01-30-2013, 12:43 AM
I had thought that Memnon was a non-Homeric later addition to the tales, in the Aethiopis, but my memory is a little hazy. In The Allies of Priam's, reference section, #14:
When was Memnon introduced and was he originally an Indo-European that was later Africanized? Was the latter the product of news of civilizations south of Egypt in the Hellenistic period?
Quote:[In the Odyssey (III.111-2) Nestor recalls the death of his son Antilochos who died by the spear of “the glorious son of shining Dawn,” (Od. IV.185-202) which is the epithet reserved for Memnon. Later in the Odyssey the Ethiopian warrior is mentioned by name as “great Memnon.” (Od. XI. 522)
When was Memnon introduced and was he originally an Indo-European that was later Africanized? Was the latter the product of news of civilizations south of Egypt in the Hellenistic period?
aka T*O*N*G*A*R