AethiopisAithiopis

The Aethiopis; one of the lost poems of the Epic Cycle.

According to the sixth century CE Greek writer, Proklos (Proclus), the Aethiopis told the story of the death of the Amazon queen, Penthesilea, and Memnon, the Ethiopian, at the hands of Akhilleus (Achilles).

The few remaining fragments of the Aethiopis inform us that Penthesilea was an Amazon and a daughter of Ares (god of War); she came to the aid of the Trojans when the Greeks assailed the city and was killed by Akhilleus; when Akhilleus was taunted by another Greek named Thersites for loving Penthesilea Akhilleus killed him too.

To avert the anger of the other Greeks, Akhilleus was required to go to the island of Lesbos and sacrifice to Apollon, Artemis and Leto and then be absolved of his blood-guilt by Odysseus.

The next to die was the Greek soldier, Antilokhos (Antilochus); he was killed by Memnon, a son of Eos (the Dawn) who wore armor fashioned by Hephaistos (Hephaestus); in revenge for the death of Antilokhos, Akhilleus killed Memnon; Eos successfully petitioned Zeus to make Memnon immortal.

Akhilleus, in his zeal and bloodlust, rushed into the city of Troy and was attacked and killed by Alexandros (Paris) and Apollon; the Greeks put up a terrible fight to reclaim the body of Akhilleus; while Odysseus held the Trojans at bay, Aias (Ajax) carried the body back to the Greek encampment.

Before the Greeks could burn the body of Akhilleus, his mother Thetis, her sisters and the Muse took his body to the White Island.

The woes for the Greeks were not over because Odysseus and Aias began to argue over Akhilleus’ armor; Odysseus got the armor and Aias killed himself.

The death of Akhilleus and the dispute over his armor is a very confusing subject because several versions of the story exist but the one just cited is the account given in the Aethiopis.

For the complete translations of the Epic Cycle I recommend the Loeb Classical Library volume 57, ISBN 0674990633; you can sometimes find this book at the library or you can order it from the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com.