Memnon in art

The most famous work of art from the Greek world featuring Memnon was a painting by Polygnotus, a fifth-century-BCE Greek artist. In a building in Delphi called the Club Room, so named for its use as a meeting place for serious discussion, the Cnidians, who came from Lacedaemon, had commissioned Polygnotus to depict scenes from the Trojan War. In the painting, which has not survived,

Memnon was depicted grieving with Sarpedon, a Trojan ally from Lycia; another Trojan hero, Paris, and the Amazon queen Penthesileia stood nearby. Memnon had his hand on Sarpedon’s shoulder in a gesture of comfort, and birds embroidered on his cloak alluded to his honors. Other artworks from ancient Greece having depictions of Memnon include vase paintings showing Eos holding Memnon’s dead body, Memnon and Achilles fighting, or Zeus weighing on scales the warriors’ fates.

The story of Memnon was also told in “Aethiopis,” a poem from the Epic Cycle, which is now lost. The Epic Cycle was a collection of ancient poems covering events around the Trojan War. “Aethiopis” (also spelled “Ethiopis”) was the sequel to the Iliad, and was supposedly written by Arctinus of Miletus (dates unknown). Scholars think that the poem’s title is a reference to Memnon as the king of Ethiopia. The best sources for Memnon’s myth are now found in the summary of the Epic Cycle by Proclus (c. 410-485 CE) and in the writings of Pausanias (143—176 CE) and Ovid (43 BCE-17 CE).

Kathryn Chew

Bibliography

Homer, and Robert Fagles, trans. The Iliad. New York: Penguin, 2009.

Pausanias, and Peter Levi, trans. Guide to Greece. New York:Viking Press, 1984.