From the point of view of its plot, the Aethiopis – a Cyclic epic that must have comprised five books and that is ascribed, along with the Iliou persis and the Titanomachy, to Arctinus of Miletus – follows directly on the Iliad and narrates the events until the death of Achilles and the funeral games held in his honour. The structure and content of this epic can be roughly reconstructed by the plot as outlined by Proclus (Aeth. arg. lines 172–203 Severyns); a significant addition is offered by the only certain fragment of the epic attested in the Σ Pind. Isth. 4.58b, according to which the suicide of Ajax formed part of the original Aethiopis. This piece of information is further confirmed or supplemented by testimonies explicitly referring to this Cyclic epic, though not always certainly genuine, and assumed allusions found in the Epitome of Ps.-Apollodorus (5.1–6, see arg. lines 1–4 W.), the Odyssey (especially 24.36–92), Pindar (Pyth. 6.28–42; Nem. 6.49–54),Virgil (Aen. 1.751; 6.57), variousHomeric scholia (Σ Ariston. Il. 17.719 or Σ H Od. 11.547; Σ D Il. 23.660) and the Posthomerica of Quintus of Smyrna (third century AD), as also by the inscriptions and images of the Tabula Iliaca Capitolina (A), the Tabula Veronensis II (D) and the Tabula Iliaca ‘Thierry’ (Ti), and by a number of the so-called ‘Homeric Cups’. Occasionally we may draw conclusions based on representations of scenes related to this Cyclic epic depicted on vases or other monuments. Not even one genuine verse from the Aethiopis survives (see below).

Plot

Proclus outlines the plot of the Aethiopis as follows: the Amazon Penthesilea, a daughter of Ares of Thracian provenance, comes to assist the Trojans as their ally. After having excelled in battle, she is killed by Achilles and eventually buried by the Trojans. Thersites scoffs at Achilles for his supposed love for Penthesilea; Achilles kills him and as a result a quarrel arises among the Achaeans.