The Folklore Origin Story About The Miraculous Rise Of Alexander The Great’s Argead Dynasty

The renowned conqueror, Alexander the Great, and his brilliant father, King Philip II, are the two best-known members of the Macedonian Argead Dynasty. Yet, Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 BCE) was probably the twenty-first successive king of Macedonia from the Argead line. As far as historians can tell, the very first Argead king of Macedonia was a man known as Perdiccas I, who led his people eastward from somewhere along the Haliacmon River (modern Aliákmon) around 700 BCE, and set up a Macedonian kingdom centered around the city of Aegae, located near modern Edessa, Greece. The Macedonia of Perdiccas I was far from the powerhouse of potential that Alexander the Great later inherited, and masterfully exploited, in the 4th-century BCE—it would take strengthening and expansion from other Argead kings like Alexander I (r. 498-454/450), Archelaus (r. 413-399 BCE) and Philip II (r. 359-336) for Macedonia to become a dominant power in Greece. Yet, Perdiccas I in the 8th and 7th century BCE was the founder of this long chain of Macedonian kings.

In The Histories, Herodotus (490-425/420 BCE) provided an interesting origin myth for Perdiccas I and the ancient Macedonian royal line. This story, or one similar to it, was used by King Alexander I of Macedonia to gain admittance to the Olympic Games. According to Herodotus, many of the ancient Greeks believed that Alexander I and his Macedonian people were non-Greek barbarians. With the help of the following legend, Alexander I convinced the ancient Olympic Committee that his own Argead line was Greek enough to participate in the Olympics—yet, there is no mention if he improved the average perception that Greeks had of his Macedonian subjects.

In the origin myth provided by Herodotus, Perdiccas I (the first Macedonian king) was the youngest of three brothers fathered by Temenus of Argos. The brothers (oldest to youngest: Gauanes, Aeropus and Perdiccas) were forced to flee Argos and found shelter and work under a king in a city called Lebaea, located somewhere in what would become Macedonia. The king and his city were both fairly poor—the queen had to do all the cooking, even for the workers. Consequentially, she observed something odd about the food that she prepared for her husband and the estate. Every time she made food for the brothers, Perdiccas’ meal would miraculously grow twice the size of any other person’s portion. The queen eventually told the king about the strange omen, and he feared the sign—to him, it was obvious that the gods were signaling Perdiccas for greatness.

Fearful of Perdiccas’ potential, the king of Lebaea met with the brothers and asked them to kindly leave his lands. The brothers took this second exile surprisingly well. They consented to leave and their only condition was to be paid their fair wages. The king, however, scoffed at the request and gestured at the sun, saying that it was where their wages could be found. At this outburst from the king, Perdiccas calmly took out his knife and outlined a patch of sunlight with the point of his blade. According to Herodotus, he then “three times gathered the sunlight into the folds of his tunic” and departed Lebaea with his brothers (The Histories, Book VIII).

Soon after the incident, the king of Lebaea realized that Perdiccas had won that verbal and symbolic exchange. Still fearing the brothers, the king decided to chase them down and kill Peridiccas to save face and to secure his throne from any possibly threat. The forces of the king may have succeeded in reaching the brothers, but nature (or divine intervention) protected Perdiccas and his kin. After the brothers safely crossed a river, the water then drastically raised, cutting off access for the persuing troops. With the brothers no longer being followed, Perdiccas led his brothers to Mt. Bermium and the Gardens of Midas, where they would settle and found their Kingdom of Macedonia, with Perdiccas I as their first king.

So ends Herodotus’ origin myth of the Argead Dynasty in Macedonia. Other than a few true facts—i.e. Perdiccas I being the first Macedonian king, and that he moved to take over Macedonia from elsewhere—most of Herodotus’ story is fictional. Remarkably, the story is incredibly similar to (and possibly inspired by) the creation myths of the Scythian people. They both feature three brothers, where divine signs or miracles visibly mark the youngest brother as the rightful ruler. Nevertheless, this multi-thousand-year-old piece of folklore remains entertaining today, as it was to the ancients.

Top picture attribution: (2nd century CE bust of Alexander the Great, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Sources:

• The Histories by Herodotus, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt and revised by John Marincola. New York: Penguin Classics, 2002.  
• Alexander the Great by Philip Freeman. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2011. 
• https://www.britannica.com/topic/Argead-dynasty 

Alexander The Great’s Father, Philip II, Lost An Eye During The First Decade Of His Wars For Dominance In Greece

(Bust supposedly of Philip II, king of Macedonia, photographed by Gunnar Bach Pedersen, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons via Creative Commons)

When Philip II became the undisputed king of Macedonia around 359 BCE, he quickly went about cementing his legacy as a conqueror. Interestingly, Philip was able to closely study the strengths and weaknesses of Greek hoplite warfare during the reign of his brother, Ptolemy, because he was sent to be a diplomatic hostage in Thebes—home of the elite Sacred Band warriors. Using the data he collected as a hostage, Philip II created an efficient and deadly fighting force the likes of which had never been seen before in the ancient world. He outfitted his men in light armor with small shields and had his troops carry monstrously long spears, called sarissas. Philip also developed a corps of engineers and drilled his cavalry to work closely in concert with the infantry. The king’s new army of Macedonian phalanxes could outreach and outmaneuver the slower Greek hoplites—an advantage that would make Philip the master of Greece. Philip II gained his fame and prestige through military innovation and prowess, but he would receive many lasting wounds and scars during his long years of war.

Conflict came quickly after Philip II became king. One year after ascending to the throne of Macedonia, Philip’s new phalanxes got their first taste of battle against the Illyrians. The battle was a success and the Macedonian military reforms were proven to be effective. Next, Philip struck out against Athenian power. He captured Athens’ outpost at Amphipolis and their fortress at Pydna in 357 BCE. Macedonian troops also moved into Thracian lands, capturing the city of Crenides in 356 BCE.

Philip eventually set his sights once more on Athens in 354 BCE and besieged the city of Methone. The Athenians put up a strong defense, but Philip’s soldiers and engineers eventually found a way to attack the town. During one of the assaults that led to the fall of Methone, Philip II received a wound that would stay with him the rest of his life. The Macedonian king suffered a blow to the eye, likely caused by an Athenian arrow. There is little detail on whether the king received a glancing blow or a horrific puncture, and it is also vague if the eye had to be completely removed, or if it was just damaged and cloudy. Nevertheless, after the siege of Methone, Philip II of Macedonia was blind in one of his eyes for the rest of his life.

Written by C. Keith Hansley.

Source:

• Alexander the Great by Philip Freeman. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2011.  
• Alexander the Great: The Story of an Ancient Life by Thomas R. Martin and Christopher W. Blackwell. New York: Cambridge
  University Press, 2012.

Polygamy in Ancient Macedonia

(Alexander the Great mosaic c. 100 BCE, [Public Domain] via Creative Commons)

Many ancient cultures practiced polygamy at one point in time, or at least condoned a semblance of concubinage. The Macedonia of Philip II (382-337 BCE) and Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) still practiced polygamy, at least among the nobility.

Monarchies throughout history have used marriage to formulate alliances; nobles of Macedonia used the same technique, but they hardly stopped at one marriage. If a Macedonian king needed to keep three noble houses loyal to the throne, it would not be uncommon for the king to take a wife from each of the three houses.

Alexander the Great’s mother, Olympia, was not the only wife of Philip II. At the time of Philip’s death by assassination in 337 BCE, he had a large household of seven wives. Alexander, too, took several wives during his short thirty-three year life. He married Roxane (or Rhoxane), in 327 BCE, after her father surrendered the Sogdian Rock (somewhere in Afghanistan) to Alexander. Later, after the majority of his conquests were over, Alexander married a second wife in 324 BCE—she was a daughter of the deceased Persian King, Darius III.

Written by C. Keith Hansley
thehistorianshut.com

Source:

• Alexander the Great: The Story of an Ancient Life by Thomas R. Martin and Christopher W. Blackwell. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012.