TheAithiopis (/iːˈθaɪəpɪs/;Ancient Greek:Αἰθιοπίς,romanized: Aithiopís), also spelledAethiopis, is a lostepic of ancientGreek literature. It was one of theEpic Cycle, which told the entire history of theTrojan War in epic verse. The story of theAethiopis lands chronologically after theHomericIliad, and could be followed by that of theLittle Iliad. TheAethiopis was often attributed by ancient writers toArctinus of Miletus who lived in the 8th century BC (seeCyclic poets). The poem comprised five books of verse indactylic hexameter. Very few fragments of theAethiopis survive today;Proclus's summary of the poem's contents establishes the narrative framework of the epic.[1]
TheAethiopis was probably composed in the seventh century BC, but there is much uncertainty about its date. Ancient sources date Arctinus to the eighth century; but the earliest artistic representations of one of the most important characters,Penthesilea, date to about 600 BC, suggesting a much later date.
In current critical editions only five lines survive of theAethiopis' original text. We are almost entirely dependent on a summary of the Cyclic epics contained in theChrestomathy attributed to an unknown Proclus (possibly to be identified with the 2nd-century AD grammarianEutychius Proclus). Fewer than ten other references give indications of the poem's storyline.
According to Davies, Memnon as the helping warrior in theAethiopis corresponds to Amazon QueenPenthesileia displaying a kind of symmetry in its plot: "two major allies come to help Priam and are killed by Achilles; these arePenthesileia, from the north, andMemnon, from the south, both (in strong contrast to the Trojan allies of theIliad) dwelling in remote fantasy lands. It rather looks as if Penthesileia and Memnon were early conceived as a corresponding pair.[2]
The poem opens shortly after the death of theTrojan heroHector, with the arrival of theAmazon warriorPenthesileia who has come to support the Trojans. She has a moment of glory in battle, butAchilles kills her. The Greek warriorThersites later taunts Achilles, claiming that he had been in love with her, and Achilles kills him too. Achilles is ritually purified for the murder of Thersites.
Next another Trojan ally arrives,Memnon, son ofEos andTithonus, leading anEthiopian contingent and wearing armour made by the godHephaestus. In battle, Memnon killsAntilochus, a Greek warrior who was the son ofNestor and a great favourite of Achilles. Achilles then kills Memnon, and Zeus makes Memnon immortal at Eos' request. But in his rage Achilles pursues the Trojans into the very gates of Troy, and at theScaean Gates he is killed by an arrow shot byParis, assisted by the godApollo. Achilles' body is rescued byAjax andOdysseus.
The Greeks hold a funeral for Antilochus. Achilles's mother, the sea nymphThetis, comes with her sisters and theMuses to lament over Achilles's body. Funeral games are held in honour of Achilles, at which his armor and weapons are offered as a prize for the greatest hero. A dispute over them develops between Ajax and Odysseus. There theAethiopis ends; it is uncertain whether the judgment of Achilles' armor, and subsequent suicide of Ajax, were told in theAethiopis, in the next epic in the Cycle, theLittle Iliad, or in both.
Events told in the story of theAethiopis were popular amongancient Greek vase painters. Especially popular scenes are the death of Penthesilea, and Ajax's retrieval of Achilles' corpse.
Despite being poorly attested, theAethiopis is frequently cited in modern scholarship on the HomericIliad.[3] It is one of the most important paradigms used inNeoanalytic scholarship on Homer because of strong similarities between its story of Achilles, Antilochus, and Memnon, and the Iliadic story of Achilles, Patroclus, and Hector; the claim that such a similarity exists is known as the "Memnon theory".[4]
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