Page:History of Greece Vol I.djvu/330

 298 HISTORY OF GREECE The Trojans, dismayed by the death of Hector, were again an- imated with hope by the appearance of the warlike and beaut it'ul queen of the Amazons, Penthesileia, daughter of Ares, hitherto invincible in the field, who came to their assistance from Thrace at the head of a band of her countrywomen. She again led the besieged without the walls to encounter the Greeks in the open field ; and under her auspices the latter were at first driven back, until she too was slain by the invincible arm of Achilles. The victor, on taking off the helmet of his fair enemy as she lay on the ground, was profoundly affected and captivated by her charms, for which he was scornfully taunted by Thersites: ex- asperated by this rash insult, he killed Thersites on the spot with a blow of his fist. A violent dispute among the Grecian chiefs was the result, for Diomedes, the kinsman of Thersites, warmly resented the proceeding ; and Achilles was obliged to go to Les- bus, where ho was purified from the act of homicide by Odys- eeus. 1 Next arrived Memnon, son of Tithonus and Eos, the most stately of living men, with a powerful band of black .^Ethiopians, to the assistance of Troy. Sallying forth against the Greeks, he made great havoc among them: the brave and popular Anti- lochus perished by his hand, a victim to filial devotion in defence of Nestor. 9 Achilles at length attacked him, and for a long time the combat was doubtful between them : the prowess of Achilles and the supplication of Thetis with Zeus finally prevailed ; Hepaie was treated both by Arktinus and by Lesches : with the latter it formed a part of the Ilias Minor. 1 Argument of the JEthiopis, p. 16, Diintzcr; Quint. Smyrn. lib. i. ; Dik- tys Cret. iv. 2-3. In the Philoktetes, of Sophokles, Thersites survives Achilles (Soph. Phil 35SU445). - Odyss. xi. 522. Kelvov 6r/ KuAXtaTov I6ov, fieru, M.efj.vova 6iov : see also Odyss. iv. 187 ; Pindar, Pyth. vi. 31. ^schylus (ap. Strabo. xv. p. 728) conceives Memnon as a Persian starting from Susa. Ktesias gave in his history full details respecting the expedition of Mem* non, sent by the king of Assyria to the relief of his dependent, Priam ot Troy ; all this was said to be recorded in the royal an_Aivcs. The Egyp- tians affirmed that Memnon had come from Egypt (Diodor. ii. 22 ; compare iv. 77): the two stories are blended together in Pausanias, x. 31, 2. The Phrygians pointed out the road along which he had marched.