Did you know Homer references Memnon, king of the Ethiopians, calling him the most handsome of all men? The lost epic Aethiopis expanded on this tradition of sub-Saharan African warriors aiding Troy. Archaic Greek vase paintings depict Memnon too. The Greek term "Ethiopian" literally meant "burnt-faced," and ancient Greeks often considered these figures strikingly beautiful.
Memnon and Sub-Saharan Africans in the Greek Epic and Archaic-Period Artistic Tradition
Key facts
- Memnon, king of the Ethiopians, brought troops to assist the Trojans in the Trojan War
- The lost Greek epic Aethiopis, roughly contemporary with Homer's works, related this Ethiopian tradition
- Memnon is portrayed in archaic-period Greek vase paintings
- Homer mentions Memnon in the Odyssey, calling him the most handsome of all men
- The Greeks used the term Ethiopians for sub-Saharan Africans, meaning 'burnt-faced'
- Ancient Greeks traditionally believed Ethiopians to be good-looking
- There is an ancient Greek tradition of sub-Saharan Africans participating in the Trojan War
- In the Iliad, Helen is called 'white-armed,' a term for nobility in women
Sources
Memnon: Mythological Greek King of Ancient Aethiopiabrewminate.com
Memnon's death is related at length in the lost epic Aethiopis, composed after The Iliad, circa the 7th century BCE. Quintus of Smyrna records
Memnonen.wikipedia.org
Memnon's death is related at length in the lost epic Aethiopis, [2] likely composed after The Iliad, circa the 7th century BC.
"Iliad" and "Aethiopis"jstor.org
by ML West · 2003 · Cited by 105 — An influential doctrine holds that major portions of the Iliad were f model of an epic that related the death of Achilles much as it was relat Aethiopis.
Aethiopisen.wikipedia.org
Aethiopis is a lost epic of ancient Greek literature. It was one of the Epic Cycle, which told the entire history of the Trojan War in epic verse.
Memnon in Greek Mythologygreeklegendsandmyths.com
Memnon is but briefly mentioned by Homer in both the Iliad and Odyssey, but is the central figure in a, mostly, lost epic named the Aethiopis. The Aethiopis is ...
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