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152 Memnon. been that Sesostris whose invincible arms had penetrated eastward as far as the Ganges, and westward to the extre- mity of Thrace : or that Osymandyas whose Bactrian expe- dition was recorded in the sculptures of his sepulchral palace at Thebes (Diodor. i. 47. 55). On the other hand if the Ethiopian hero was to be considered as the son of Aurora, as a youth of more than mortal beauty, whose untimely death had clouded the face of nature with sadness, and was commemorated every year with mournful rites, the Egyptian mythology could produce a being of similar character and fate. Such was the mysterious person who was revered as the guardian of Thebes, and whose statue, in the Roman period, was often heard to utter a plaintive strain'. The Egyptian title by which he was known at Thebes was Phamenoph or Amenophis% which came near enough to the Greek name of Memnon to confirm the supposition of their identity. The name of this Amenophis appears among the kings of Egypt ^ : but there is every reason to believe that he was a merely ideal being, though his character and attributes have been the subject of much dispute among the learned. Our present purpose does not require that we should enter very deeply into this question, though we must not entirely pass over it. Jablonski was, I believe, the first writer who ex- pressed the opinion that the famous vocal statue did not represent any historical personage, but was merely symbolical and mystical. This he thought was plain from the legends concerning Amenophis, as well as from his being called the son of Aurora; and he conjectures that this statue, as well as the pyramids, were destined by the priests to the purpose 7 An inscription on the colossus, as corrected by Jacobs (Transactions of the Munich Academy T. ii. p. 42). (puivt] 6' oSvpimd's rju irdXaL fxoi Mefxvovo^i to. irddtj yooHaa, ^ Paus. I. 41. 3. eldov Kad^fievov ayaX/ma tJx^T^^ (according to Scaliger's correc- tion) Me/uLVOva ovofxaX^ovcnu ol iroWoi, tovtov yap (pacnv ej AtOtoTrtas opfx^Qilvai €s AlyvTTTOv Kal Ttji/ clxpL Soiyo-oji/. dWd ydp ov Me/jivova oi QrjfSaloL XiyovffL, ^afxivw<pa ^e elvai nrcov lyxixipitjiv ov tovh-o dyaX/ma y)v, rJKovara dk riSri Kal SeVw- CTpLv (f>afX6V(jdV elvai n-ovTO nro dyaX/ma o K-a/UilSvari^ SieKoxf/e, ^ Syncellus i. p. 286 ed. Bonn. AiyvTTTov fx. e^aaiXevcreu 'A/xeycu^Gts. Outos o 'Aiui€V(x)<pdk ecTTLV 6 Me/uiVODV elvai vopiiX,6fjL€vo^ Kal (pdeyyo/uLcvo^ t0o§. ov Xtdov Xpoi^oL^ vaTepov Ka/i./3j^cnjs" o Hepdoju re^i/^t vonii^iou elvai yo^Teiav qv auTfo 0)5 lioXvaLVo^ 6 ' AdtjuaTo's la-TOpel,