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Memnon in the Middle Ages: The Reception of a Homeric Hero.
- Source :
-
International Journal of the Classical Tradition . Jun2024, Vol. 31 Issue 2, p141-155. 15p. - Publication Year :
- 2024
-
Abstract
- Memnon, the mythic king of Ethiopia killed by Achilles during the Trojan War, had a double or fused identity in classical antiquity: both Asian and African for Greek and Roman writers because of his parentage and because of the geographical indeterminacy of 'Aithiopia' and of 'India', but definitely black-skinned for Roman writers. How was this figure received in medieval texts and images? This paper tracks Memnon through three textual genres from the twelfth to the fifteenth century – commentaries on Ovid, catalogues of famous men, histories of the Trojan War – and charts the ways in which his classical identity was overlaid and transformed by pro-Trojan sentiment, chivalric heroization and Christian sacrificial thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *MEMNON (Mythological character)
*MIDDLE Ages
*GREEK authors
*TROJAN War
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 10730508
- Volume :
- 31
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- International Journal of the Classical Tradition
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 177539018
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s12138-023-00640-2