Categories
Ethiopia in Western Culture

King Memnon

In the Odyssey of Homer, the main protagonist Ulysses speaks about the valiant and beautiful prince Eurypylus, and says (11,522):

κεῖνον δὴ κάλλιστον ἴδον μετὰ Μέμνονα δῖον.

kèinon de kàlliston ìdon metà Mèmnona dìon.

He was the most beautiful man I saw, next to the divine Memnon

In Odyssey 4,188 Homers makes another reference to him, calling him “the splendid son of the bright Eos“. The greek goddess Eos, that will be known among Romas as “Aurora”, is the personification of the Dawn, son of Hyperyon the sun deity.

Memnon, whose supreme beauty was confessed by his enemy in war, Ulysses, was so mentioned in the “Theogony” of Hesiod (984-985):

Τιθωνῷ δ᾽ Ἠὼς τέκε Μέμνονα χαλκοκορυστήν,
Αἰθιόπων βασιλῆα,

Tithonò d’Eos tèke Mèmnona xalkokorustèn,
Aithiòpon basilea

And Eos bore to Tithonus bronze-crested Memnon, king of the Ethiopians“.

As we have already seen, according to Greek mythological tradition the Ethiopians were the first to be visited by the sun in its course, as they lived next to its abode, therefore the “son of the Dawn” was the King of Ethiopia, place of the dawn of history and human life.

It is said that Memnon went to Troy with his own soldiers to defend the city from the Greek invaders. When he reached the battlefield, he stood out as the most powerful warrior on the side of Troy: he killed many Greek warriors and greatly raised the morale of Trojan army. He also killed Anthiocus, dear friend of Achilles, and provoked his desire for revenge. The duel between Achilles and Memnon represents a crucial point in the war, and it is told that even Zeus was personally there to witness. Memnon had divine weapons forged by the god Hephaestus, and was the only one able to make the invincible Achilles bleed. But Achilles was immortal, and finally managed to slay Memnon. Nevertheless, because of his killing a so noble man, he was cursed, and soon after was shot by Paris on his heel, the only vulnerable part of his body, and died.

The intervention of Memnon in the Trojan war is the central theme of the “Aithiopis” Αἰθιοπίς , another book traditionally attributed to Homer, that shows the mythological preminence of Ethiopia in Greek culture. This important work of old is lost, we know its content only indirectly and only few verses are known today.

The latin writer Ovidius, in his “Metamorphoses” (13, 576) dedicated a whole section to the death of Memnon, that terribly afflicted His mother Aurora and covered the sky with clouds of sadness on that day. The morning dew is explained there as the tears that Aurora still sheds everyday and everywhere for the death of Memnon the Ethiopian.

 

Categories
Ethiopia in Western Culture

Diodorus Siculus

In the wake of the ancient historiography and Greek tradition that we have already illustrated, the great historian of Sicilian origins Diodorus (I century a.C.) dedicated the Third Book of his “Historical Library” to the Ethiopians, immediately associated with Atlas (Etièl) and his mythology. Diodorus states:

Now the Ethiopians, as historians relate, were the first of all men and the proofs of this statement, they say, are manifest. For that they did not come into their land as immigrants from abroad but were natives of it and so justly bear the name of ‘autochthones’​ is, they maintain, conceded by practically all men; furthermore, that those who dwell beneath the noon-day sun were, in all likelihood, the first to be generated by the earth, is clear to all; since, inasmuch as it was the warmth of the sun which, at the generation of the universe, dried up the earth when it was still wet and impregnated it with life,​ it is reasonable to suppose that the region which was nearest the sun was the first to bring forth living creatures..

Thus, once again, the Ethiopian origin of man is clearly affirmed, due to the fact that the sun rises from Ethiopia, and therefore life follow the same order of manifestation. “Autochthones” literally means “sprung from the soil itself”, like Adam in the Bible. Diodorus continues:

And they say that they were the first to be taught to honour the gods and to hold sacrifices and processions and festivals and the other rites by which men honour the deity; and that in consequence their piety has been published abroad among all men, and it is generally held that the sacrifices practised among the Ethiopians are those which are the most pleasing to heaven. As witness to this they call upon the poet who is perhaps the oldest and certainly the most venerated among the Greeks (Homer); for in the Iliad he represents both Zeus and the rest of the gods with him as absent on a visit to Ethiopia to share in the sacrifices and the banquet which were given annually by the Ethiopians for all the gods together.

After the Ethiopian racial origin of man, the origin of religious culture from Ethiopia is affirmed, as well as her special spiritual sanctity among all peoples. This confirms the biblical identity of Israel and Ethiopia, and the fact that all biblical culture was generated by the antediluvian Ethiopian patriarchs, like Enoch.

And they state that, by reason of their piety towards the deity, they manifestly enjoy the favour of the gods, inasmuch as they have never experienced the rule of an invader from abroad; for from all time they have enjoyed a state of freedom and of peace one with another, and although many and powerful rulers have made war upon them, not one of these has succeeded in his undertaking. Cambyses,​ for instance, they say, who made war upon them with a great force, both lost all his army and was himself exposed to the greatest peril; Semiramis also, who through the magnitude of her undertakings and achievements has become renowned, after advancing a short distance into Ethiopia gave up her campaign against the whole nation; and Heracles and Dionysus, although they visited all the inhabited earth, failed to subdue the Ethiopians alone who dwell above Egypt, both because of the piety of these men and because of the insurmountable difficulties involved in the attempt.

Here the idea of Ethiopia’s eternal independence appears, guaranteed by the presence of the Ark of the Covenant and the Sovereignty of Zion, that gave victory over any foreign aggression and even against Hercules the strongest. Independence that will be defended for another two millennia after the writings of Diodorus, until the glorious victory over the fascists. According to Diodorus, even Hercules and Dionysus tried to subjugate the Ethiopians, and failed.

“They say also that the Egyptians are colonists sent out by the Ethiopians, Osiris having been the leader of the colony. For, speaking generally, what is now Egypt, they maintain, was not land but sea when in the beginning the universe was being formed; afterwards, however, as the Nile during the times of its inundation carried down the mud from Ethiopia, land was gradually built up from the deposit. Also the statement that all the land of the Egyptians is alluvial silt deposited by the river receives the clearest proof, in their opinion, from what takes place at the outlets of the Nile; for as each year new mud is continually gathered together at the mouths of the river, the sea is observed being thrust back by the deposited silt and the land receiving the increase. And the larger part of the customs of the Egyptians are, they hold, Ethiopian, the colonists still preserving their ancient manners. For instance, the belief that their kings are gods, the very special attention which they pay to their burials, and many other matters of a similar nature are Ethiopian practices, while the shapes of their statues and the forms of their letters are Ethiopian“.

Diodorus affirms that the royal, the funeral and the religious tradition of Egypt are of Ethiopian derivation, as well as the forms of the letters in their alphabet. The Nile originates in Ethiopia, and it is perfectly reasonable to believe that its civilization developed from its high source on the Ethiopian plateau, downwards to the Mediterranean sea. This also explains why the Ge’ez word for Egypt, G(e)btz ግብጽ, comes from the word G(e)b ግብ, meaning “Pit”, the Pit in which the river Nile flows down. The ancient Egyptian language calls the same earth soil as “GEB”.

In chapter 5, the Sicilian historian finally describes the spiritual authority of the King of Ethiopia, chosen by “Divine Providence”, and worshipped as a god. He also speaks about his attachment to ethiopian ancient legal traditions, and his renowned “solomonic” wisdom and justice, for example his mercy towards those sentenced to death. All this fits perfectly with all the principles guarded today by the Rastafarian people.

Categories
Ethiopia in Western Culture

Herodotus – Histories

Herodotus is commonly considered the father of Western historiography, and certainly one of the oldest historians of mankind. In his works, of course, the nobility of the Ethiopians could not be ignored.

In the Third Book of his “Histories”, Herodotus describes the expansionist desires of King Cambyses of Persia, and his vain attempt to conquer Ethiopia.

“After this Cambyses planned three expeditions, against the Carchedonians,​ and against the Ammonians, and against the ‘long-lived’​ Ethiopians, who dwelt on the Libyan coast of the southern sea. Taking counsel, he resolved to send his fleet against the Carchedonians and a part of his land army against the Ammonians; to Ethiopia he would send first spies, to see what truth there were in the story of a Table of the Sun in that country, and to spy out all else besides, under the pretext of bearing gifts for the Ethiopian king.” (Chapter 17)

In chapter 20 Herodotus teaches the superiority of Ethiopian people over any other:

οἱ δὲ Αἰθίοπες οὗτοι, ἐς τοὺς ἀποπέμπει ὁ Καμβύσης, λέγονται εἶναι μέγιστοι καὶ κάλλιστοι ἀνθρώπων πάντων.

“The Ethiopians to whom this embassy was sent by Cambyses, are said to be the biggest and handsomest men in the whole world.”

Herodotus speaks also about the peculiar and unique character of Ethiopian customs and culture:

“In their customs they differ greatly from the rest of mankind, and particularly in the way they choose their kings; for they find out the man who is the biggest of all the citizens, and of strength equal to his size, and appoint him to rule over them.”

In chapter XXI Herodotus also describes the nobility of Ethiopians and their King, and their disinterest in wars of aggression and conquest of other people’s territories:

“The Icthyophagi on reaching this people, delivered the gifts to the king of the country, and spoke as follows: ‘Cambyses, king of the Persians, anxious to become thy ally and sworn friend, has sent us to hold converse with thee, and to bear thee the gifts thou seest, which are the things wherein he himself delights the most’. Hereon the Ethiopian, who knew they came as spies, made answer: ‘The king of the Persians sent you not with these gifts because he much desired to become my sworn friend- nor is the account which ye give of yourselves true, for ye are come to search out my kingdom. Also your king is not a just man- for were he so, he had not coveted a land which is not his own, nor brought slavery on a people who never did him any wrong. Bear him this bow, and say: <<The king of the Ethiopians thus advises the king of the Persians when the Persians can pull a bow of this strength thus easily, then let him come with an army of superior strength against the long-lived Ethiopians >>, till then, let him thank the gods that they have not put it into the heart of the sons of the Ethiopians to covet countries which do not belong to them’.”

In chapter 22 another superiority of the Ethiopians is also highlighted, longevity, as they were called “long-lived”. The King of Ethiopia asked “what the Persian king was wont to eat, and to what age the longest-lived of the Persians had been known to attain. They told him that the king ate bread, and described the nature of wheat- adding that eighty years was the longest term of man’s life among the Persians. Hereat the Ethiopian remarked, ‘It does not surprise me, if they fed on dirt, that they die so soon’.”

In chapter 23 the King explains the diet of Ethiopians and relate their long life to a special Ethiopian fountain where they washed, i.e. the River of Eden and the famous “Fountain of Eternal Youth”, that we can find in other books of classic literature:

“The Icthyophagi then in their turn questioned the king concerning the term of life, and diet of his people, and were told that most of them lived to be a 120 years old, while some even went beyond that age- they ate boiled flesh, and had for their drink nothing but milk. When the Icthyophagi showed wonder at the number of the years, he led them to a fountain, wherein when they had washed, they found their flesh all glossy and sleek, as if they had bathed in oil- and a scent came from the spring like that of violets. The water was so weak, they said, that nothing would float in it, neither wood, nor any lighter substance, but all went to the bottom. If the account of this fountain be true, it would be their constant use of the water from it which makes them so long-lived.”

The wealth of the Ethiopian Kingdom was so special that “when they quitted the fountain the king led them to a prison, where the prisoners were all of them bound with fetters of gold.”

According to chapter 25, irritated by the words of the Ethiopian King, Cambyses decided to march against him, towards the heavenly extremities of the earth:

“When the spies had now seen everything, they returned back to Egypt, and made report to Cambyses, who was stirred to anger by their words. Forthwith he set out on his march against the Ethiopians without having made any provision for the sustenance of his army, or reflected that he was about to wage war in the uttermost parts of the earth.”

But the military expedition was a curse in itself, and failed much before having reached that land, spreading death and disaster among the Persian army:

“Before, however, he had accomplished one-fifth part of the distance, all that the army had in the way of provisions failed; whereupon the men began to eat the sumpter beasts, which shortly failed also. If then, at this time, Cambyses, seeing what was happening, had confessed himself in the wrong, and led his army back, he would have done the wisest thing that he could after the mistake made at the outset; but as it was, he took no manner of heed, but continued to march forwards. So long as the earth gave them anything, the soldiers sustained life by eating the grass and herbs; but when they came to the bare sand, a portion of them were guilty of a horrid deed: by tens they cast lots for a man, who was slain to be the food of the others. When Cambyses heard of these doings, alarmed at such cannibalism, he gave up his attack on Ethiopia, and retreating by the way he had come, reached Thebes, after he had lost vast numbers of his soldiers. From Thebes he marched down to Memphis, where he dismissed the Greeks, allowing them to sail home. And so ended the expedition against Ethiopia.”

This confirms thus the ancient fame of political independence and invincible freedom of the Ethiopians, coming out their divine righteousness.

 

Categories
Ethiopia in Western Culture

The Myth of Perseus

According to greco-roman literature, the great greek Hero Perseus, that was a descendent of the african gods Egypt and Nile, went to Ethiopia to be crowned and receive a kingdom.
On the back of the flying horse Pegasus, he had killed Medusa the monster, and going to visit first Atlas the Ethiopian Giant, then he went to visit the Kingdom of Ethiopia, whose king’s name was Cepheus.
Ovidius states at the end of IV Book of the Metamorphoses (668-671):
gentibus innumeris circumque infraque relictis
Aethiopum populos Cepheaque conspicit arva.
illic inmeritam maternae pendere linguae
Andromedan poenas iniustus iusserat Ammon;
“Leaving innumerable nations behind, below and around him, he came in sight of the Ethiopian peoples, and the fields of Cepheus. There Jupiter Ammon had unjustly ordered the innocent Andromeda to pay the penalty for her mother Cassiopeia’s words.”
The wife of Cefeus, Queen Cassiopea, had praised the beauty of her daughter and declared it higher than the beauty of deities. Therefore, the God Ammon sent a dragon to destroy their kingdom, forcing the royal couple to offer Andromeda’s life to save the land. Andromeda was chained on the shores of the Ocean to be killed, when Perseus saw her and killed the dragon using the head of Medusa, thus marrying Andromeda and becoming Prince of Ethiopia.
The story of Perseus recalls the traditional tale of Agabos father of Makeda Queen of Sheba (the most beutiful of women) who became Ethiopian Sovereign killing the king-serpent that was oppressing the land. The deeds of Saint George (Ghiorghìs, like “Gorgon”, the title of Medusa) seem to be very similar also.
According to western interpretation of stars, Perseus, Cepheus, Cassiopea and Andromeda are 4 constant constellations of the boreal emisphere, that never go under the line of the horizon and are visible during the whole year. Therefore, the complete Ethiopian Royal family is represented on the European Celestial Vault and symbolically rules it.
Categories
Ethiopia in Western Culture

Homer – The Iliad – 1

The divine glory of Ethiopia is clearly expressed in the “Iliad” of the greatest greek poet, Homer.
In Iliad Book 1 verses 423-425 Tethis speaks with Achilles her son, and suggests him to not join the war, and to wait few days the return of Zeus, that was not available at that time and could not help him:
Ζεὺς γὰρ ἐς Ὠκεανὸν μετ᾽ἀμύμονας Αἰθιοπῆας
χθιζὸς ἔβη κατὰ δαῖτα, θεοὶ δ᾽ἅμα πάντες ἕποντο
δωδεκάτῃ δέ τοι αὖτις ἐλεύσεται Οὔλυμπον δέ
“Zeus went yesterday to Oceanus, to the blameless Ethiopians for a feast, and all the gods followed with him; but on the twelfth day he will come back again to Olympus”.
Zeus, the head of all the greek gods, had the habit to spend his holydays in Ethiopia, to join Ethiopian banquets and feasts and cut off the rest of the world business for 12 days.
The coming down of Zeus in Ethiopia is an image of incarnation and coming of Christ.
Oceanus was also a Greek Divinity, he was traditionally represented with dark complexion and recognized as an Ethiopian (attached picture), and in the same Iliad (XIV, 201), Homer said about him:
Ὠκεανόν τε θεῶν γένεσιν / Okeanòn te Teòn Gènesin
“Oceanus the Genesis of the Gods”. Therefore, Ethiopia was declared as the original motherland of life.
The Ethiopians were “blameless”, and the Gods especially loved their sacrifices, their celebrations, their company. Therefore, they were declared by Homer as Chosen People of holiness.
That’s why the goddess Iris, again in the Iliad (XXIII, 205-207), is invited to join a greek feast, but she prefers the Ethiopians:
ἣ δ᾽αὖθ᾽ ἕζεσθαι μὲν ἀνήνατο, εἶπε δὲ μῦθον:
οὐχ ἕδος: εἶμι γὰρ αὖτις ἐπ᾽ Ὠκεανοῖο ῥέεθρα
Αἰθιόπων ἐς γαῖαν, ὅθι ῥέζουσ᾽ ἑκατόμβας
ἀθανάτοις, ἵνα δὴ καὶ ἐγὼ μεταδαίσομαι ἱρῶν.
“But she refused to sit, and spake saying: ‘I may not sit, for I must go back unto the streams of Oceanus, unto the land of the Ethiopians, where they are sacrificing hecatombs to the immortals, that I too may share in the sacred feast.’ “