Cleitus the Black an Argaead?

[smittysmitty]

Cleitus son of Dropides, commander of the Royal squadron of cavalry, had served under Philip II as well as Alexander. His sister Lanice/Hellanice - Alexander's wet nurse - had two sons who also served and died with Alexander at Miletus.

Alexander having slain Cleitus is depicted by QCR lamenting over the deceased, bellowing out how he has done wrong by not only Cleitus but his nurse Lanice. Regarding Lanice, he further states, "Of all her relatives only I survive".I have found no other reference from the 'sources' to corroborate this bit of rhetoric as written by Curtius, but I find it highly probable that Cleitus may have been an Argaead.
My wife and kids are calling more to come!
cheers!

[Halil]

That's an interesting idea, but at the time Alexander was supposed to have said it, it wouldn't have been true. If he was her relative, then so was his sister Cleopatra and other children of Philip (ie Argaeads) were also still living at this point. If she were an Argaead, it wasn't even true to say he was her only male relative since Arrhidaios was still alive. Given this, it still seems most likely that she thought of him as her son, and in that sense, if all of her other relatives were dead, then he was all she had left.Cheers
Halil

[amyntoros]

Hi Smitty:It's not true either that none of Lanice's relatives survived. She had a grandson, according to Athenaeus. "On top of these viands, Hippolochus says that Proteas, descendant of that Proteas who was the son of Lanice - the same who had been the nurse of King Alexander - drank a great deal (for he was given to drinking, like his grandfather Proteas, Alexander's comrade), and toasted everybody."(I don't have the exact reference to hand - this is taken from an extremely long description of a Macedonian wedding feast in Book IV. 128 c - 131 e)Best regardsLinda Ann

[marcus]

Assuming that Lanike was Alexander's *wet-nurse* (which I think is a given) it was certainly common in medieval times to for one to consider one's wet-nurse as a 'relative' - and vice versa.(Richard the Lionheart was so attached to his wet-nurse that he granted her relatively substantial lands in southern England, and there is a village - near Southampton, I think - which has the distinction of being the only place named after a wet-nurse)I have no doubt that the same convention existed in the ancient world - after all, the nurturing of a baby is one of the most intimate services one can perform, and fully allows familial feelings to be felt (sorry, very poor use of English there).All the bestMarcus