Memnon of Rhodes (391 BC-333 BC) was a Greek mercenary general in the service of the Persian Empire during the 4th century BC, best known for being Alexander the Great's first major adversary during his campaign to conquer the Achaemenid Empire.
Biography[]
Memnon was born in 391 BC on the Greek island of Rhodes. Memnon was a brilliant tactician, and he was employed by the Persian Empire as a mercenary commander starting in 358 BC, when he married the daughter of Artabazos II of Phrygia. That same year, he and his brother Mentor served as Artabazos' generals during his revolt against Artaxerxes II, and, after the rebellion was defeated, Memnon briefly went into exile in Macedon, where he met the seven-year-old Alexander the Great and discussed military strategy and Persia's might with him. Memnon returned to Persian service in 340 BC and defended Byzantium against an assault by King Philip II of Macedon in 339 BC. In 334 BC, however, Alexander invaded Anatolia, leading to Memnon plotting to instigate a Greek rebellion against Macedonian rule to distract Alexander. After the defeat at the Battle of the Granicus, Memnon was given command of the Persian forces in the empire's western satrapies, and he was narrowly defeated by Alexander in the Siege of Halicarnassus. Memnon proceeded to launch a diversionary attack on the Greek islands of the Aegean Sea, capturing Chios and Lesbos before dying during the siege of Mytilene in 333 BC. His wife Barsine later became one of Alexander's mistresses, bearing him a son, Heracles.
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