Alexander, the Southern Greeks and the Macedonian Language

Common Claim by FYROM’s Propaganda:

“Though Alexander spoke Greek, loved Homer and respected his tutor Aristotle, there is much evidence that he hated and despised the Greeks of his day“.

1. While the original author of this piece of Propaganda may project his own sentiments, the evidence associated with Alexander’s Origins and Actions suggest otherwise. The Greek origin of Alexander the Great is reported in the Ancient Greek, Roman, Persian, Indian and Jewish Testimonies both from his Paternal and Maternal side.

2. After the victory in Granicus (334 B.C.) he sent to Athens 300 Persian shields, which were displayed on the Acropolis with the well known inscription:

“Alexander, son of Philip, and the Greeks, except Lacedaemonians, from the booty of the barbarians who dwell in Asia“.

3. The Greek mercenaries who were captured, were sent to Macedonia as slaves, because -as Arrian mentions (Alex. An. A, 16,6) , “despite ihe common decisions of the Greeks, and despite the fact that they were all Greeks, they fought against the Greeks and on the side of the barbarians“.

The fact that numerous Greek mercenaries fought against Alexander on the Persian side does not suggest that Alexander’s Greek identity is in doubt. As a matter of fact, among the Greek mercenaries found themselves also some eminent Macedonians. The Leader of the Greek Mercenaries after Memnon’s Death was Amyntas, son of Antiochos, a Macedonian General. It is rather a sign of the decline of standards which followed after the destructive Peloponnesean War (431-404 BC).

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