MIGHTY MEMNON: THE AFRICAN PRESENCE IN GREEK & ROMAN MYTHOLOGY

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The fabled story of the ancient and stupendous African general and warrior-king Memnon and his display of courage and prowess at the Greek siege of Troy was one of the most widely circulated and celebrated epics in the annals of Greek and Roman mythology.  Memnon, described as "black as ebony, and the handsomest man alive," is mentioned repeatedly in the works of such early writers as Hesiod, Ovid, Pindar, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo and Virgil.  Arctinus of Miletus composed an epic poem entitled Ethiopia in which Memnon was the leading figure.  Quintus of Smyrna credits Memnon with "bringing the countless tribes of his people who live in Ethiopia, land of the black man," to Troy in support of its war against the hostile coalition of Greek city-states.  It was written that: "Memnon came to help them.  Memnon was lord over the dark Ethiopians, and the host he brought seemed infinite.  The Trojans were delighted to see him in their city."

 

According to Homer, "To Troy no hero came of nobler line, Or if nobler, Memnon, it was thine."  In more recent times (late in the nineteenth century), Dr. Rufus Lewis Perry pronounced that:

 

"The distinguished Cushite whom Homer calls Memnon came and went like a meteor in the galaxy of illustrious Ethiopian monarchs.  But the poet in classic song and the historian in legendary tradition, have preserved enough of his brightness to indicate his rank and power among the contemporary potentates of the earth.  He was king of the Ethiopians. He fought against the Greeks in the Trojan war; and after he had slain Antilochus, son of Nestor, was killed by Achilles."

 

Dr. Perry concluded that, "Through slain by Achilles, Memnon is so embalmed in verse and prose by Homer, Hesiod, Virgil and others, that his name will last as long as the writings of these imperishable authors." 

 

SOURCES:

The Cushite, by Rufus Lewis Perry

Ethiopia and Ethiopians as Seen by Classical Writers, by William Leo Hansberry

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