon lead an army of Ethiopians and Indians from the heights of Mount Caucasus to Troy. In the fight against the Greeks he was slain by Achilles. The principal points connected with his exploits at Troy are, his victory over Antilochus, his contest with Achilles, and lastly, his death and the removal of his body by his mother. With regard t tthe first, we are told that Antilochus, the dearest friend of Achilles after the fall of Patroclus, hastened to the assistance of his father, Nestor, who was hard pressed by Paris. Memnon attacked Antilochus, and slew him. (Pind. P. 6.30, &c.) According to others, Memnon was fighting with Ajax; and before his Ethiopians could come to his assistance, Achilles came up, and killed Ieninon (Dict. Cret. 4.6); the same accounts represent Antilochus as having been conquered by Hector. (Ov. Ep. 1.15; Iygin. Sab. 113.) According to the common account, however, Achilles avenged the death of Antilochus upon Memnon, of whose fate Achilles had been informed by his mother, Thetis. While both were fighting Zeus weighed the fate of the two heroes, and the wale containing that of Memnon sank. (Pind. O. 2.148, Nem. 3.110, 6.83; Quint. Smyrn. 2.224, &c.; Philostr. Icon. 2.7; Plut. De And. Poit. 2.) According to Diodorus (2.22) Memnon was not killed in an open contest, but fell into an ambush in which the Thessalians lay in wait for him. Eos prayed to Zeus to grant her son immortality, and removed his body from the field of battle. She wept for him every morning; and the dew-drops which appear in the morning are the tears of Eos. (Serv. ad Aen. 1.493; Ov. Met. 13.622.)
Philostratus (Her. 3.4) distinguishes between a Trojan and an Ethiopian Memnon, and believes that the former, who was very young and did not distinguish himself till after the death of Hector, slew Antilochus; and he adds, that Achilles, after having avenged his friend, burnt the armour and Lead of Memnononn the funeral pile of Antilochus. Sonme say that the Ethiopian warriors burned the body of Memnon, and carried the ashes to Tithonus (Diod. 1. c.); or that those who had gone to Troy under his general, Phallas, received his ashes near Paphos, in Cyprus, and gave them to Memnon's sister, Himera, who was searching after his body, and buried them in Palliochis (an unknown place), whereiepon she disappeared. (Dict. Cret. vi. ]0.) Tombs of Memnon were shown in several places, as at Ptolemais in Syria, on the Hellespont, on a hill near the mouth of the river Aesepus, near Paltou in Syria, in Ethiopia and other places. (Strab. pp. 587, 728.) His armour was said to have been made for him by Hephaestus, at the request of his mother; and his sword was shown in the temple of Asclepius, at Nicomedeia. (Paus. 3.3.6.) His companions, who indulged in excessive wailings at his death, were changed by the gods into birds, called Memnonides, and some of them died of grief. (Serv. ad Aen. 1.755.) According to Ovid (Ov. Met. 13.57G, &c.), Eos implored Zeus to confer an honour on her son, to console her for his loss. He accordingly caused a number of birds, divided into two swarms, to fight ill the air over the funeral sacrifice until a portion of them fell down upon the ashes of the hero, and thus formed a funeral sacrifice for him. According to a story current on the Hellespont, the Memnonides every year visited the tomb of Memnon, cleared the ground round about, and moistened it with their wings, which they wetted in the waters of the river Aesepus. (Paus. 10.31.2; comp. Plin. Nat. 36.7.)
At a comparatively late period, when the Greeks became acquainted with Egypt, and the colossal statue in the neighbourhood of Thebes, the stone of which, when reached by the rays of the rising sun, gave forth a sound resembling that of a breaking chord, they looked upon that statue as representing the son of Eos, or confounded it with their own Helios, although they well knew that the Egyptians did not call the statue Memnon, but Amenophis. (Paus. 1.42.2; comp. Callistrat. Stut.1.9.) This colossal figure, made of black stone, in a sitting posture, with its feet close together, and the hands leaning on its seat, was broken in the middle, so that the upper part had fallen down; but it was afterwards restored. (Paus.l.c.; Strab. p. 816; Philostr. Her.3.4, Icon.1.7, Vit. Apollon. 6.4; Lucian, Tox. 27; Tac. Ann. 2.61; Juv. 15.5.) Several very ingenious conjectures have been propounded respecting the alleged meaning of the so-called statue of Memnon; and some have asserted that it served for astronomical purposes, and others that it had reference to the mystic worship of the sun and light, though there can be little doubt that the statue represented nothing else than the Egyptian king Amenophis. (Creuzer, Symbolik,p. 149, &c.; Jablonski, De llfemnone;and the various works on Egyptian antiquities.)
The fight of Memnon with Achilles was often represented by Greek artists, as for example, on the chest of Cypselus (Paus. 5.19.1), on the throne of Apollo, at Amyclae (3.18.7), in a large group at Olympia, the work of Lycius, which had been dedicated there by the inhabitants of Apollonia (5.22.2), in the Lesche at Delphi, by Polygnotus (10.31.2; comp. Millingen, Momnunt. Inedit. 1, 4, 5, 40). [L.S]
(Μέμνων), historical.
1. A distinguished Greek, a native of Rhodes. The date of his birth is not accurately known, but Demosthenes (c. Aristocr. p. 672) speaks of him as a young man in B. C. 352. His sister was the wife of Artabazus, satrap of Lower Phrygia, and he joined the latter in his revolt against Dareius Ochus. When fortune deserted the insurgents they fled to the court of Philip. Mentor, the brother of Memnon [Mentor], being high in favour with Dareius on account of his services in Egypt, interceded on behalf of Artabazus and Memnon, who were pardoned and again received into flavour. On the death of Mentor, Memnon, who possessed great military skill and experience, succeeded him in his authority, which extended over all the western coast of Asia Minor (about B. C. 336). When Alexander invaded Asia, Meninon, with the satraps Spithridates and Arsites, collected an army, with which they encamped on the banks of the Granicus. Memnon, thinking their forces insufficient to oppose Alexander, recommended that they should retire and lay waste the country behind them; but his advice was overruled. After the defeat of the Persian troops, Memrlon sent his wife and children to Dareius as tokens and pledges of his fidelity. As he had hoped, he was invested by the king with the supreme command in the west of Asia. He defended Halicarnassus against Alexander with great skill and bravery, until it was no longer possible to bold out. Having set fire to the place, lie and Orontobates made their escape, and crossed over to Cos. Memnon now formed the design of carrying the war into Greece, and attacking Macedonia. Dareius had furnished him with large supplies of money. He collected a large force of mercenaries, and a fleet of 300 ships. At the head of this force he attacked and took Chios, and thence proceeded to Lesbos. Here he captured several towns without difficulty, but was delayed for a considerable time in the reduction of Mytilene. At this place he was taken ill and died, B. C. 333. His death was an irreparable loss to the Persian cause; for several Greek states, and in particular the Spartans, hearing of his success and intentions, were prepared to join him, had he carried the war into Greece. According to Polyaenus (5.44.1) he was some time or other engaged in hostilities with Leucon, king of Bosporus, who died B. C. 353. (Arrian, 1.12, 20-23, 2.1; Diod. 16.34, 52, 17.7, 18, 23, 24, 29, 31; Clinton, F. H. vol. ii. p. 284.)
2. Governor of Thrace, who, while Alexander was absent in the East, seized the opportunity afforded by the disaster of Zopyrion, and revolted. The outbreak, however, was speedily suppressed by Antipater, B. C. 330. (Diod. 17.62.)
3. One of the demiurgi of the Achaeans, at the time of the Roman embassy to the League. (Liv. 32.22.) [C.P.M]
(Μέμνων), a Greek historical writer, a native probably of Heracleia Pontica. Works History of Heracleia Pontica
Memnon wrote a large work on the history of that city, especially of the tyrants under whose power Heracleia had at various times fallen. Our knowledge of this work is derived from Photius. Of how many books it consisted we do not know. Photius had read from the ninth to the sixteenth inclusive, of which portion he has made a tolerably copious abstract. The first eight books he had not read, and he speaks of other books after the sixteenth. The ninth book begins with an account of the tyrant Clearchus, the disciple of Plato and Isocrates. The last event mentioned in the sixteenth book was the death of Brithagoras, who was sent by the Heracleians as ambassador to J. Caesar, after the latter had obtained the supreme power. From this Vossius supposes that the work was written about the time of Augustus; in the judgment of Orelli, not later than the time of Hadrian or the Antonines. It is, of course, impossible to fix the date with any precision, as we do not know at all down to what time the entire work was carried.
The style of Memnon, according to Photius, was clear and simple, and the words well chosen. The Excerpta of Photius, however, contain numerous examples of rare and poetical expressions, as well as a few which indicate the decline of the Greek language. Editions
These Excerpta of Photius were first published separately, together with the remains of Otesias and Agatharchides by H. Stephanus, Paris, 1557. The best edition is that by J. Conr. Orelli, Leipzig, 1816, containing, together with the remains of Memnon, a few fragments of other writers on Heracleia. Translations
There is a French translation of Photius's Excerpta in the Mémoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, vol. xiv. Further Information
Phot. Cod. ccxxiv.; Voss. De Hist. Graecis, ed. Westermann, p. 226; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. vii. p. 748; Groddeck, Initia Historiae Graecorum Literariae, ii. p. 74. [C.P.M]
- , 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