What this project is about.
This one is from Book 13.
Bernard Picart (1673–1733), Memnon, son of Eos and Tithonus (date not known), engraving, further details not known. Wikimedia Commons.
How long it took to read this (aloud): 3 mins 56s
What it’s “about”: Mum wants her dead son remembered.
Words I didn’t know: none
Quotable quotes:
Three times they came to vanish in the sky,
Then a fourth time in clouds with noise of battle,
The fiery ravens split their ranks in two,
And in two racing armies fought: beak, claw,
In cutting fury tearing at each heart,
And as they fell they were memorial
Of Memnon’s ashes which had given them birth.
For his sake they were named Memnomdes,
And even now when the eternal Sun
Runs through twelve blazing cycles of the heavens,
They meet to fight, to die, to fall again
In memory of him who gave them being
While dog-voiced Hecuba cried through the night,
And sobs of Trojan weeping filled the air,
Aurora’s mind and heart spoke her own loss.
How it lands to my eco-sensibility: xx
Obvious allusions, ways it was used (that I am aware of already) : xx
What I know I didn’t ‘get’: xx
To my knowledge, who’s used it why/how (RACC): xx
Further research questions: xx
Anything else: xx
In Greek mythology, Memnon (/ˈmɛmnən/ ⓘ; Ancient Greek: Μέμνων, lit. ’resolute’[1]) was a king of Aethiopia and son of Tithonus and Eos. During the Trojan War, he brought an army to Troy‘s defense and killed Antilochus, Nestor‘s son, during a fierce battle. Nestor challenged Memnon to a fight, but Memnon refused, as there was little honor in killing such an aged man. Nestor then pleaded with Achilles to avenge his son’s death. Despite warnings that soon after Memnon fell so too would Achilles, the two men fought. Memnon drew blood from Achilles, but Achilles drove his spear through Memnon’s chest, sending the Aethiopian army running. The death of Memnon echoes that of Hector, another defender of Troy whom Achilles also killed out of revenge for a fallen comrade, Patroclus.
marchudson.net 
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