It became even harder for the Trojans to repel the onslaught of the Greeks after death Penfesilia. But suddenly, once again, help appeared to them. From the shores of gray The ocean, swirling its water around the whole earth, arrived with a huge army Ethiopians in Troy Memnon. He was the son of the beautiful goddess of the dawn Eos and Typhon and a relative of Priam. No mortal could match his beauty. Like the morning star, he shone among the Trojan army in his golden armor, forged by God himself Hephaestus.
A worthy opponent of Achilles was Memnon, the mighty son of the goddess. The fierce battle raged again under the walls of Troy. Memnon was ahead of the Trojans, Achilles was ahead of the Greeks. But he avoided meeting Memnon. The son of Thetis knew that if he killed Memnon, he would soon die himself from the arrow of Apollo. Memnon attacked the elder Nestor. How could an elderly hero fight with a young Memnon?
Nestor turned his horses and wanted to escape. But he strained his bow Paris and struck one of Nestor's horses with an arrow. Seeing that he was in imminent danger of death, Nestor called his son to help Antilokha. The faithful son hastened to help his father. He decided to die rather than let Memnon kill his father. He grabbed a huge stone of Antilochus and threw it at Memnon. But the helmet forged by the god Hephaestus protected the son of the goddess Eos from the blow.
Achilles' duel with Memnon.At the top is Hermes, weighing lots that look like winged figures; at the top, to the left of Hermes, the goddess Thetis, and to the right of him, the goddess Eos is in despair, that her son Memnon is dying, tearing his hair on his head. (Drawing on a vase.)
Memnon struck a spear into the chest of Antilochus, and the son of Nestor fell dead to the ground with a pierced heart, paying with his life for the life of his father. Elder Nestor sobbed when he saw his son's death. Memnon, despite the fact that he was attacked by another son of Nestor, Frasimed, with his friend Ferey, wanted to remove the armor from the murdered Antilochus. Nestor himself rushed to the defense of his son's corpse, But Memnon did not fight with the elder, he did not raise his hands against him. The Greeks and Ethiopians fought fiercely around the body of Antilochus. Nestor also called for the help of the mighty Achilles. Achilles was horrified when he learned that Antilochus had died. After all, he loved him more than all the heroes; after Patroclus he was his best friend.
Eos with the body of Memnon. (Drawing on a vase.)
Forgetting everything, forgetting that he himself should die after Memnon, Achilles rushed into battle. When Memnon saw Achilles approaching, he threw a huge stone at him, but the stone bounced far away, hitting the shield. Achilles wounded Memnon in the shoulder with a spear. Memnon did not pay attention to the wound, he himself wounded his son in the arm Pelea. The heroes drew their swords and rushed at each other. Both of them were equal to each other in strength, both were sons of goddesses, both wore armor forged by the god Hephaestus. Covered with shields, the heroes fought. From the high Olympus, the gods looked at this duel. The mothers of heroes, the goddess Eos and the goddess Thetis, prayed to Zeus each for her son. Zeus took the golden scales, put the lot of heroes on them and weighed them. Memnon's lot sank low, and fate promised him to fall at the hands of Achilles. The goddess Eos sobbed: she had to lose her dearly loved son. Finally, Achilles swung his heavy spear and pierced Memnon's chest. The goddess Eos was covered with a dark cloud as a sign of sadness. She sent her sons, the wind gods, to the battlefield, and they brought Memnon's body far to the banks of the river Esepa. There the young nymphs mourned him and built him a tomb.
The Ethiopians were turned into birds by the gods. Since then, every year they fly to the shores of Esep to the tomb of Memnon and there they mourn their king.
The Greeks buried the young Antilochus with great honors. His ashes were placed in an urn and subsequently placed in the same mound with the ashes of Achilles and Patroclus.
