On the west bank of the huge colossi of Memnon marked the entrance of his funerary temple, a magnificent building which was afterwards destroyed, and the great lake of Birket Habu was dug and embanked in front of his brick palace at the extreme south.
It was urged upon them by their colleague the Rhodian Memnon.
Memnon the Rhodian, now in supreme command of the Persian fleet, saw the European coasts exposed and set out to raise Greece, where discontent always smouldered in Alexander's rear.
The story of Memnon was the subject of the lost Aethiopis of Arctinus of Miletus; the chief source from which our knowledge of him is derived is the second book of the Posthomerica of Quintus Smyrnaeus (itself probably an adaptation of the works of Arctinus and Lesches), where his exploits and death are described at length.
The fight between Achilles and Memnon was often represented by Greek artists, as on the chest of Cypselus, and more than one Greek play was written bearing his name as a title.