Penthesileia
The Trojans received further aids, first from the Amazons and later Ethiopians or Assyrians.
The Amazon queen, Penthesileia, was a daughter of Ares, and sister of Hippolyte. When she arrived at Troy, she boast of her prowess. But Andromache, the newly-grieving widow of Hector, rebuked the Amazon Queen, asking her to be cautious and not to be boastful, since there are a number of great fighters among the Greeks.
After Hector's funeral, the Greeks and the Trojans rejoined fighting out on the Trojan plains. But Achilles was still mourning over Patroclus.
With Troy's new ally, the Amazons and their Queen drove back the Greeks. Penthesileia killed many Greeks before Achilles killed her. According to Apollodorus, among the Greeks to fall to her deadly spear, was the physician Machaon, the son of Asclepius.
When the Amazon Queen fell, Achilles stripped Penthesileia of her armour, he saw that the woman was young and very beautiful. He seemed to have fallen madly in love with her, and regret killing Penthesileia.
One of the Greeks, named Theristes (the ugliest and lame fighter) mocked Achilles for his behaviour, because the hero was mourning his enemy. Enraged, Achilles killed Thersites with a single blow to his face.
Thersites was quarrelsome and abusive in character, that only his cousin, Diomedes, mourned for him. Diomedes would have avenged Thersites, but the leaders persuaded their two of their best warriors from fighting among themselves. Diomedes took Penthesileia's body and threw it into the river. According to Quintus Smyrnaeus, the Greek leaders agreed to the boon of returning her body to the Trojans for her funeral pyre.
Odysseus helped Achilles to be purified for the killing a fellow Greek. Odysseus took Achilles to the island of Lesbos, where he sacrificed to Leto and her children, Apollo and Artemis.
Related Information
Sources
The Aethiopis was one of the works from the Epic Cycle (c. 776 BC).
The Fall of Troy was written by Quintus Smyrnaeus.
Library was written by Apollodorus.
Contents
Penthesileia
Death of Achilles
Fall of Troy
Aftermath of the War
Related Articles
Achilles, Penthesileia,Diomedes, Odysseus,Agamemnon, Nestor, Athena.
Death of Achilles
The Trojans received new reinforcement from the Ethiopians or Assyrians. They were led by a prince, named Memnon, son of Tithonus and Eos, the goddess of dawn. Tithonus was Priam's brother. Memnon killed many Greeks, causing the Achaeans to retreat.
In the confusion of the retreat, the aged Nestor was surrounded by enemies, among them was Memnon. Antilochus tried to save his father, but he was killed. Nestor was grief-stricken over his son's death, and tried to confront the Ethiopian prince. Memnon, however, saw no honour in such combat against an old man, so he refused to fight with Nestor. Nestor lamented that he no longer has the strength of his youth.
Nestor called upon Achilles to avenge Antiochus. Thetis, gifted with the oracle, had warned her son that he would die not long after Memnon. Heedless of his mother's warning Achilles killed Memnon, thereby avenging Antilochus.
With Memnon's death, the Trojans lost heart, and fled back towards the city's walls, with Achilles in close pursuit. Achilles was at the Scaean Gate, when an arrow from Paris, guided by the archer god Apollo, pierced his heel. His heel was the only spot on his body that was vulnerable to weapon (hence the "Achilles' heel").
