Editing Trojan War (section)

====Penthesilea and the death of Achilles====

[[File:Akhilleus Penthesileia Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2688.jpg|thumb|left|Achilles killing the Amazon Penthesilea]]

Shortly after the burial of Hector, [[Penthesilea]], queen of the [[Amazons]], arrived with her warriors.<ref>Scholiast on Homer, ''Iliad''. xxiv. 804.</ref> Penthesilea, daughter of [[Otrera]] and Ares, had accidentally killed her sister [[Hippolyte]]. She was purified from this action by Priam,<ref>Quintus of Smyrna, ''Posthomerica'' i.18 ff.</ref> and in exchange she fought for him and killed many, including [[Machaon (mythology)|Machaon]]<ref name=AE51>Apollodorus, ''Epitome'' 5.1.</ref> (according to Pausanias, Machaon was killed by [[Eurypylus (son of Telephus)|Eurypylus]]),<ref name="Pausanias 3.26.9">Pausanias 3.26.9.</ref> and according to one version, Achilles himself, who was resurrected at the request of Thetis.<ref>Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History Bk6 (as summarized in Photius, Myriobiblon 190)</ref> In another version, Penthesilia was killed by Achilles,<ref name=PC2A>Proclus, ''Chrestomathy'' 2, ''Aethiopis''.</ref> who would later mourn her after her death. [[Thersites]], a simple soldier and the ugliest Achaean, taunted Achilles over his grief<ref name=AE51/> and gouged out Penthesilea's eyes.<ref>Tzetzes, ''Scholiast on Lycophron'' 999.</ref> Achilles slew Thersites, and after a dispute sailed to Lesbos, where he was purified for his murder by Odysseus after sacrificing to Apollo, Artemis, and Leto.<ref name=PC2A/>

[[File:Closeup of Achilles thniskon in Corfu Achilleion autocorrected.JPG|thumb|''Dying Achilles'' ({{lang|grc-Latn|Achilleas thniskon}}) in the gardens of the Achilleion]]
While they were away, [[Memnon (mythology)|Memnon]] of [[Aethiopia|Ethiopia]], son of [[Tithonus]] and [[Eos]],<ref name="Apollodorus, Epitome 5.3">Apollodorus, ''Epitome'' 5.3.</ref> came with his host to help his stepbrother Priam.<ref>Tzetzes ad Lycophroon 18.</ref> He did not come directly from Ethiopia, but either from [[Susa]] in Persia, conquering all the peoples in between,<ref>Pausanias 10.31.7.</ref> or from the Caucasus, leading an army of Ethiopians and [[India (Herodotus)|Indians]].<ref>Dictys Cretensis iv. 4.</ref> Like Achilles, he wore armour made by Hephaestus.<ref>Virgil, ''Aeneid'' 8.372.</ref> In the ensuing battle, Memnon killed [[Antilochus]], who took one of Memnon's blows to save his father Nestor.<ref>Pindarus ''Pythian'' vi. 30.</ref> Achilles and Memnon then fought. Zeus weighed the fate of the two heroes; the weight containing that of Memnon sank,<ref>Quintus Smyrnaeus ii. 224.</ref> and he was slain by Achilles.<ref name=PC2A/><ref>Diodorus Siculus, ''Library of History'' 4.75.4.</ref> Achilles chased the Trojans to their city, which he entered. The gods, seeing that he had killed too many of their children, decided that it was his time to die. He was killed after Paris shot a poisoned arrow that was guided by Apollo.<ref name=PC2A/><ref name="Apollodorus, Epitome 5.3"/><ref>Pausanias 1.13.9.</ref> In another version he was killed by a knife to the back (or [[Achilles' heel|heel]]) by Paris, while marrying [[Polyxena]], daughter of Priam, in the temple of Thymbraean Apollo,<ref>Euripides, ''Hecuba'' 40.</ref> the site where he had earlier killed Troilus. Both versions conspicuously deny the killer any sort of valour, saying Achilles remained undefeated on the battlefield. His bones were mingled with those of Patroclus, and funeral games were held.<ref>Quintus Smyrnaeus, ''Posthomerica'' iv. 88–595.</ref> Like Ajax, Achilles is represented as living after his death in the island of [[Leuke]], at the mouth of the [[Danube]] River.<ref>Apollodorus, ''Epitome'' 5.5.</ref><ref>Pausanias 3.19.13.</ref>