Memnon

American  

[mem-non] / ˈmɛm nɒn /

noun

1. Colossus of, (in ancient Egypt) a colossal statue near Thebes said to produce a musical sound when the rays of the early morning sun struck it.

2. Classical Mythology.  an Ethiopian king slain by Achilles in the Trojan War.

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Memnon British  

/ ˈmɛmnɒn, mɛmˈnəʊnɪən /

noun

1. Greek myth a king of Ethiopia, son of Eos: slain by Achilles in the Trojan War

2. a colossal statue of Amenhotep III at Thebes in ancient Egypt, which emitted a sound thought by the Greeks to be the voice of Memnon

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Other Word Forms

• Memnonian adjective

Example Sentences

Memnon is briefly mentioned in Homer’s “The Odyssey” and his image figures prominently on vase paintings.

From Los Angeles Times

This world premiere production of “Memnon,” a collaboration between the Getty Villa and the Classical Theatre of Harlem, represents an act of cultural recovery.

From Los Angeles Times

The tone of “Memnon,” written in iambic hexameter, is direct, spare and cast in a tense of tragic inevitability.

From Los Angeles Times

But the proud, regal, calmly commanding voice of Eric Berryman’s Memnon puts the audience under a spell.

From Los Angeles Times

In terms of plotting, “Memnon” doesn’t manifest the structural ingenuity of a play by Sophocles, who understood that no matter to what extent fate controls the outcome of a story, it is in those moments when a protagonist is exercising free will that an audience is mostly deeply engaged.

From Los Angeles Times