Information AboutAithiopis |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT AITHIOPIS | |
| ancient greek poems | |
| epics | |
| greek mythology | |
| lost works | |
| trojan war | |
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DATE The ''Aithiopis'' was probably composed in the seventh century BCE, but there is much uncertainty. Ancient sources date Arktinos to the eighth century; but the earliest artistic representations of one of the most important characters, Penthesileia, date to about 600 BCE, suggesting a much later date. CONTENT In current critical editions only five lines survive of the ''Aithiopis''' original text. We are almost entirely dependent on a summary of the Cyclic epics contained in the ''Chrestomatheia'' (see also Chrestomathy ) attributed (almost certainly wrongly) to the 5th-century CE philosopher Proklos Diadochos . Fewer than ten other references give indications of the poem's storyline. The poem opens, shortly after the death of the Trojan hero Hektor , with the arrival of the Amazon warrior Penthesileia who has come to support the Trojans. She has a moment of glory in battle, but Achilleus kills her. The Greek warrior Thersites later taunts Achilleus, claiming that he had been in love with her, and Achilleus kills him too. Achilleus is ritually purified for the murder of Thersites. Next another Trojan ally arrives, Memnon , son of Eos and Tithonos , leading an Ethiopian contingent and wearing armour made by the god Hephaistos . In battle Memnon kills Antilochos , a Greek warrior who was the son of Nestor and a great favourite of Achilleus. Achilleus then kills Memnon, and Zeus makes Memnon immortal at Eos' request. But in his rage Achilleus pursues the Trojans into the very gates of Troy, and in the Skaian Gates he is killed by an arrow shot by Paris , assisted by the god Apollo . Achilleus' body is rescued by Aias and Odysseus . The Greeks hold a funeral for Antilochos. Achilleus' mother, the sea nymph Thetis , comes with her sisters and the Muses to lament over Achilleus' body. Funeral Games are held in honour of Achilleus, at which Achilleus' arms are offered as a prize for the greatest hero; and there develops a dispute over them between Aias and Odysseus. There the ''Aithiopis'' ends; it is uncertain whether the judgment of Achilleus' arms, and subsequent suicide of Aias, were told in the ''Aithiopis'', in the next epic in the Cycle, the '' Little Iliad '', or in both. EDITIONS
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