The epic clash between Achilles, the main character of the Iliad, and Memnon, king of the Ethiopians, was a battle of titans that would determine the fate of Troy.
Homer’s epic poem, along with The Odyssey, has retained enormous influence on Western literature to this very day, and this is also true for Achilles, the fearless warrior who became the very symbol of gallantry.
“Sing, Goddess, of the rage of Peleus’ son Achilles,” is the opening line of the Iliad, the poem that describes a few weeks of the ten-year Trojan War, mainly the many feats of Achilles.
Greek mythology has it that the hero was invulnerable because his mother, Thetis, had dipped him in the river Styx as an infant.
Yet he still retained that one vulnerable part of his body, the heel which his mother had held to immerse him in the river.
Memnon arrives at Troy to fight Achilles and the Greeks
Memnon, in Greek mythology, was king of the Ethiopians and the son of Tithonus (son of Laomedon, legendary king of Troy) and Eos (goddess of the dawn). 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.
When he brought his vast army of warriors to Troy to aid in the defense of the city, the beleaguered Trojan king welcomed him with open arms. It was hoped that if anyone could put an end to the destructive Greek siege, it would be him.
The clash between Achilles and Memnon is mentioned, albeit briefly, in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. But it is primarily described in the lost epic poem, Aethiopis. This work, believed to have been written by Arctinus of Miletus, continued the story of the Trojan War after the events depicted in Homer’s Iliad.
While Aethiopis itself is no longer extant, fragments and summaries have survived, providing glimpses of the epic duel between these two legendary warriors.
Later authors, such as Quintus of Smyrna in his Posthomerica, also recount this famous battle. Written sometime in the 3rd century AD, it describes Memnon reaching Troy just as the city’s leaders are discussing surrender to the formidable Greeks.
Up to that point, the Trojans suffered terrible losses at the hands of their enemies, particularly Achilles. He had slain both Hector, the king’s oldest son, and Penthesileia, the Amazonian daughter of Ares.
When Memnon finally arrived, the Trojans received a much-needed boost to their morale. King Priam offered to hold a feast in his honor, but Memnon refused, saying he’d prefer to be well-rested for the next day’s battle. At that, Memnon gets up, excuses himself, and goes “to a bed that was his last.”
Close-combat fighting
The next day, the combined army of Trojans and Ethiopians rushed out of Troy’s gates and confronted the Greeks in bloody, close-combat fighting. Memnon slays several important Greek warriors, including Archilochus, the son of Nestor. The killing of Nestor’s son sets off a chain of events that will ultimately result in Memnon’s demise.
Nestor plays a role in several works of Greek mythology, but in The Iliad, he is portrayed as an elderly warrior who offers advice and arbitrates disputes. When he learned that Memnon killed his son, he went to Achilles for help. Achilles, who was a half-god like Memnon, is perhaps the only person who could kill the great Ethiopian warrior.
Achilles is moved by Archilochus’s death, and he and the equally formidable Ajax go to the battlefield to search for Memnon. They find him near the water, cutting a path through the fleeing Greeks who are heading toward their ships.
According to the myth, as soon as the pair confront Memnon, Ajax leaves Achilles on his own, sure that Achilles’ skill and strength will win out against the Ethiopian king.
During the duel, the gods watched in fascination as Zeus imbued both men with superhuman size and strength. So fierce was the fight between these two warriors that they paid little heed to the slaughter that was going on around them.
The two giants fought tirelessly, driving their spear points into one another’s shields and drawing blood again and again. The fight might have lasted forever if it weren’t for the Fates, who intervened on behalf of Achilles.
With the mothers of both warriors looking on in fearful anticipation, a bright Fate took Achilles’ side while a dark Fate invaded Memnon’s heart. With the fight all but decided, Achilles finally dealt Memnon a mortal blow by plunging his sword straight through Memnon’s chest.
Zeus bestowed immortality upon Memnon
The death of Memnon echoes that of Hector, another defender of Troy whom Achilles also killed out of revenge for a fallen comrade, Patroclus.
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.
In Egypt, the name of Memnon was connected with the colossal (70-foot) stone statues of Amenhotep III near Thebes, two of which still remain.
The more northerly of these was partly destroyed by an earthquake in 27BC, 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.
After the restoration of the statue by the Roman emperor Septimius Severus 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.
Related: What Happened to Achilles After the Iliad?