Vocal Memnon

American  

noun

1. one of the two seated figures of the Colossus of Memnon: so called because it once emitted sounds when struck by the rays of the rising sun.

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Example Sentences

They built the temple of Karnak, the “Vocal Memnon,” and the avenue of Sphinxes in Thebes.

From Project Gutenberg

In his villa at Tivoli he indulged a trivial fancy by christening one garden Tempe and another the Elysian Fields; and he had his name carved on the statue of the vocal Memnon with no less gusto than a modern tourist: audivi voces divinas.

From Project Gutenberg

At the same time he is claimed as one of their monarchs by the Ethiopians upon the Nile, and identified by the Egyptians with their king, Amunoph III., whose statue became known as "the vocal Memnon."

From Project Gutenberg

Therefore the little party took its pleasure, and enjoyed every ancient temple of the Amenhoteps, Thothmeses, and Ramesides that they hurriedly visited; won the favour of the wrinkled old priests by their plentiful votives of bright philippi; heard a hundred time-honoured tales that they knew not whether to believe or laugh at; speculated among themselves as to the sources of the Nile, the cause of the vocal Memnon, and fifty more darkened wonders, and resolved to solve every mystery during a second and more prolonged visit.

From Project Gutenberg

Exactly the same comparison is employed by Pausanias to describe the sound that issued from "the vocal Memnon."

From Project Gutenberg