{{Short description|Mythical forefather of the ancient Macedonians}} {{Redirect|Makednos|the municipal unit of Western Macedonia|Makednoi}} {{Redirect|Macedon (mythology)|other uses|Macedon (disambiguation)}}
In Greek mythology, '''Makedon''' ({{langx|grc|Μακεδών}}), also spelled '''Makednos''' ({{lang|grc|Μακεδνός}}) or transcribed '''Macedon''', was the eponymous ancestor of the Makedones (ancient Macedonians) according to various ancient Greek fragmentary narratives. In most versions, he appears as a native or immigrant leader from Epirus, who gave his name to Macedonia, previously called Emathia according to Strabo,<ref>Strabo, 7, fr. 11: "What is now called Macedonia was in earlier times called Emathia. And it took its present name from Macedon, one of its early chieftains. And there was also a city Emathia close to the sea."</ref> which according to Marsyas of Pella was until then a part of Thrace.
== Etymology == [[File:Ell-Makednos.ogg|thumb|Audio file for the pronunciation of ''Makednós'' in Modern Greek]] Μακεδών (Makedón) is related to the Greek μᾰκεδνός (makednós, “tall, slim”).<ref>Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), “μακεδνός”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), volume I, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 894</ref> Both adjectives traditionally derive from the Indo-European root ''*mak-'' or ''*meh₂k-'', meaning "long, slender", cognate with poetic Greek ''makednós'' or ''mēkedanós'' "long, tall",<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=makedno%2Fs&la=greek&can=makedno%2Fs0#lexicon Article μακεδνός] in: Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Henry Stuart Jones, and Roderick McKenzie: ''A Greek–English Lexicon'' (= LSJ). Oxford University Press, Oxford <sup>9</sup>1925. Retrieved 19 May 2016.</ref> Doric ''mãkos'' and Attic ''mẽkos'' "length",<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=mh%3Dkos&la=greek&can=mh%3Dkos0&prior=o/n#lexicon Article μῆκος] in: LSJ. Retrieved 19 May 2016.</ref> Makistos, the mythological eponym of a town in Elis and an epithet of Heracles, Avestan ''masah'' "length", Hittite ''mak-l-ant'' "thin", Latin ''macer'' "meagre" and Proto-Germanic ''*magraz'' "lean, meager". The same root and meaning has been duly assigned to the tribal name of the Macedonians,<ref>[http://www.koeblergerhard.de/idg/idg_m.html Article ''māk̑-''] in: Gerhard Köbler: ''Indogermanisches Wörterbuch.'' Online edition, 2014 (based in part on Julius Pokorny: ''Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch''. Francke, Bern 1959, <sup>5</sup>2005). Retrieved 19 May 2016.</ref> which is commonly explained as having originally meant "the tall ones" or "highlanders" in Greek.<ref>{{OEtymD|Macedonia|accessdate=2008-10-31}}</ref>
==Genealogy==
===Son of Zeus=== A fragment of the Hesiodic ''Catalogue of Women'', quoted by Constantine Porphyrogenitus, states: "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".<ref><!-- The translation used here needs to be cited. -->Hesiod, ''Catalogue of Women'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.49.xml fr. 7 Most, pp. 48, 49] [= fr. 7 Merkelbach-West = Constantine Porphyrogenitus, ''De Thematibus'', 2 (Pertusi, pp. 86–7)].</ref><ref>De Thematibus 2 p. 48B</ref> The poetic epithet "hippiocharmes" can alternatively be translated as "fighting on horseback" or "chariot-fighter"<ref>LSJ: [http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry%3D%23113421 charma] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202133428/http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%23113421 |date=2009-12-02 }}, [http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry%3D%23113422 charmê] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202133428/http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%23113422 |date=2009-12-02 }}</ref> 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<ref>Frg 13, Greek text: {{lang|grc|Μακεδών ὁ Διὸς καὶ Αἰθρίας κατασχὼν τὴν χώραν οὖσαν Θρᾴκης ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ Μακεδονίαν προσηγόρευσεν: <br>γήμας δὲ μίαν τῶν ἐγχωρίων τεκνοῦται δύο παῖδας Πίερον καὶ Ἄμαθον, ἀφ' ὧν δύο πόλεις Πιερία καὶ Ἀμαθία ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ. Ἡ Ἱστορία παρὰ Μαρσύα}}</ref> 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.<ref>Dictionary of deities and demons in the Bible DDD By K. van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter Willem van der Horst [https://books.google.com/books?id=yCkRz5pfxz0C&dq=kai+Aithria&pg=PA537 Page 537] {{ISBN|0-8028-2491-9}}</ref>
The mythological chronologization of the Hesiodean passage indicates a time before the Trojan War and ''Iliad'', since then the Magnetes dwell in Magnesia, Thessaly.<ref>A History of Macedonia: Historical geography and prehistory by N. G. L. Hammond and Guy Thompson Griffith [https://books.google.com/books?id=PnEJAQAAIAAJ&q=Magnes+Macedon+Olympus+Trojan+War Page 430] {{ISBN|0-19-814294-3}}</ref> The ''Catalogue of Women'', which is variously dated mostly between the 8th and 6th century BC, provides the earliest and only reference to a Macedonian element before the 5th century BC historiography.
===Son of Aeolus=== In a fragment of a chronological work of Hellanicus called "Priestesses of Hera 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''.<ref>{{lang|grc|ἄλλοι δ' ἀπὸ Μακεδόνος τοῦ Αἰόλου, ὡς Ἑλλάνικος ἱερειῶν πρώτῃ τῶν ἐν Ἄργει <br>καὶ Μακεδόνος [τοῦ] Αἰόλου οὕτω νῦν Μακεδόνες καλοῦνται, μόνοι μετὰ Μυσῶν τότε οἰκοῦντες}}</ref><ref>Stephanus of Byzantium, ''Ethnica'' s.v. ''[https://topostext.org/work/241#M427.12 Makedonia]'' with Hellanicus, ''Hiereiai tes Heras en Argei'' as the authority; Hellanicus fr. 74 (Fowler 2013, p. 155)</ref> 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,<ref>Eustathius of Thessalonica. A commentary on Dionysius Periegetes 427</ref> 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 Macedonian was an Aeolic Greek dialect.<ref>Alexander the Great: a reader By Ian Worthington [https://books.google.com/books?id=dJRvJjKeijoC&dq=Hammond+Aeolic&pg=PA20 Page 20] {{ISBN|1-4058-0162-X}} (2003)</ref> Jonathan M. Hall compares Magnes and Macedon to other excluded tribes from direct lineage to Hellen and later Olympic participants, such as Aetolians, Acarnanians and Arcadians.<ref>The cultures within ancient Greek culture: contact, conflict, collaboration By Carol Dougherty, Leslie Kurke [https://books.google.com/books?id=VrMflp154VYC&dq=Magnes+Macedon+Aitolians+Akarnanians+Arcadians&pg=PA30 Page 30] {{ISBN|0-521-81566-5}} (2003)</ref> On the contrary, Eugene N. Borza gives no significance on this mythological figure for any historical conclusions.<ref>In the Shadow of Olympus: The Emergence of Macedon By Eugene N. Borza [https://books.google.com/books?id=614pd07OtfQC&dq=Eugene+Borza+son+of+Aeolus&pg=PA69 Page 69] {{ISBN|0-691-05549-1}} (1992)</ref>
===Son of Osiris=== In "The antiquities of Egypt", first chapter of ''Bibliotheca historica'' 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:<ref>Diodorus 1.18. Translation by Charles Henry Oldfather. Read the [https://books.google.com/books?id=yzpnL4Pc85oC&dq=Osiris+Anubis+Macedon&pg=PA22 whole passage] in translation by Edwin Murphy</ref> "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<ref>Burton, Anne. ''Diodorus Siculus: A Commentary''. BRILL, 1972, {{ISBN|90-04-03514-1}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sXiMtMnPHikC&dq=Macedon+must+be+identified+with+Wepwawet&pg=PA83 page 83]. "Macedon must be identified with Wepwawet, the so-called "wolf" god, who was associated with Anubis as the companion and guardian of Osiris. In one instance Wepwawet also appears as the son of Osiris: "I am Wepwawet, the heir of Senwy, the son of Osiris."</ref> and in later traditions Makedon is mentioned as a son of the were-wolf Lycaon.
===Son of Lycaon=== According to Apollodorus,<ref>Apollodorus, 3.8.1</ref> but not present in the list of Pausanias or Hyginus, Macednus is the tenth of the fifty sons of the impious Lycaon king of Arcadia. His mother may either be the naiad Cyllene,<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Antiquitates Romanae'' 1.13.1</ref> Nonacris<ref>Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+8.17.6&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:chapter=&highlight=Nonacris 8.17.6]</ref> or by unknown woman. The closest 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".
Eustathius, summarizing the genealogies, relates: "Emathion son of Zeus and Electra preceding the birth of Makedon son of Aeacus" (instead of Lycaon).<ref>A History of Macedonia: 550-336 B.C By Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, Guy Thompson Griffith v. 2 (1979) Page 39</ref> Strabo just called him ''archaios hegemon''<ref>Strabo, VII, fr.11</ref> (old chieftain), and Pseudo-Scymnus,<ref>Periegesis 620</ref> ''gêgenês basileus'' (earth-born king). Isidore of Seville, "rege Deucalionis materno nepote" (king, maternal grandson of Deucalion).<ref>Opera omnia quae extant IX 78</ref>
===Descendants=== According to Marsyas of Pella, Makedon son of Zeus had by a local woman two sons Pierus and Amathus.<ref>Chatzopoulos, Miltiadēs V. ''Macedonian Institutions Under the Kings: a historical and epigraphic study''. Kentron Hellēnikēs kai Rōmaïkēs Archaiotētos, 1996, {{ISBN|960-7094-89-1}}, p. 240. "This substitution of Emathia for what was practically in Classical times Bottia, and its joint use with Pieria in order to describe the original cradle of the Macedonian kingdom and not Polybios' innovations, but can be traced back at least to the second half of the fourth century, when Marsyas of Pella made Amathos and Pieros the eponymous of these two subdivisions..."</ref> 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.<ref>Aelian, ''De Natura Animalium'' [https://topostext.org/work/560#10.48 10.48]</ref><ref>Tzetzes, ''Chiliades'' 4.338 (333, scholium)</ref>
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)
==Name==
===Classical form=== In Greek sources, the noun is mostly attested as {{lang|grc|Μακεδών}} (Makedôn) with two exceptions: the poetic form {{lang|grc|Μακηδών}} (Makêdôn) in Hesiod with long medial vowel serving the metrical feet of dactylic hexameter and {{lang|grc|Mάκεδνος}} (Mákednos) or latinicized Macednus with barytonesis and apophony in Apollodorus. The recessive accent is reminiscent of two Macedonian barytonized personal names, {{lang|grc|Κοῖνος}} (Koînos) and {{lang|grc|Βάλακρος}} (Bálakros) (Attic/Greek adjectives:koinós, phalakrós), but whether Makedôn or Mákednos is the original spelling 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 {{lang|lat|Macedo}}. As adjectives, the Latin {{lang|lat|Macedo}} and Greek {{transliteration|grc|Makedṓn}} ({{lang|grc|Μακεδών}}) denote foremost a {{gloss|Macedonian man}}, and in plural, {{lang|lat|Macedones}} and {{transliteration|grc|Makedónes}} respectively, the {{gloss|people of Macedon}}. They also appear, mostly during the Roman era, as personal male names (cf. Macedonius).
==See also== *Ancient Greece *Vergina Sun *Kings of Macedon
==Notes== {{Reflist|30em}}
== References ==
* Apollodorus, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. {{ISBN|0-674-99135-4}}. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website]. * Claudius Aelianus, ''On the Characteristics of Animals'', translated by Alwyn Faber Scholfield (1884–1969), from Aelian, ''Characteristics of Animals'', published in three volumes by Harvard/Heinemann, Loeb Classical Library, 1958. [https://topostext.org/work/560 Online version at the Topos Text Project.] * Claudius Aelianus, ''De Natura Animalium,'' Latin translation by Friedrich Jacobs in the Frommann edition, Jena, 1832. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Aelian/home.html Latin translation available at Bill Thayer's Web Site] * Claudius Aelianus, ''De Natura Animalium,'' Rudolf Hercher. Lipsiae, in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1864. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0590 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library]. * Diodorus Siculus, ''The Library of History'' translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site] * Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library]. * Dionysus of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities.'' English translation by Earnest Cary in the Loeb Classical Library, 7 volumes. Harvard University Press, 1937–1950. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site] * Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Antiquitatum Romanarum quae supersunt'', ''Vol I-IV''. . Karl Jacoby. In Aedibus B.G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1885. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0572 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library]. * Hesiod, ''Catalogue of Women'', in ''Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue of Women, Other Fragments'', edited and translated by Glenn W. Most, Loeb Classical Library No. 503, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2007, 2018. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99721-9}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL503/2018/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press]. * Merkelbach, R., and M. L. West, ''Fragmenta Hesiodea'', Clarendon Press Oxford, 1967. {{ISBN|978-0-19-814171-6}}. * Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. {{ISBN|0-674-99328-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library] * Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library]. * Pertusi, Agostino, ''Costantino Porfirogenito De thematibus'', Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, 1952. [https://books.google.com/books?id=6-kZAAAAIAAJ Google Books]. * Stephanus of Byzantium, ''Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt,'' edited by August Meineike (1790–1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. [https://topostext.org/work/241 Online version at the Topos Text Project.] * Strabo, ''The Geography of Strabo.'' Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] * Strabo, ''Geographica'' edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0197 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.] * Tzetzes, John, ''Book of Histories,'' Book II-IV translated by Gary Berkowitz from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades2.html Online version at theio.com]
Category:Deucalionids Category:Sons of Zeus Category:Sons of Lycaon Category:Princes in Greek mythology Category:Kings in Greek mythology Category:Mythology of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) Category:Arcadian mythology