The scene on this hydria shows Achilles as he overpowers Memnon next to the chariot, while their mothers, Thetis and Eos, look on. 

The Walters Museum in Baltimore, MD shared this image and information. It is a Greek terracotta jar made ca. 575-550 BCE (Archaic (Late Corinthian)).

‘This "hydria", a water-jug, depicts a battle from the Trojan War in which two of the war's greatest heroes, Achilles and Memnon, clash in the presence of their mothers, the goddesses Thetis and Eos. Each demigod warrior has his chariot standing by, with charioteers at the ready. Inscriptions, in the Corinthian alphabet, identify the figures. The painter was obviously proud of his ability to write, a skill that was not widespread.’

Link to Walters Museum artwork description: https://art.thewalters.org/object/48.2230/   CC0 - Open Access; Artwork # 48.2230

If you are curious about the swastika like design on the shield, the Smithsonian offers this:

Archaeologists have found the distinctive design on artifacts from India, Europe, Africa, China and the Americas. When Adolf Hitler co-opted it, its meaning changed forever. How the Swastika, an Ancient Symbol of Good Fortune Used Around the World, Became the Nazi Logo.

We quickly add these two other examples: From Villa romana di Piazza Armerina , Sicilia; Laureate head of Apollo, profile to the right; behind, olive spray; in right field, swastika

Brussels Royal Museums of Art and History have this Attic black-figure vase showing Memnon and attendants, preparing for battle at Troy.  Brussels A 130 is a well-known portrayal of Memnon and was often titled 'The Departure of Memnon for Troy.' It was painted by The Swing Painter ca. 525 BCE.  Amazons and Triptolemos are also depicted in the vase paintings.

We invite you to use a slide deck we created for this artwork with commentary. The slides offer descriptions, some links to commentary on the depictions of Black Africans, and some questions for discussion about the presence of or lack of names added by vase painters to the figures. 

This black-figured amphora is beautifully decorated with a double honeysuckle motif on the neck. Under the handles, there are patterns of palmettes and spirals. Below the scenes there are maeanders (sic) and lotus-buds. 

The British Museum tells us that...

Side A shows Memnon in the centre(sic) facing right, bearded and fully armed. We can see on his helmet the figure of a dog, the tail supporting the crest. He has long curls ending in spirals, a white cuirass, probably of linen, richly ornamented, short striped chiton, shield and spear. On either side facing him is an beardless African attendant; the one on the right has a short striped chiton and a pelta, on which is a pellet; the other has a cuirass and short diapered chiton; each has a club in right hand. (Above Memnon behind is inscribed έπ]οίησ(ε)ν (?); in front: AMAΣIΣ, Αμασις, possibly referring to the owner of the vase?)
Side B shows Achilles slaying Queen Penthesileia.  Achilles stands to the right, fully armed, bearded, with hair as Memnon's in Side A wearing a short striped chiton, sword, and Boeotian shield. He is thrusting his spear at Penthesileia, who retreats to the right. She has long tresses, a high-crested helmet with cheek-pieces, and meander border on her helmet crest. She wears a cuirass and short striped chiton and defends herself with spear and shield, which is decorated with the device of an ivy-wreath.

Please see the Description by © The Trustees of the British Museum. British Museum #1849,0518.10/1531471001   Attic Archaic Greek Amphora scenes by The Exekias Painter, ca. 535 BCE.

North Carolina Museum of Art displays this vase depicting the African King Memnon and attendants on one side. They do not offer much detailed content about it. This neck amphora is also featuring Herakles in a chariot with attendants on the other side. The detail of the multicolored painting is clear and impressive. Take a good look at the details.  You can access it here. 

For example, how do you think they identify the one figure as Herakles? On the reverse, what clues tell them that this is depicting Memnon's army?

The NCMA Attributed to the Three Line Group, responsible for a number of vases. It was created circa 530–520 BCE in Athens, Greece.

In New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art collection is an Attic Greek amphora showing Memnon with his squires.

It is described as a volute vessel black-figure by the painter Exekias, who created it in Athens ca. 530 BCE

On one side is a scene of  Apollo between Hermes and a goddess (unnamed) and on the other side is a scene showing Memnon between his Ethiopian squires or comrades.  In the Trojan War, Memnon, the son of Tithonos and Eos, the goddess of the dawn, led a huge contingent of Ethiopians and allies allied with the Trojans. He was killed by Achilles in a duel watched by their mothers, and Hermes conducted a Psychostasia to weigh the souls of the two warriors.

'The present condition of the vase provides insight into the painter's working method. Memnon's shield was drawn with a compass—the circles are evident—and it would have been painted in by adding more white directly onto the clay. Without the white, we can see the cursory sketch that the artist drew for the figure's torso.'

NB:Open Access Image for no. 98.8.13: HERE 

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes. Public domain data for this and similar art objects can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

Use our Google Slides for classroom spotlight HERE (5 slides) to study and/or present to students more imags and information about this Achilles and Memnon kalyx krater (calyx crater).

Description

On both sides of this beautiful Attic red figure kalyx krater are depicted two major duels from the Trojan War. The Museum of Fine Arts Boston tells us that this krater (97.368) was created by the so-called Tyszkiewicz Painter.  It was made ca. 490-480 BCE, in the late archaic period.

From MFABoston, we learned the following:

Side A Scene: Memnon, king of Ethiopia, was an ally of the Trojans. His death at the hands of Achilles was described in the Aethiopis, a lost epic poem quoted and referenced by later writers. Achilles and Memnon wear corselets covered with plates of scale-armor. Achilles carries a "Theban" shield, with deep, semi-circular notches; the device on the front is not visible but Memnon's shield has the head of a gorgon. Encouraged by Athena who holds out her snake-rimmed Aegis, Achilles has stabbed Memnon, who falls into the arms of his mother Eos, goddess of the dawn. She carried his body to Ethiopia, where, at her urging, Zeus granted him a type of immortality.
Some figures are labeled: Side A: ATHENAIA, AXILEUS, MELANIPPOS, MEIMNON, EIOS. On shield: "Lacheas is handsome" (LAXEAS KALOS) likely refers to the person receiving the vase.

Side B Scene: The fight on this side is an episode also described in Book V of Homer's Iliad: the wounding of the Trojan prince Aeneas by Diomedes. As in the other scene, Athena favors the Greek hero, who has wounded Aeneas with a spear. Aphrodite rushes up to save her wounded son, an act that so infuriated Diomedes that he wounded the goddess herself, as well as her lover Ares, the god of war.

The Tyszkiewicz Painter is named after this vase, which once belonged to a collector of that name.
Some figures are labeled: Side B: ATHENAIA, DIOMEDES, AINEAS, APHRODITE (in retrograde)

NB: MFABoston: no. 97.368 https://collections.mfa.org/objects/153649/mixing-bowl-calyx-krater-depicting-dueling-scenes-from-the

is shown via Open Access API CC 0.

Perseus DL also has thumbnail images with earlier permissions from MFABoston: Red figure Calyx Crater with several scenes including Eos and Memnon fighting Achilles (and Aeneas, Diomedes, Aphrodite, Melanippos)  CLICK HERE.

Here we again see the painter showing heroes in combat. Achilles is fighting Hector and Memnon in two different scenes with gods and goddesses behind each one, looking on.

We recommend this excellent video explanation presented in simple language describing this Attic Greek volute crater by the so-called Berlin Painter. This video was created and is posted by Runshaw Classics. 

The British Museum Commentary tells us that:

“On one side (seen in this image) Achilles fights the Ethiopian king Memnon, brother of Priam, King of Troy and son of Eos, goddess of the dawn. Achilles attacks from the left (as victors generally do in Greek art) and Memnon falters before his onslaught. Behind each hero stands his mother - the sea-nymph Thetis behind Achilles, Eos behind Memnon. According to tradition, the anxious mothers rushed to Zeus, who weighed the destinies of the pair in his balance (a psychostasia) and found that Memnon's weighed the heavier."  This meant that Memnon would be the one to die.

"More crucial to the defeat of the Trojans was the death of the Trojan prince Hector at the hands of Achilles, as shown on the other side of this vase (not seen here). Achilles again attacks from the left, and this time the heroes are backed by their patron deities: Athena (not shown) signals encouragement to Achilles, while Apollo (not shown) turns away, abandoning Hector to his fate.”

Item Information from the museum: Achilles fights the Ethiopian King Memnon, (nephew) of King Priam of Troy on an Attic Greek red-figured volute-krater attributed to the Berlin Painter. Greece, about 500-480 BCE.  Image id 00287721001; Producer name: Attributed to Berlin Painter; Findspot: Caere; Cerveteri, Lazio, Italy; Production date: ca. 490BC-460 BCE;Object reference number: 1848,0801.1

In the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, we can see a two-handled jar (belly amphora) with dueling warriors, possibly Achilles and Memnon. This was decorated by the Edinburgh Painter in about 510–500 BCE. He worked in Attica, Greece. This ceramic, black figure amphora was found at Tarquinia, Italy in the Etruscan region north of Rome. Amphorae like this were used in the home for storing wine, water, or foods. Clearly vases like these were meant to be seen and admired by family and guests.  More information from MFA is provided.

Since the warriors are not named on this amphora, how do you think the figures were identified as Memnon and Achilles by the museum? What clues are visible and appear to clearly direct the thinking towards identifying these two heroes?  

Here are two sides of a lekythos, a vessel often associated with funerals and burials. Achilles and either Memnon or Hector are shown in combat; Hermes is also shown with scales, conducting a Psychostasia or weighing of the souls to help Zeus determine which of these heroes should die in battle. You can compare the scene here with the scene in the Psychostasia (which we listed above), housed in the MFA Boston. 

The decoration is described by the British Museum:

Pottery: black-figured lekythos: the Weighing of Souls. Design black on drab ground, with purple accessories. On the shoulder, lotus-buds; on the body, above, an ivy-wreath. Contest of Achilles and Memnon (or Hector): On either side is a warrior, bearded and fully armed, thrusting with spear, each having a short chiton with purple spots; the one on the left has a Boeotian shield, the other has the device of a crab (?). In the centre Hermes Pyschopompos to right, bearded, with petasos (hat), short chiton and chlamys, both with purple spots, and endromides (cloak), holds out a pair of scales in left hand, each scale containing a small winged male figure, representing the souls of the two heroes. In the (background) field (are) imitation (nonsense language) inscriptions. © The Trustees of the British Museum.

Images: British Museum 530786001 Lekethos Memnon.jpg   Object G 1873-0820-300 © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence. Also there are images in the Corpus Vasorum Graecorum, but they are copyrighted. Here is that CVG reference link for viewing: https://www.carc.ox.ac.uk/record/F7BD1996-F1AE-495E-976C-BD690BDE645C

Images under copyright by CARC.

This stunning amphora vase, called a stamnos jar, exhibited in the Boston Museum of Fine Art (10.177) is described on their website. 

Here we see Hermes with a scale and in the pan on each side is a warrior, Achilles and Memnon. Both men being fierce and unmatched warriors and both being demigods, their fight to the death duel could continue indefinitely. They both have divine parentage, Achilles  is the child of Thetis and Memnon the son of Eos. It took a psychostasia for Zeus to determine the heavier soul, the one who must die.  Look closely at the tiny figures on the scale.  Memnon’s is heavier and his mother frowns in dismay.  Hermes weighs the souls here as he is acting as Psychopompos, a guide leading souls to the underworld of Hades. We can also see he carries a wand and not the usual winged caduceus that he holds when he acts as the messenger of the gods.

This kind of scene of psychostasia is also described by Homer in Book 22 of the Iliad in reference to Achilles and Hector.

Please open our 3-slide deck to explore more about the Ricci Hydria, housed in the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia, in Roma, Italia.

The Ricci Hydria is a beautifully painted vase that was used to carry or store water. It was created in Italy by a Campana Group painter. One side shows the duel between Achilles and Memnon, as well as Thetis and Eos begging Zeus to choose their son to win. He is conducting a psychostasia, weighing their souls to see which is the heavier. This psychostasia was done when two warriors and in this case demigods were equally matched in every way. You can see the pathos of the mothers.

The vase also shows Herakles and various other scenes on the top shoulder. The slide deck offers access to 72 images!

The Louvre titles the work Eos and Memnon. It shows Memnon and his mother Eos in a pose we saw as foreshadowing Michelangelo's Pietas depicting Mary and Jesus, a sculpture created 2,000 years later!

We learn from the Museé du Louvre that this wide and shallow drinking cup was created by the  Douris
potier Kalliadès in Athens, Greece ca. 490 - 480 BCE. It was purchased and moved to Santa Maria di Capua in Italy, in the Campania south of Rome where it was discovered. Capua was a major city in the region.

The focal point of the decoration of this drinking cup(bowl) is an interior with a red-figure circular framing medallion with a meander border. Inside the medallion is a striking scene of Eos and her son Memnon. Eos is shown lifting her son who had just been killed in battle by Achilles. She is depicted with a cecryphal or hair net, earring, wings, and chiton. Bearded and nude, Memnon is shown dead, with some blood coming from his wounds.

Perseus Digital Library's Description (link below) says: “Eos poignantly lifts her fallen son, Memnon, who lays listlessly in her arms. She is dressed in a finely pleated Ionic chiton which reveals the lines of her legs, wears a patterned sakkos on her head, and has elaborately patterned wings. Her arms and parts of the torso of Memnon are gone and restored with plain clay. Memnon's head and arms fall lifeless down at the right. Some details of his anatomy and the bleeding wounds are done in dilute glaze. The exergue(base area) upon which she stands has a tongue border at top; the border around the tondo is formed of alternating crosses, maeanders (alternating directions), and X's; the last two maeanders above the exergue mistakenly overlap.”

The Louvre offers the following content (summarized): On the basin (on the outside of the cup sides A and B) are battle scenes of the Trojan War. On side A is painted Ajax and Hector with Athena (shown with helmet, aegis, chiton, himation, and spear. Ajax is shown with a beard, helmet, chiton, cuirass, with lambrequins (designed borders on clothing), greaves, shield, spear, and he is posed to strike down. Hector is shown with beard, helmet, naked, scabbard, sword, shield, and has been wounded.  Apollo is shown with a crown, chiton, himation, quiver and bow.  On side B, Menelaus and Paris and also Aphrodite (cecryphal, chiton, himation, holding a  flower.  Menelaus is depicted with a beard, helmet, chiton, breastplate, himation, shield, sword, and is posed as the pursuer.  Paris is shown with a beard, helmet, chiton, breastplate, with lambrequins(designs), himation, shield and spear. Lastly, Artemis is depicted wearing a cecryphal, earring, chiton, himation, and holding a quiver and bow. 

Images in the CARC Corpus Vasorum Graecorum are under copyright restrictions, but is accessible with permission in the Perseus Digital Library HERE.  MNB 1698 ; G 115  Museé du Louvre link to description and all images:  https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010270005

Musee du Louvre collection contains this additional example of vase painting focusing on the iconic image of Eos carrying the body of her son, Memnon, who has just fallen in battle at the hands of Achilles. Clearly this was a popular design in 5th century Greek art. This was decorated by the so-called Syleus Painter.

The jar shape and style is called a Greek pelike jar. This is for storing liquids and has a large belly and two open handles.

The Louvre explains that the decoration on belly (side A) shows Eos and Memnon. Eos is wearing a cecryphal hair net and wearing a chiton. The dead warrior Memnon is shown beardless here, naked, with some blood flowing. Eos is walking on a "ground" formed by a meander and cross design.

On side B there is depicted a man with a beard and crown, wearing a himation, and leaning on a staff. The woman wear a cecryphal hair net, earring, chiton, and is carrying a hydria. The "ground" decoration is the same as on side A. 

This pelike jar is in the Musee du Louvre collection (G115) https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010270124

The jar was made in Athens, Greece between 480-470 BCE. It was discovered in Chiusi, which is in central Italy, north of Rome. This area was Etruscan and they had a strong trade going with Greece for many centuries.

This Greek vase shows two major victories of Achilles. The Museé du Louvre displays this Attic black figure amphora of Eos carrying Memnon's body in its Greek collection. It is one of a number with these same scenes. On the front is depicted the premier Greek warrior Achilles fighting the Trojan Prince Hector, King Priam's son. All four are named by inscriptions of their names on the vase. This vase was made ca. 520-510 BCE in Athens, Greece.

Side A is Achilles fighting Hector and Side B is Eos carrying off Memnon’s body. Link to Image and information (in French):

https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010353948

When you read the museum description, compare it to the details of our other Gallery objects depicting Eos, Memnon and Achilles.

The decoration on the collar of the vase (sides A and B) is made up of palmettes and lotus flowers in a double chain.

~On the vase belly (side A), we see Eos and Memnon. Eos is shown wearing a chiton and himation, carrying her son Memnon who is shown bearded, naked, and already dead.

~On the vase belly (side B), Achilles and Hector are the focus. Achilles is shown with helmet, beard, cuirass, wearing a short chiton, chlamys, and shin greaves, and holding his shield, sword. He appears as he is fighting. Hector wears a helmet, cuirass, short chiton, greaves, and scabbard, holding his shield and sword. The other warrior is bearded, naked, and clearly wounded.

~Under the handles there is a vegetal motif of palmettes (4) and lotus flowers (3)

~On the belly (below the figures) is a fillet, lotus flowers, and buds with radiating edges

NB: This is also described in our Gallery entry below:  Perseus Digital Library Search

Here we see an Etruscan scarab-style seal. It shows personifications of Sleep and Death as they carry the body of Memnon from the field at Troy. It was carved in Etruria in the mid-5th century BCE. This, as we have seen, is a very popular motif. The body is shown as stiff with rigor mortis. It is 15mm long, or about 5/8 of an inch, very small. 

You can find more information HERE in the Classical Art Research Center. They also house a high quality image under restrictions HERE. 

We learned from the CARC that ''most gem engraving, on scarabs, begins in Etruria in the second half of the 6th century BC, under the immediate influence of Greek Archaic engraving and probably (some were fashioned by).. the hands of Greek artists. Nuances of style point to the earliest Ionian engravers (for this seal)....Interest in the stories of the Seven against Thebes is an obvious example of this (Greek source of motifs) .....Etruscan inscriptions, mainly names, appear on many stones. The material is exclusively dark red cornelian....The back shape is invariably the scarab, with a late interest in flat ring stones also. The Etruscan scarab backs are far more carefully worked than most Greek, a speciality being a patterned upright border or plinth to each stone; some have relief figures on their backs, like cameos.' The styles to the end of the 5th century BC are close to the Greek but the Archaic (style) tends to linger. At their best, they are as good as any Greek, especially the anatomical studies of heroes. ..' This extreme excellence of workmanship we clearly see in this seal engraving of Memnon.

This image is public domain, unrestricted   (Boston 21.1200; LHG no.38)

This mirror was created ca. 470–460 BCE in Etruria, Italy. Its diameter is 14.4 cm, or close to 6 inches. The thin part extending from the bottom was fitted with a longer handle, probably made of ivory or wood.

The beautiful Etruscan bronze hand mirror has a scene engraved on it that depicts 'Thesan' and 'Memnun' (Eos and Memnon). These two figures are engraved on the back side of this circular mirror. The other side would have been polished to serve as the mirror. The scene itself is surrounded by an ivy-leaf border.  The Cleveland Mueum of Art tells us that 'Equipped with wings and winged shoes, the dawn goddess Thesan (Eos) carries the body of her son Memnun (Memnon). Slain by Achilles on the battlefield at Troy, he still wears armor and greaves, though his crested helmet has fallen below.'

Eos may be the principal connection to the mirror, rather than Memnon. This type of scene appears on numerous 'Etruscan mirrors and Greek vases, 'though not nearly as frequently as scenes of Eos in pursuit of lovers (including Tithonos, father of Memnon.'

Cleveland Museum of Art 1952.259 – Open Access, public domain, unrestricted; Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1952.259

Here is another Etruscan bronze hand mirror that e found in The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art collection (22.139) This was fashioned ca. 450-420 BCE by an expert craftsman. It is decorated with a detailed engraving showing Achilles fighting with Memnon and Eos (Thesan) who is in the act of flying down to retrieve her son’s body. This thumbnail image may not show the scene clearly, but if you look at the expanded image on The Met website, you can still see the full scene, despite the scattering of corrosion of the metal. 

Eos was often associated with great beauty and Homer used the phrase 'rosy-fingered dawn' to describe her early morning shades of pinkish red light extending across the horizon at dawn.  Homer used the Greek words "rhododaktylos Eos" repeatedly in the Odyssey.

Image: Open Access API, public domain unrestricted

The article “Representations of Memnon in Archaic Greek Pottery” offers some excellent insights on the decorative scene on this striking Greek vase. It includes a very good beginning overview of six examples of Greek vase art depicting Memnon. 

This is a short article but packed with basic information that would be appropriate for high school or university level students or instructors at any level. This is in the University of Pennsylvania’s Classical Studies Publication, Discentes, and was written by 2025 Penn graduate Maggie Yuan (8/23). Click here to access and read the article.

One example that the author focuses on is shown in our thumbnail image for this Gallery entry. It depicts Achilles and Memnon, fighting in the center, watched by Thetis and Eos who stand supportively behind them. 

This is Side A of an Attic black-figure amphora that was created ca. 510 BC. It was discovered in Vulci in Italy. It is part of the  Staatliche Antikensammlungen collection.

Conducting searches is a useful tool for students and teachers alike. It ofter results in previously unknown art or information that can expand understanding of a work or person, especially within their own society and culture.  Entering the Perseus Digital Library database, one can search for artworks related to various texts.  Our search resulted in a number of hits, most all of which we had also accessed directly from museum websites.  However, we discovered new work on a frieze in Delphi, Greece, that added to our story.  

The frieze on the Siphnian Treasury in Delphi was recently studied for its original  polychrome decoration. We created a short, 5 page slide deck to show some of our Perseus search results and slides about the Siphnian Treasury artwork to share with students.

Here is a Google Slide Deck of Information, plus links to other artwork.

Here is a PowerPoint pptx version

A more modern depiction of the birth of Memnon with a Latin inscription, still gives a clear indication of the high standing of Memnon among ancient demigods. It  was made by Georgio Ghisi and is dated 1558.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, tells us that it has the inscription, bottom right, in the same black ink of the print engraving: "QVO GENIO EXCEPTVM TE MATER / MEMNONIS AFFLET / QVASQ FACES TIBI VITA  ACCENDAT / AD OMNIA REFERT." 

The engraving was created by 'Montavano.' This was the popular name of the artist Giorgio Ghisi of Mantua, Italy, born ca. 1520. Later, the scholar Bartsch describes it  like this: “Cybele placing Memnon, son of Tithon and Aurora, who has just been born, into the hands of two genii, while one of the Fates is busy lighting the torch of his life"  This is according to Jules Romain  

NB: Giulio Romano (Jules Romain) was a key figure in Mannerism, a style that deviated in style (manner) from High Renaissance classicism. His work influenced the spread of a sixteenth-century Italian style throughout Europe through engravings.

These two prints:

The Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, TX in their commentary tells us this:

'Ghisi’s engravings invest the grand design of mid-century Italian printmaking with the meticulous craft of Northern production. Like Scultori’s David and Goliath, the Allegory of Birth first appeared in the decoration of the Palazzo del Te. In the middle of the composition, winged Genii hand a newborn to a personification of fecundity or nurture, while to the right a mother expires after childbirth, to the left a flame passes from one torch to another, and in the background Apollo’s chariot brings a new day. Consonant with this humanistic allegory are the evocation of antique low relief sculpture and the insistence upon classical figural types. Like most early engravers, Ghisi did not reproduce the painting directly or exactly, rather developed his plate from an intermediate drawing. By coincidence, that drawing, identical in size and reversed in orientation, came to the Blanton as part of the Suida-Manning Collection.'

The Museé du Louvre houses a print in their Graphic Arts Collection and adds:

'We have not found a mythic basis for this theme of Cybele at Memnon’s birth other than her being regarded often as the Great Mother of the Gods, who was regarded as the giver of life to gods, human beings, and beasts alike.'

~~~

Birth of Memnon.  This print is in the Musee du Louvre’s Graphic Arts Collection.

Cybele handing over Memnon to two genies in an engraving by Giorgio Ghisi (1520-1582). Images: (Bartsch 57, Bartsch illustré volume 31)32.92.15  Image: CC-0 Public domain; and from Blanton Museum of Art, Austin TX; public domain image.

Here we offer a print from an engraving of 'Memnon on the Pyre' with a Latin inscription. This was created as an illustration for an edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses by  Dutch artist Crispijn van de Passe. (1602-1607).  It is located in the Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The Latin inscription reads:

Filius Aurorae Tithonius occubat armis Pellei iuvenis(Achilles was son of Peleus and Thetis);  Troica noxa fuit.

Memnonis hinc volucres jussu Jovis annua solvunt officia exequium, praestita matris ope.

Image (alt-text) commentary from Rijksmuseum tells us that “Memnon lies in the middle of a large fire on a rocky outcrop. A flock of birds rises among the smoke from the fire. On a cloud in the upper right corner Aurora stands before Jupiter's throne pleading with him. Jupiter's eagle perches by his right leg.”

We highly recommend reading the Dickenson College online commentary.

This image  is catalogued as RP-P-OB-15.983.

The image was downloaded with permission via Katie Robinson's account with Rijksmuseum.

Pausanias, Pliny the Elder, Dionysius, and others mention among the wonders of the ancient world the Colossi of Memnon. These references to Memnon connected with later Egyptian rulers were confused with the Trojan hero, but the legend remained very strong among Greeks and Romans. These engravers picked up the theme and included it in their collections, created in the Netherlands and France. Here we see the printer P. Mariette and engraver Bernard Picart, among a collection of 12 in a Tableaux of Vices and Virtues of Antiquity, now housed in the Petit Palais Museum in Paris (Dutuit brothers' Collection - Le Blanc Catalogue). Marolles and Diepenbeeck are also referenced as models for these slightly later works. These are from 1600s-1700s. We found several versions of the print with different caption, slight variations in content (note the Memnonides birds in the top image) and reversed print images.

For language students: The inscription in the top image describes Memnon as speaking to Aurora at the first light. It is in Greek from Dionysius' Description of the World; Memnon XVII. The second engraving has a French inscription that specifically references Pliny 36.7 and Pausanias. It reads 'The statue of Memnon, King of Ethiopia and son of Aurora(Dawn) and Tithonus, speaks when struck by the rays of the rising sun and complains to the rays of the setting sun.' 

A third version of the image is sourced by Google Arts and Culture HERE, in Dutch.

~~~

Here is information from museum descriptions:

Memnon, son of Eos and Tithonus. Engraving by Bernard Picart (1673–1733), after the style of Michel de Marolles' Tableaux du temple des muses (Amsterdam,1676). (Image via Wikimedia Commons) It was published in the book Tafereel, Of a Description of the Magnificent Temple of the Zang Goddesses, showing numerous full-page copperplate engravings by Bernard Picart. This print copy was printed on paper, 46 x 32 cm. in size.

"Here, we see in A Temple of the Muses from the Netherlands that this copperplate engraving by the French engraver Bernard Picart has rendered scenes from the ancient legends and myths of classical antiquity in a magnificently dramatic yet psychologically sensitive manner. The engravings, accompanied by notes and explanations, are predominantly based on models by Abraham van Diepenbeeck. Open to the image is a depiction of the statue of the Ethiopian king and demigod Memnon. Illuminated by the light of dawn, it leans impressively against a sarcophagus and gazes out over the Nile, on whose banks the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes stretches." PSL (Passau State Library. Place and date of creation: Amsterdam, 1733)

Other collected sources on Wiki tell us (and we quote, to allow you to see their own reference notes; modern date notations have been added: BCE, AD/CE)

"The Colossi of Memnon are two massive stone 3,400 year old twin statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III, located in Luxor, Egypt. Greeks and Romans visitors associated them with mythical Memnon since at least the first century-calling a portrait-colossus of that pharaoh "Memnon." This identification was based, argued by R. Drew Griffith on the fact that the statue faces sunrise on the winter solstice and so was linked to the dawn.[28]

According to Pliny the Elder and others, one statue made a sound at morning time. Bk 1. 36

Pausanias also describes how he marveled at a colossal statue in Egypt, having been told that Memnon began his travels in Africa:

In Egyptian Thebes, on crossing the Nile to the so-called Pipes, I saw a statue, still sitting, which gave out a sound. The many call it Memnon, who they say from Aethiopia overran Egypt and as far as Susa. The Thebans, however, say that it is a statue, not of Memnon, but of a native named Phamenoph, and I have heard some say that it is Sesostris. This statue was broken in two by Cambyses, and at the present day from head to middle it is thrown down; but the rest is seated, and every day at the rising of the sun it makes a noise, and the sound one could best liken to that of a harp or lyre when a string has been broken.[30]

Historian M. Bernal claims that the Greeks based Memnon on Ammenemes of Egypt.[31] An Egyptian origin for Memnon appears likely from Zeus' weighing of his fate against Achilles' in the lost epic Aethiopis. There is a similar motif in the early spell of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Like Memnon, Amenhotep formed military pacts with eastern kings, was son of a solar deity, and was exceptionally handsome.

(Interesting fact!) Following an earthquake in 27 BCE the northernmost of the colossi collapsed, and, at sunrise, began to produce an eerie musical sound that early Greek travelers interpreted as the mythical half-mortal Memnon calling out to his mother Eos, goddess of the dawn. Visitors came from far and wide to hear the song, including the Roman Emperor Hadrian and the Empress Sabine, who had to wait several days before the statue called out to them in AD/CE. 130.[32] The bust was restored in the Roman period and mounted on huge sandstone blocks. According to legend, Septimius Severus (ca. 193-211 CE), seeking to repair the colossus, inadvertently silenced it forever.[33]

This was plate 125, a part of a series of plates on Ovid’s Metamorphoses crafted by Italian artist Tempesta; He lived from 1655-1730. He titled these works "The Metamorphoses of Ovid" or “Metamorphosean Sive Transformationum.” You can see the fallen Memnon in the left background. Aurora (Eos) is pointing towards him as she speaks to Zeus/Jupiter.

The Latin inscription reads:

Aurora a Iovi Memnoni, mortis honorem petit.

(Aurora asking Jupiter to honor Memnon in death)

This print of the etching is at the De Young and Legion of Honor Museums, San Francisco, CA (1989.1.252).  It is from the Mr. and Mrs. Marcus Sopher Collection; 10x12cm image on paper. Originally it was published in Amsterdam, NE, between 1616-1620 by Willem Jansz (Wilhelmus Jansonnius). There is another print, slightly larger, at The NY Metropolitan Museum from the S. Paul Jones Collection (35.6 - 126)