Aethiopis

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Aethiopis

Drinking bowl with scenes from the Aethiopis epic
Original Title:	Αἰθιοπίς
Central Theme:
Synopsis:	The arrival of the Trojan allies, Penthesileia the Amazon and Memnon; their deaths at Achilles' hands in revenge for the death of Antilochus; Achilles' own death (Wikipedia)
Series:	The Trojan Cycle
Preceded by:	The Iliad
Followed by:	Little Iliad

“τίς πόθεν εἰς σύ, γύναι; τίνος ἔκγονος εὔχεαι εἶναι;” —The Aethiopis

The third installment in The Trojan Cycle, a lost work.

The Aethiopis (Αἰθιοπίς) follows after the events of the Iliad, bringing in numerous new Trojan allies to even things out after Hector's death. It seems to have been written sometime in the seventh century BC, but uncertainty remains.

Penthesilea, an Amazon and a daughter of Ares, is the first to arrive to aid Troy. She kills countless Achaeans until Achilles bests her. Achilles then strikes and kills a Achaean soldier, Thersites, for jeering at him about an alleged love for the Amazon.

The Trojans gain another ally with the arrival of Memnon and the Ethiopians. Thetis prophesies to Achilles about a battle with Memnon, who is also of Divine Parentage (the son of Eos, the Dawn) and bears armour crafted by Hephestus.

Achilles successfully kills Memnon and puts the Trojans to flight, chasing them into the city where he is finally killed by Paris and Apollo.

The Achaeans and Trojans then proceed to fight over his body, and Ajax manages to get it back to the Achaean ships, where Thetis arrives with the Muses and the Nereids to lament his death. The funeral games are played, and the epic ends with a quarrel between Ajax and Odysseus over the arms of Achilles.

Ancient fragments of the Aethiopis, including Proclus's summary, are available in English here.

The Aethiopis likely provided examples of:

• Action Girl: Penthesilea, the Amazon and daughter of the war god, who slaughters the Achaeans unchecked until Achilles slays her.
• Antagonist Title: Aethiopis refers to the Ethiopians, newly arrived Trojan allies whom Memnon leads.
• The Archer: Paris and Apollo.
• Big Guy Fatality Syndrome: Achilles takes out both Penthesilea and Memnon, only to meet his death by Apollo shortly afterwards.
• The Cavalry: The new Trojan allies.
• Custom Uniform: Like the armour Achilles gets in the Iliad, Memnon's armour is also crafted by Hephestus.
• Curb Stomp Battle: Carefully averted with the introduction of new Trojan allies such as Penthesilea and Memnon. Otherwise, considering the Trojans lost their greatest defender in the Iliad, the remainder of the war would have been this.
• Death Is Dramatic: Chasing the entire Trojan army into the city, taken down by Paris only with the help of Apollo? Achilles is just that Badass.
• Divine Parentage: Multiple characters, notably Achilles and the new Trojan allies, Penthesilea and Memnon.
• Doomed by Canon: Coming to Troy, Achilles was doomed from the start. His life was prophesied to go one of two ways: he would either live a long, uneventful life, or he would die a young, glorious hero at Troy.
• Due to the Dead: Once Achilles falls, battle rages so that the Achaeans can recover his body. His funeral is followed with the customary funeral games.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: Achilles, while chasing the entire Trojan army into the city.
• Either/Or Prophecy: Achilles's is fulfilled here. He's Doomed by Canon.
• Ending Memorial Service: The epic ends with the funeral games of Achilles.
• Hot Amazon: Penthesilea.
• Immortality: Memnon's mother, Eos, convinces Zeus to grant him immortality after his death.
• I Love the Dead: Achilles apparently falls in love with Penthesilea after killing her and removing her helm. He kills Thersites for mocking him about it.
• Invincible Hero: Up until this point, Achilles was this. It takes Apollo to help bring him down.
• Marked to Die: It's mentioned twice in the Iliad that Achilles would be killed by Apollo, and the summary of the Aethiopis mentions that Thetis prophesied something regarding his battle with Memnon to her son.
• Meaningful Funeral: Thetis arrives with the Muses and the other Nereids when the Achaeans bring Achilles's body back to the ships.
• No One Gets Left Behind: The Achaeans fight ferociously to recover Achilles's body.
• Not So Invincible After All: Achilles.
• One-Man Army: Achilles. Penthesilea and Memnon also fit until they're killed.
• Storming the Castle: After killing Memnon, Achilles puts the entire Trojan army to flight, and pursues them into the city.
• Supernatural Aid: Apollo aids Paris in killing Achilles.
• Too Powerful to Live: Achilles again, in a non-villainous example.
• Worthy Opponent: Memnon to Achilles.
• Your Days Are Numbered: And Achilles knew it.

Works derived from the myths of the Aethiopis:

• Aeschylus's
  • Memnon, a lost play about Memnon's arrival to aid the Trojans, whom Achilles kills. This leads to Achilles's own death at the hands of Apollo and Paris.
  • Psychostasia, another lost play on the weighing of souls between Achilles and Memnon.
  • The Award of the Arms, a lost play on the contest for the arms of Achilles after his death. Also possibly the first of a trilogy concerned with Ajax's madness.
• Part of Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book XII of which included the death of Achilles.