Blacks in the Trojan War - Memnon the Ethiopian

[CharlieBrown]

It seems alot of people are not aware of the Ethiopians battles in the the Trojan War.

For those who don't: Memnon King of the Ethiopians brought a contingent of Ethiopians to Troy to battle the greeks. He was the son of Eos, Goddess of the Dawn. Every bit the equal of Achilles, he battles him to a standstill until the Fates decide against him.

Far to many think Homer's the Iliad is the definitive book on the Trojan War; it isn't.

The Iliad does not contain:

the tricking of Odysseus ;
Odysseus seeing thru Thetis attempt to hide Achilles by dressing him as a girl;
the stranding of Philocetes and his possession of the bow of Hercules;



(Covered in "The Fall of Troy" )


The death of Penthesilia;
death of Memnon;
Death of Achilles;
Achilles Funeral;
contest between Ajax and Odysseus for Achilles armor;
suicide of Ajax;
arrival and battle between the Grandson of Hercules (Eurypylus) and the son of Achilles (Neoptolemos);
the building of the Horse of Epius;
death of Paris; the death of Laocoon by the sea serpent;
the murder of Priam and Astyanax( father and son of Hector , respectively);
the rape by the Lesser Ajax;
the revenge of Athena on the Greeks ships;


the return of Agamemnon and his murder by his wife (Helen's sister);
the murder of Achilles's son by Agamemnon's son (Orestes) the flight of Aeneas son of Venus;
his journey to the underworld;
his seduction and betrayal of Dido;
the death of Anchises


Link to text of the book: http://omacl.org/Troy/

Here is an Audiobook of the Fall of Troy - if you haven't read this you don't know the Trojan War!

Book I - How died for Troy the Queen of the Amazons, Penthesileia
http://rapidgator.net/file/80391303/The_Fall_of_Troy_-_Book_I_-_How_died.mp3.html

Book II - How Memnon, Son of the Dawn, for Troy's sake fell in the Battle

http://rapidgator.net/file/80389769/The_Fall_of_Troy_Book_II_-_How_Memno.mp3.html


For those who want just the battle between Memnon and Achilles it starts around 26 minutes into book II

I'll post the other 12 Books as I upload them...

 

[CharlieBrown]

In Greek mythology, Memnon was an Ethiopian king and son of Tithonus and Eos. As a warrior he was considered to be almost Achilles' equal in skill. During the Trojan War, he brought an army to Troy's defense. The death of Memnon echoes that of Hector, another defender of Troy whom Achilles also killed out of revenge for a fallen comrade, Patroclus. After Memnon's death, Zeus was moved by Eos' tears and granted him immortality. Memnon's death is related at length in the lost epic Aethiopis, composed after The Iliad circa the 7th century BC. Quintus of Smyrna records Memnon's death in Posthomerica. His death is also described in Philostratus' Imagines.

Memnon arrives at Troy in the immediate aftermath of an argument between Polydamas, Helen, and Priam that centres on whether or not the Aethiopian King will show up at all. Memnon's army is described as being too big to be counted and his arrival starts a huge banquet in his honour. As per usual the two leaders (Memnon and, in this case, Priam) end the dinner by exchanging glorious war stories, and Memnon's tales lead Priam to declare that the Aethiopian King will be Troy's saviour. Despite this, Memnon is very humble and warns that his strength will, he hopes, be seen in battle, although he believes it is unwise to boast at dinner. 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. In battle, Memnon kills Nestor's son, Antilochos, after Antilochos has killed Memnon's dear comrade, Aithops. 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. 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. When Memnon reaches the Greek ships, Nestor begs Achilles to fight him and avenge Antilochos, leading to the two men clashing while both wearing divine armour made by Hephaestus, making another parallel between the two warriors. Zeus favours both of them and makes each man tireless and huge so that the whole battlefield can watch them clash as demigods. Eventually, Achilles stabs Memnon through the heart, causing his entire army to flee in terror. 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.[1] The Aethiopians that stayed close to Memnon in order to bury their leader are turned into birds (which we now call Memnons) and they stay by his tomb so as to remove dust that gathers on it.

Book III - How by the shaft of a God laid low was Hero Achilles

http://rapidgator.net/file/80404659/The_Fall_of_Troy_Book_III_(REDUX)_-.mp3.html

 

[OFF-BALANCED]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I heard Achilles didn't even fight in that war. I think I heard he was a child at the time, or something like that

 

[CharlieBrown]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I heard Achilles didn't even fight in that war. I think I heard he was a child at the time, or something like that

Achilles was young when it started (it lasts ten years) He was destined to die at Troy so his mother hid him by dressing him a a girl.

Odysseus knew Achilles could not hide being a man if he saw weapons so they put a bunch of women's gifts in front of the girls and mixed in weapons. Achilles betrayed himself by ignoring the trinkets and focusing on the weapons...

 

[xcluesiv]

nice drop, thanks