The
Macedonians (
Greek ?a?ed??e?,
Makedónes) were an ancient tribe which inhabited the alluvial plain around the rivers
Haliacmon and lower
Axius, north of
Mount Olympus in
Greece, gradually expanded its dominion in the region and established the kingdom of
Macedon. Their precise ethnic origin is not known for certain, but historians generally agree that, whether they originally spoke a
Greek dialect or a language sibling to
Greek, and if they were not ultimately of
Greek origin, they had been
fully absorbed into Hellenism by the 5th century BC,
[1] and came to belong to the
Koine Greek-speaking population in the
Hellenistic period.
[2] The Macedonian royal family itself, known as the
Argead dynasty, claimed Greek descent from the
Ancient Greek city of
Argos in the
Peloponnese.
[3]In Greek mythology, Makednos was the mythical progenitor and eponymous ancestor of the Macedonians. According to Hesiod's Catalogue of Women, Makednos was the son of Zeus and Thyia, the daughter of Deucalion and Pyrrha, and brother of Magnes.[4] On the other hand, Hellanicus of Lesbos' later genealogy lists Makednos as the son of Aeolus, the founder of the Aeolian tribe, and thus a grandson of Hellen, the mythological patriarch of the Hellenes.[5]
A passage in book five of Herodotus' Histories concerns the exclusion of Macedonians from panhellenic events such as the ancient Olympic Games,[13] where only Greeks were allowed to participate. In 504 or 500 BC, the Macedonian king Alexander I attempted to participate in the Olympic Games but was met with resistance by competitors, who regarded him as a non-Greek. According to Herodotus, Alexander argued that his family was of ultimately Greek Argive descent, and the Hellanodikai determined that it was so, allowing him to take part. Other kings of Macedonia such as Archelaus I and Philip II, as well as commoners, also took part in the Games.[14]
Additionally, a 5th century BC inscription found in royal tomb at Vergina shows evidence that Macedonian kings competed in Argive Heraean games.[15] Amyntas III in 371 BC took also part in a Panhellenic congress, concerning Amphipolis. From the age of Perdiccas III 365 BC onwards, who served as Theorodokos, participation of Macedonian athletes in Panhellenic Games and festivals became common.
