In Greek mythology, Emathion (Ancient Greek Ἠμαθίων) was a king of Ethiopia or Arabia, son of Tithonus and Eos (Dawn) and brother of Memnon. On his way to fetch the golden apples of the Hesperides, Heracles killed Emathion and, in one account, gave the kingdom to Memnon. He is distinct from the Samothracian Emathion son of Zeus and Electra, and from other lesser namesakes.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Emathion" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Family
Emathion belongs to the Ethiopian royal house of Eos and Tithonus. As son of the Dawn and the Trojan (or Assaracid) Tithonus he is brother of Memnon, the brazen-crested king who later fights at Troy. The tradition places his realm in Ethiopia or, in the Heracles itinerary, along the route through Arabia and the Nile valley.
II.Death at the hands of Heracles
In the cycle of Heracles' labour for the apples of the Hesperides, the hero encounters Emathion and kills him. Pierre Grimal summarizes the common outline: Heracles comes upon him after reaching the Nile valley on the western quest, slays him, and bestows the kingdom on Memnon. A rumor preserved in later handbooks has Emathion trying to prevent Heracles from taking the golden apples.
A separate antiquarian rumor — not the main Ethiopian saga — once made an Emathion father of Romus, a founder of Rome; that notice is not the genealogy used for this Ethiopian king.
III.Homonyms
This atlas entry (emathion-ethiopia) is the Ethiopian/Arabian son of Eos and Tithonus, brother of Memnon. Distinct from Emathion king of Samothrace, son of Zeus and the Pleiad Electra (brother of Dardanus and Iasion); from the aged Ethiopian courtier of Cepheus slain in Ovid's Perseus episode; and from Trojan or Virgilian bearers of the name.