A plethora of inconsistencies and contradictions
Gandeto
November 15, 2008
The so-called Australian Advisory Council in its lengthy Nov. 8th article states:
"Furthermore, before we have an extensive analysis on the nature of ancient Macedonians, I have to highlight the striking inconsistencies in the specific text used by Risto Stefov. The claim in the beginning "From the surviving literary sources (Hesiod, Herodotus, and Thucydides) there is little information about Macedonian origins" is partly correct but appears a little misleading. The surviving literary sources points out ancient Macedonians being Greek. For instance, Professor NGL Hammond, an eminent historian, generally accepted as foremost authority in ancient Macedonian history, convincingly mentions about Hesiod: "Hesiod first mentioned 'Makedon', the eponym of the people and the country, as a son of Zeus, a grandson of Deukalion, and so a first cousin of Aeolus, Dorus, and Xuthus; in other words he considered the 'Makedones' to be an outlying branch of the Greek-speaking tribes, with a distinctive dialect of their own, 'Macedonian'."
Not so fast…
"In the Catalogue of Women" we find Makedon as the son of Zeus and Deukalion´s daughter Thyia, thus the line excludes him from Hellenic genealogy and thereby from the Hellenes altogether. Sarpedon is also son of Zeus, but he is Lukian and not Hellene.
To give the story yet another twist we should mention Helanicus who makes Makedon not a cousin of Aeolus but his son. He also makes Aeneas the founder of Rome.
All in all, myths and legends must be returned into the realm of the "imagined" world and
as such they have no value or business in the historical archives.
Grote said that "legends were invented by the Greeks, out of their inexhaustible fancy, to fill the blank space of their unknown past".
Until next time...
"Furthermore, before we have an extensive analysis on the nature of ancient Macedonians, I have to highlight the striking inconsistencies in the specific text used by Risto Stefov. The claim in the beginning "From the surviving literary sources (Hesiod, Herodotus, and Thucydides) there is little information about Macedonian origins" is partly correct but appears a little misleading. The surviving literary sources points out ancient Macedonians being Greek. For instance, Professor NGL Hammond, an eminent historian, generally accepted as foremost authority in ancient Macedonian history, convincingly mentions about Hesiod: "Hesiod first mentioned 'Makedon', the eponym of the people and the country, as a son of Zeus, a grandson of Deukalion, and so a first cousin of Aeolus, Dorus, and Xuthus; in other words he considered the 'Makedones' to be an outlying branch of the Greek-speaking tribes, with a distinctive dialect of their own, 'Macedonian'."
Not so fast…
"In the Catalogue of Women" we find Makedon as the son of Zeus and Deukalion´s daughter Thyia, thus the line excludes him from Hellenic genealogy and thereby from the Hellenes altogether. Sarpedon is also son of Zeus, but he is Lukian and not Hellene.
To give the story yet another twist we should mention Helanicus who makes Makedon not a cousin of Aeolus but his son. He also makes Aeneas the founder of Rome.
All in all, myths and legends must be returned into the realm of the "imagined" world and
as such they have no value or business in the historical archives.
Grote said that "legends were invented by the Greeks, out of their inexhaustible fancy, to fill the blank space of their unknown past".
Until next time...
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