Makednos
Encyclopedia
Makedon, also Macedon or Makednos (Greek
: Μακεδών), was the eponym
ous mythological ancestor of the ancient Macedonians
according to various ancient Greek fragmentary narratives. In most versions, he appears as a native or immigrant leader who gave his name to the Macedon
, previously called Emathia
or Thrace
.
, quoted by Constantine Porphyrogenitus
, we read: " Macedonia the country was named after Makedon, the son of Zeus
and Thyia
, daughter of Deucalion
, as the poet Hesiod
relates;
and she became pregnant and bore to thunder-loving Zeus, two sons, Magnes
and Macedon, the horse lover, those who dwelt in mansions around Pieria and Olympus
". The poetic epithet " hippiocharmes " can alternatively be translated " fighting on horseback " or " chariot-fighter " and has also been attributed to Aeolus
son of Hellen, Troilus
and Amythaon
. A fragment of the Macedonian historian Marsyas of Pella
(4th century BC), through a scholiast of Iliad xiv 226 confirms the genealogy as found in the Catalogue of Women: " Makedon son of Zeus and Thyia, conquered the land then belonging to Thrace and he called it Macedonia after his name. He married a local woman and got two sons, Pierus
and Amathus
; two cities, Pieria and Amathia in Macedonia were founded or named after them ". The rare name of his mother Thyia
, has been corrupted in transmission to Aithria or Aithyia through the phrase " kai Thyias, and Thyia ". Thyia
in the Delphic tradition was an eponym naiad of the Thyiades, alternative name of the Maenads in the cult of Dionysus
, certainly practiced also in Macedonia.
The mythological chronologization of the Hesiodean passage indicates to time before the Trojan War and Iliad
, since then the Magnetes
dwell in Magnesia
, Thessaly. The Catalogue of Women
, which is variously dated mostly between 8th and 6th century BC, provides the earliest and unique reference of a Macedonian element before the 5th century BC historiography.
at Argos
", and preserved by Stephanus, Makedon is son of Aeolus
, as Hellanicus relates in the first (book or archive list) of his "Hiereiai tes Heras en Argei" , and of Makedon, the son of Aeolus, the present Macedonians were named so, then living alone with the Mysians
. The fragment does not clarify who of the three Aeoli
is Makedon's father but Eustathius
reported him as one of the ten sons of Aeolus
, thus the son of Hellen
. In later traditions, Magnes
is also reported as one of the ten sons of Aeolus
and father of Pierus
.
N. G. L. Hammond
, based on the passage of Hellanicus, as well on the Thessalian Magnes being brother of Macedon, suggested that the Macedonian language
is an Aeolic Greek
dialect. Jonathan M. Hall
compares Magnes and Macedon to other excluded tribes from direct lineage to Hellen
and later Olympic participants, such as Aetolians
, Acarnan
ians and Arcadians
. On the contrary, Eugene N. Borza
gives no significance on this mythological figure for any historical conclusions.
by Diodorus Siculus
, which is based mainly on Aegyptiaca of Hecataeus of Abdera
, Greek and Egyptian mythology have been syncretized
. Osiris has taken the place of Dionysus in his various myths and expeditions. According to Herodotus Osiris was the Egyptian Dionysus and the house of Ptolemies
claimed descent from Dionysus. (see also Osiris-Dionysus deity). Diodorus relates: " Now Osiris
was accompanied on his campaign, as the Egyptian account goes, by his two sons Anubis
and Macedon, who were distinguished for their valour. Both of them carried the most notable accoutrements of war, taken from certain animals whose character was not unlike the boldness of the men, Anubis wearing a dog's skin and Macedon the fore-parts of a wolf; and it is for this reason that these animals are held in honour among the Egyptians..Macedon his son, moreover, he left as king of Macedonia, which was named after him..". Makedon has taken the place of the Egyptian wolf-god of Lycopolis, Wepwawet
and in later traditions Makedon is mentioned as a son of the were-wolf Lycaon.
, but not present in the list of Pausanias or Hyginus, Macednus is the tenth of the fifty sons of Lycaon
king of Arcadia
. The most close brother to him by region is Thesprotus
. In the story of "Pindus
and the serpent" by Claudius Aelianus
, Makedon is the son of Lycaon king of Emathia
,after whom the land was called Macedonia no longer preserving its ancient name.
Eustahius
summarizing the geneaologies, relates: Emathion
son of Zeus and Electra preceding the birth of Makedon son of Aeacus
, (instead of Lycaon). Strabo just called him archaios hegemon, old chieftain, and Pseudo-Scymnus
, gêgenês basileus,earth-born king. Isidore of Seville
, " ..rege Deucalionis materno nepote " , ..king, maternal grandson of Deucalion.
and Amathus
. In the Ethnika of Stephanus
(perhaps through Theagenes
), sons and grandsons of Makedon are: Atintan
(in the version of Lycaon) eponymous of a region in Epirus or Illyria , Beres
, (father of Mieza
, Beroea
and Olganos
, toponyms in Bottiaea
), Europus by Oreithyia
daughter of Cecrops
and Oropus, birthplace of Seleucus I Nikator , which is perhaps confused with Europus. Finally, in the version of Lycaon king of Emathia, Pindus
is a son of Makedon, who gave his name to Pindus, where he died, a river of Doris
, a region in central Greece.
It is unclear whether these localities represent pre- or post-Macedonian elements, since Emathia
and Pieria are older toponyms than Macedonia. Anachronism is not infrequent in later mythic traditions. (Cf. Boeotus
, reported as father of autochthon Ogyges
)
and Mákednos or latinicized Macednus with barytonesis
and apophony
in Apollodorus. The recessive accent reminds of two Macedonian barytonized personal names, Koînos and Bálakros
(Attic/Greek adjectives:koinós, phalakrós) , but whether Makedôn or Mákednos is the original spelling it presumably cannot be proven. Moreover, the suffix -dnos, either as the "Dorian Makednón ethnos" of Herodotus or makednós, a rare poetic epithet denoting tall, seems not to be attested in epigraphy, or used by Macedonians themselves.
In Latin sources the noun is Macedo. As adjectives the Latin Macedo and Greek Makedôn denote foremost a Macedonian man. They also appear, mostly during the Roman era, as personal male names (cf.Macedonius
)
It is traditionally derived from the Indo-European
root *mak-,*meh2k, meaning 'long' or 'slender', cognate with poetic Greek makednos or mêkedanos "long, tall," Doric makos , Attic mêkos length, Makistos
mythological eponymous of a town in Elis
and epithet of Heracles, Avestan masah 'length', Latin
macer 'meagre' Hittite
mak-l-ant 'thin'.
Vittore Pisani constructed a Macedonian word kedôn, out of the Greek chthon
, 'earth' and proposed also a meaning of high land. R.S.P. Beekes claims that the morphological analysis make- (root) + -dnos (suffix) is impossible in an Indo-European word and that it is more likely that the word has a Pre-Greek origin.
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
: Μακεδών), was the eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous mythological ancestor of the ancient Macedonians
Ancient Macedonians
The Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...
according to various ancient Greek fragmentary narratives. In most versions, he appears as a native or immigrant leader who gave his name to the Macedon
Macedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
, previously called Emathia
Emathia
For the modern Greek prefecture, see ImathiaEmathia is an earliest and poetic name of Macedonia , but foremost it roughly corresponds to the district of Bottiaea around Pella.-Classical sources:...
or Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
.
Son of Zeus
In the seventh fragment of Hesiodic Catalogue of WomenCatalogue of Women
thumb|275px|[[Guido Reni]]'s first Atalanta e Ippomene , depicting the race of [[Atalanta]], a myth which was known to Reni from [[Ovid]]'s [[Metamorphoses]], but is now also represented by several fragments of the Catalogue of Women.The Catalogue of Women —also known as...
, quoted by Constantine Porphyrogenitus
Constantine VII
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born" was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 913 to 959...
, we read: " Macedonia the country was named after Makedon, the son of Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
and Thyia
Thyia
According to a quotation from Hesiod's lost work Eoiae or Catalogue of Women, preserved in the De Thematibus of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Thyia was the daughter of Deucalion and Pyrrha and mother of Magnes and Makednos by Zeus.In the Delphic tradition, Thyia was also the naiad of a spring on...
, daughter of Deucalion
Deucalion
In Greek mythology Deucalion was a son of Prometheus and Pronoia. The anger of Zeus was ignited by the hubris of the Pelasgians, and he decided to put an end to the Bronze Age. Lycaon, the king of Arcadia, had sacrificed a boy to Zeus, who was appalled by this savage offering...
, as the poet Hesiod
Hesiod
Hesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
relates;
and she became pregnant and bore to thunder-loving Zeus, two sons, Magnes
Magnes (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Magnes was a name attributed to two men.*Magnes, son of Zeus and Thyia, daughter of Deucalion, or of Aeolus and Enarete, or of Argus and Perimele, eponym and first king of Magnesia, and brother of Makednos...
and Macedon, the horse lover, those who dwelt in mansions around Pieria and Olympus
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia, about 100 kilometres away from Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Mount Olympus has 52 peaks. The highest peak Mytikas, meaning "nose", rises to 2,917 metres...
". The poetic epithet " hippiocharmes " can alternatively be translated " fighting on horseback " or " chariot-fighter " and has also been attributed to Aeolus
Aeolus
Aeolus was the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology. In fact this name was shared by three mythic characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which...
son of Hellen, Troilus
Troilus
Troilus is a legendary character associated with the story of the Trojan War...
and Amythaon
Amythaon
Amythaon is the Ancient Greek god of transportation.A son of Cretheus and Tyro and brother of Aeson and Pheres, he dwelt at Pylos in Messenia, and by Idomene, his niece, or by Aglaia became the father of Bias, Melampus, and Aeolia. According to Pindar, he and several other members of his family...
. A fragment of the Macedonian historian Marsyas of Pella
Marsyas of Pella
Marsyas of Pella , son of Periander, was aMacedonian historian. According to Suidas, he was a brother of Antigonus I Monophthalmus, who was afterwards king of Asia, by which an uterine brother alone can be meant, as the father of Antigonus was named Philip...
(4th century BC), through a scholiast of Iliad xiv 226 confirms the genealogy as found in the Catalogue of Women: " Makedon son of Zeus and Thyia, conquered the land then belonging to Thrace and he called it Macedonia after his name. He married a local woman and got two sons, Pierus
Pierus
Pierus , in Greek mythology, is a name attributed to two individuals.*Pierus, the eponym of Pieria, son of Makednos and father by Antiope or Euippe of the of Pierides, nine maidens who wanted to outshine the Muses...
and Amathus
Emathus
Emathus , Emathius or Amathus , was son of Makednos, from whom Emathia was believed to have derived its name. The daughters of Pierus, the Pierides, are sometimes called Emathides. The Emathian or Emathius in Latin is a frequently used name by Latin poets for Alexander the Great...
; two cities, Pieria and Amathia in Macedonia were founded or named after them ". The rare name of his mother Thyia
Thyia
According to a quotation from Hesiod's lost work Eoiae or Catalogue of Women, preserved in the De Thematibus of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Thyia was the daughter of Deucalion and Pyrrha and mother of Magnes and Makednos by Zeus.In the Delphic tradition, Thyia was also the naiad of a spring on...
, has been corrupted in transmission to Aithria or Aithyia through the phrase " kai Thyias, and Thyia ". Thyia
Thyia
According to a quotation from Hesiod's lost work Eoiae or Catalogue of Women, preserved in the De Thematibus of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Thyia was the daughter of Deucalion and Pyrrha and mother of Magnes and Makednos by Zeus.In the Delphic tradition, Thyia was also the naiad of a spring on...
in the Delphic tradition was an eponym naiad of the Thyiades, alternative name of the Maenads in the cult of Dionysus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
, certainly practiced also in Macedonia.
The mythological chronologization of the Hesiodean passage indicates to time before the Trojan War and Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
, since then the Magnetes
Magnetes
The Magnetes were an ancient Greek tribe living in Thessalian Magnesia who took part in the Trojan War. They later also contributed to the Greek colonisation by founding two prosperous cities in Western Anatolia, Magnesia on the Maeander and Magnesia ad Sipylum.According to Hesiod's "Eoiae" or...
dwell in Magnesia
Magnesia Prefecture
Magnesia Prefecture was one of the prefectures of Greece. Its capital was Volos. It was established in 1899 from the Larissa Prefecture. The prefecture was disbanded on 1 January 2011 by the Kallikratis programme, and split into the peripheral units of Magnesia and the Sporades.The toponym is...
, Thessaly. The Catalogue of Women
Catalogue of Women
thumb|275px|[[Guido Reni]]'s first Atalanta e Ippomene , depicting the race of [[Atalanta]], a myth which was known to Reni from [[Ovid]]'s [[Metamorphoses]], but is now also represented by several fragments of the Catalogue of Women.The Catalogue of Women —also known as...
, which is variously dated mostly between 8th and 6th century BC, provides the earliest and unique reference of a Macedonian element before the 5th century BC historiography.
Son of Aeolus
In a fragment of a chronological work of Hellanicus called " Priestesses of HeraHera
Hera was the wife and one of three sisters of Zeus in the Olympian pantheon of Greek mythology and religion. Her chief function was as the goddess of women and marriage. Her counterpart in the religion of ancient Rome was Juno. The cow and the peacock were sacred to her...
at Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
", and preserved by Stephanus, Makedon is son of Aeolus
Aeolus
Aeolus was the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology. In fact this name was shared by three mythic characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which...
, as Hellanicus relates in the first (book or archive list) of his "Hiereiai tes Heras en Argei" , and of Makedon, the son of Aeolus, the present Macedonians were named so, then living alone with the Mysians
Mysians
Mysians were the inhabitants of Mysia, a region in northwestern Asia Minor.-Origins according to ancient authors:Their first mention is by Homer, in his list of Trojans allies in the Iliad, and according to whom the Mysians fought in the Trojan War on the side of Troy, under the command of Chromis...
. The fragment does not clarify who of the three Aeoli
Aeolus
Aeolus was the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology. In fact this name was shared by three mythic characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which...
is Makedon's father but Eustathius
Eustathius of Thessalonica
Archbishop Eustathius of Thessalonica was a Greek bishop and scholar. He is most noted for his contemporary account of the sack of Thessalonike by the Normans in 1185, for his orations and for his commentaries on Homer, which incorporate many remarks by much earlier researchers.- Life :After being...
reported him as one of the ten sons of Aeolus
Aeolus
Aeolus was the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology. In fact this name was shared by three mythic characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which...
, thus the son of Hellen
Hellen
Hellen , the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, brother of Amphictyon and father of Aeolus, Xuthus, and Dorus. His name is also another name for Greek, meaning a person of Greek descent or pertaining to Greek culture, and the source of the adjective "Hellenic".Each of his sons founded a primary tribe of...
. In later traditions, Magnes
Magnes (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Magnes was a name attributed to two men.*Magnes, son of Zeus and Thyia, daughter of Deucalion, or of Aeolus and Enarete, or of Argus and Perimele, eponym and first king of Magnesia, and brother of Makednos...
is also reported as one of the ten sons of Aeolus
Aeolus
Aeolus was the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology. In fact this name was shared by three mythic characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which...
and father of Pierus
Pierus
Pierus , in Greek mythology, is a name attributed to two individuals.*Pierus, the eponym of Pieria, son of Makednos and father by Antiope or Euippe of the of Pierides, nine maidens who wanted to outshine the Muses...
.
N. G. L. Hammond
N. G. L. Hammond
Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond CBE, DSO was a British scholar of ancient Greece of great accomplishment and an operative for the British Special Operations Executive in occupied Greece during World War II....
, based on the passage of Hellanicus, as well on the Thessalian Magnes being brother of Macedon, suggested that the Macedonian language
Ancient Macedonian language
Ancient Macedonian was the language of the ancient Macedonians. It was spoken in the kingdom of Macedon during the 1st millennium BCE and it belongs to the Indo-European group of languages...
is an Aeolic Greek
Aeolic Greek
Aeolic Greek is a linguistic term used to describe a set of dialects of Ancient Greek spoken mainly in Boeotia , Thessaly, and in the Aegean island of Lesbos and the Greek colonies of Asia Minor ....
dialect. Jonathan M. Hall
Jonathan M. Hall
Jonathan M. Hall is Professor of Greek History at the University of Chicago. He is the author of many books, including Ethnic Identity in Greek Antiquity, Hellenicity: Between Ethnicity and Culture, and A History of the Archaic Greek World, ca. 1200-479 BCE, and of various articles and reviews on...
compares Magnes and Macedon to other excluded tribes from direct lineage to Hellen
Hellen
Hellen , the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, brother of Amphictyon and father of Aeolus, Xuthus, and Dorus. His name is also another name for Greek, meaning a person of Greek descent or pertaining to Greek culture, and the source of the adjective "Hellenic".Each of his sons founded a primary tribe of...
and later Olympic participants, such as Aetolians
Aetolus (son of Endymion)
Aetolus was, in Greek mythology, a son of Endymion, grandson of Deucalion, and the nymph Neïs, or Iphianassa. According to Pausanias, his mother was called Asterodia, Chromia, or Hyperippe. He was married to Pronoe, by whom he had two sons, Pleuron and Calydon. His brothers were Paeon, Epeius, and...
, Acarnan
Acarnan
In Greek mythology, Acarnan , one of the Epigones, was a son of Alcmaeon and Callirrhoe, and brother of Amphoterus. Their father was murdered by Phegeus , when they were yet very young, and Calirrhoe prayed to Zeus to make her sons grow quickly, that they might be able to avenge the death of their...
ians and Arcadians
Arcas
In Greek mythology, Arcas was the son of Zeus and Callisto. Callisto was a nymph in the retinue of the goddess Artemis. Zeus, being a flirtatious god, wanted Callisto for a lover. As she would not be with anyone but Artemis, Zeus cunningly disguised himself as Artemis and seduced Callisto...
. On the contrary, Eugene N. Borza
Eugene N. Borza
Eugene N. Borza was a professor emeritus of ancient history at Pennsylvania State University. He has written many works on the ancient kingdom of Macedonia.-Published works:...
gives no significance on this mythological figure for any historical conclusions.
Son of Osiris
In "The antiquities of Egypt", first chapter of Bibliotheca historicaBibliotheca historica
Bibliotheca historica , is a work of universal history by Diodorus Siculus. It consisted of forty books, which were divided into three sections. The first six books are geographical in theme, and describe the history and culture of Egypt , of Mesopotamia, India, Scythia, and Arabia , of North...
by Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
, which is based mainly on Aegyptiaca of Hecataeus of Abdera
Hecataeus of Abdera
Hecataeus of Abdera was a Greek historian and sceptic philosopher who flourished in the 4th century BC.-Biography:Diogenes Laertius relates that he was a student of Pyrrho, along with Eurylochus, Timon the Phliasian, Nausiphanes of Teos and others, and includes him among the "Pyrrhoneans"...
, Greek and Egyptian mythology have been syncretized
Syncretism
Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...
. Osiris has taken the place of Dionysus in his various myths and expeditions. According to Herodotus Osiris was the Egyptian Dionysus and the house of Ptolemies
Ptolemaic dynasty
The Ptolemaic dynasty, was a Macedonian Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC...
claimed descent from Dionysus. (see also Osiris-Dionysus deity). Diodorus relates: " Now Osiris
Osiris
Osiris is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and...
was accompanied on his campaign, as the Egyptian account goes, by his two sons Anubis
Anubis
Anubis is the Greek name for a jackal-headed god associated with mummification and the afterlife in ancient Egyptian religion. In the ancient Egyptian language, Anubis is known as Inpu . According to the Akkadian transcription in the Amarna letters, Anubis' name was vocalized as Anapa...
and Macedon, who were distinguished for their valour. Both of them carried the most notable accoutrements of war, taken from certain animals whose character was not unlike the boldness of the men, Anubis wearing a dog's skin and Macedon the fore-parts of a wolf; and it is for this reason that these animals are held in honour among the Egyptians..Macedon his son, moreover, he left as king of Macedonia, which was named after him..". Makedon has taken the place of the Egyptian wolf-god of Lycopolis, Wepwawet
Wepwawet
In late Egyptian mythology, Wepwawet was originally a war deity, whose cult centre was Asyut in Upper Egypt . His name means, opener of the ways...
and in later traditions Makedon is mentioned as a son of the were-wolf Lycaon.
Son of Lycaon
According to ApollodorusBibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)
The Bibliotheca , in three books, provides a comprehensive summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends, "the most valuable mythographical work that has come down from ancient times," Aubrey Diller observed, whose "stultifying purpose" was neatly expressed in the epigram noted by...
, but not present in the list of Pausanias or Hyginus, Macednus is the tenth of the fifty sons of Lycaon
Lycaon (mythology)
For the Trojan Lycaon, see Lycaon .Lycaon was a king of Arcadia, son of Pelasgus and Meliboea, who in the most popular version of the myth tested Zeus and as a punishment was transformed into the form of a wolf.-Versions of the myth:...
king of Arcadia
Arcadia
Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...
. The most close brother to him by region is Thesprotus
Thesprotus
*Thesprotus the eponymous hero of Thesprotia was a son of Lycaon. Thesprotus' son was Ambrax eponymous of Ambracia.*Thesprotus king of the country where Lake Avernus is said to be , related to the myth of Thyestes and Atreus.-References:*...
. In the story of "Pindus
Pindus (mythology)
for other uses,see Pindus Pindus in Greek mythology was the son of Makednos. He was friend with a snake and when his three brothers killed Pindus, the snake took revenge by killing them.-References:*-Claudius Aelianus...
and the serpent" by Claudius Aelianus
Claudius Aelianus
Claudius Aelianus , often seen as just Aelian, born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222...
, Makedon is the son of Lycaon king of Emathia
Emathia
For the modern Greek prefecture, see ImathiaEmathia is an earliest and poetic name of Macedonia , but foremost it roughly corresponds to the district of Bottiaea around Pella.-Classical sources:...
,after whom the land was called Macedonia no longer preserving its ancient name.
Eustahius
Eustathius of Thessalonica
Archbishop Eustathius of Thessalonica was a Greek bishop and scholar. He is most noted for his contemporary account of the sack of Thessalonike by the Normans in 1185, for his orations and for his commentaries on Homer, which incorporate many remarks by much earlier researchers.- Life :After being...
summarizing the geneaologies, relates: Emathion
Emathion
- Ethiopian king :Emathion was king of Aethiopia, the son of Tithonus and Eos, and brother of Memnon. Heracles killed him.- Samothracian :Emathion was king of Samothrace, was the son of Zeus and Electra , brother to Dardanus, Iasion, Eetion, and Harmonia...
son of Zeus and Electra preceding the birth of Makedon son of Aeacus
Aeacus
Aeacus was a mythological king of the island of Aegina in the Saronic Gulf.He was son of Zeus and Aegina, a daughter of the river-god Asopus. He was born on the island of Oenone or Oenopia, to which Aegina had been carried by Zeus to secure her from the anger of her parents, and whence this...
, (instead of Lycaon). Strabo just called him archaios hegemon, old chieftain, and Pseudo-Scymnus
Pseudo-Scymnus
Pseudo-Scymnus is the name given by Augustus Meineke to the unknown author of a work on geography written in Classical Greek, The Circumnavigation of the Earth, an anonymous verse periegesis first published at Augsburg in 1600...
, gêgenês basileus,earth-born king. Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville
Saint Isidore of Seville served as Archbishop of Seville for more than three decades and is considered, as the historian Montalembert put it in an oft-quoted phrase, "le dernier savant du monde ancien"...
, " ..rege Deucalionis materno nepote " , ..king, maternal grandson of Deucalion.
Descendants
According to Marsyas of Pella, Makedon son of Zeus had by a local woman two sons PierusPierus
Pierus , in Greek mythology, is a name attributed to two individuals.*Pierus, the eponym of Pieria, son of Makednos and father by Antiope or Euippe of the of Pierides, nine maidens who wanted to outshine the Muses...
and Amathus
Emathus
Emathus , Emathius or Amathus , was son of Makednos, from whom Emathia was believed to have derived its name. The daughters of Pierus, the Pierides, are sometimes called Emathides. The Emathian or Emathius in Latin is a frequently used name by Latin poets for Alexander the Great...
. In the Ethnika of Stephanus
Stephanus of Byzantium
Stephen of Byzantium, also known as Stephanus Byzantinus , was the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled Ethnica...
(perhaps through Theagenes
Theagenes (historian)
For other persons with the same name ,see TheagenesTheagenes was a historical writer, of uncertain date. Stephanus of Byzantium frequently quotes from a work of his, entitled Macedonica , as also from another entitled Carica. It is, perhaps, the same Theagenes, who wrote a work on Aegina, quoted by...
), sons and grandsons of Makedon are: Atintan
Atintanians
Atintanes or Atintanians is a name an ancient Greek tribe in Epirus, Chaonia inland of the Epirote coast. Thucydides , Strabo , Polybius write of them....
(in the version of Lycaon) eponymous of a region in Epirus or Illyria , Beres
Beres (mythology)
Beres son of Makednos, according to Theagenes in his Makedonika, who is quoted by Stephanus of Byzantium, and father of Mieza, Beroea and Olganos-Bibliography:* Place-names in classical mythology: Greece, Robert E. Bell...
, (father of Mieza
Mieza
Mieza, "shrine of the Nymphs", was a village in Ancient Macedon, where Aristotle taught the boy Alexander the Great. It was the home to Alexander's companion Peucestas.Now the site of the modern town Náousa....
, Beroea
Beroea
Beroea is:*Veria , a city in northern Greece*a former name of Aleppo, Syria*mentioned in Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War; I,61,2...
and Olganos
Olganos
Olganos was a river and river-god, son of Beres in ancient Macedonia.- Family :Olganos was the first son of Beres and the brother of Mieza and Beroia after whom the Greek cities of Mieza and Beroia were named....
, toponyms in Bottiaea
Bottiaea
Bottiaea was a geographical region of ancient Macedonia and an administrative district of the Macedonian Kingdom. It was previously inhabited by the Bottiaeans, a people of uncertain origin, later expelled by the Macedonians into Bottike...
), Europus by Oreithyia
Oreithyia
Orithyia ; ) was the daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens and his wife, Praxithea, in Greek mythology. Her brothers were Cecrops, Pandorus, and Metion, and her sisters were Procris, Creusa, and Chthonia....
daughter of Cecrops
Cecrops
This name may refer to two legendary kings of Athens:* Cecrops I* Cecrops IIIt more often refers to Cecrops I, who was the better known....
and Oropus, birthplace of Seleucus I Nikator , which is perhaps confused with Europus. Finally, in the version of Lycaon king of Emathia, Pindus
Pindus (mythology)
for other uses,see Pindus Pindus in Greek mythology was the son of Makednos. He was friend with a snake and when his three brothers killed Pindus, the snake took revenge by killing them.-References:*-Claudius Aelianus...
is a son of Makedon, who gave his name to Pindus, where he died, a river of Doris
Doris (Greece)
Doris , is a small mountainous district in ancient Greece, bounded by Aetolia, southern Thessaly, the Ozolian Locrians, and Phocis; the original homeland of the Dorian Greeks...
, a region in central Greece.
It is unclear whether these localities represent pre- or post-Macedonian elements, since Emathia
Emathia
For the modern Greek prefecture, see ImathiaEmathia is an earliest and poetic name of Macedonia , but foremost it roughly corresponds to the district of Bottiaea around Pella.-Classical sources:...
and Pieria are older toponyms than Macedonia. Anachronism is not infrequent in later mythic traditions. (Cf. Boeotus
Boeotus
In Greek mythology, Boeotus was the eponym of Boeotia in Greece. Poseidon fathered both Aeolus and Boeotus with Arne . It was then through Boeotus that Arne became the ancestress of the Boeotians. In some traditions Boeotus is the father of Ogyges.A late source tells the story of Boeotus' marriage...
, reported as father of autochthon Ogyges
Ogyges
Ogyges, Ogygus or Ogygos is a primeval mythological ruler in ancient Greece, generally of Boeotia, but an alternative tradition makes him the first king of Attica.-Etymology:...
)
Classical form
In Greek sources, the noun is mostly attested as Makedôn with two exceptions: the poetic form Makêdôn in Hesiod with long medial vowel serving the metrical feet of dactylic hexameterDactylic hexameter
Dactylic hexameter is a form of meter in poetry or a rhythmic scheme. It is traditionally associated with the quantitative meter of classical epic poetry in both Greek and Latin, and was consequently considered to be the Grand Style of classical poetry...
and Mákednos or latinicized Macednus with barytonesis
Barytonesis
Barytonesis or recessive accent in phonology is the shift of accent from the last or following syllable on any non-final or preceding syllable of the stem, as in John Donne's poetic line: but éxtreme sense hath made them desperate, the Balto-Slavic Pedersen's law and Aeolic Greek barytonesis...
and apophony
Apophony
In linguistics, apophony is the alternation of sounds within a word that indicates grammatical information .-Description:Apophony is...
in Apollodorus. The recessive accent reminds of two Macedonian barytonized personal names, Koînos and Bálakros
Balacrus
Balacrus , the son of Nicanor, one of Alexander the Great's "Somatophylakes" , was appointed satrap of Cilicia after the battle of Issus, 333 BC. He fell in battle against the Pisidians in the life-time of Alexander...
(Attic/Greek adjectives:koinós, phalakrós) , but whether Makedôn or Mákednos is the original spelling it presumably cannot be proven. Moreover, the suffix -dnos, either as the "Dorian Makednón ethnos" of Herodotus or makednós, a rare poetic epithet denoting tall, seems not to be attested in epigraphy, or used by Macedonians themselves.
In Latin sources the noun is Macedo. As adjectives the Latin Macedo and Greek Makedôn denote foremost a Macedonian man. They also appear, mostly during the Roman era, as personal male names (cf.Macedonius
Macedonius
Macedonius can refer to any of the following:*St.Macedonius of Nicomedia *Saint Macedonius the Crithophagus , an ascetic in Antioch*Macedonius I of Constantinople , Bishop of Constantinople...
)
Etymology
The tribal name of the Macedonians is commonly explained as having originally meant 'the tall ones' or 'highlanders' in Greek.It is traditionally derived from the Indo-European
Indo-European
Indo-European may refer to:* Indo-European languages** Aryan race, a 19th century and early 20th century term for those peoples who are the native speakers of Indo-European languages...
root *mak-,*meh2k, meaning 'long' or 'slender', cognate with poetic Greek makednos or mêkedanos "long, tall," Doric makos , Attic mêkos length, Makistos
Macistus
Macistus or Makistos is a term derived from Doric Greek meaning tallest or greatest.-Mythology:Makistios was an epithet of Heracles, who had a temple in the neighbourhood of the town of Macistus in Triphylia, Elis . Macistus was also a son of Athamas and brother of Phrixus, from whom the town of...
mythological eponymous of a town in Elis
Elis
Elis, or Eleia is an ancient district that corresponds with the modern Elis peripheral unit...
and epithet of Heracles, Avestan masah 'length', Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
macer 'meagre' Hittite
Hittite language
Hittite is the extinct language once spoken by the Hittites, a people who created an empire centred on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia...
mak-l-ant 'thin'.
Vittore Pisani constructed a Macedonian word kedôn, out of the Greek chthon
Chthon
Chthon may mean:*Chthon , two separate fictional entities from Marvel Comics and DC Comics*Chthon , a science fiction novel by Piers AnthonyChthon may also mean:...
, 'earth' and proposed also a meaning of high land. R.S.P. Beekes claims that the morphological analysis make- (root) + -dnos (suffix) is impossible in an Indo-European word and that it is more likely that the word has a Pre-Greek origin.
See also
- Macedonia (kingdom)
- Ancient MacedoniansAncient MacedoniansThe Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...
- Ancient GreeceAncient GreeceAncient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
- HellenHellenHellen , the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, brother of Amphictyon and father of Aeolus, Xuthus, and Dorus. His name is also another name for Greek, meaning a person of Greek descent or pertaining to Greek culture, and the source of the adjective "Hellenic".Each of his sons founded a primary tribe of...
- Vergina SunVergina SunThe Vergina Sun — also known as the Star of Vergina, Macedonian star, or Argead Star — is the name given to a symbol of a stylised star or sun with sixteen rays. It was unearthed in 1977 during excavations in Vergina, in the northern Greek region of Macedonia, by archaeologist Manolis Andronikos...
- Kings of Macedon