The Macedonians and the Trojan War. An interesting snippet f

[tino]

Hi everyone. I came across this excerpt's of Theopompus in Strabo:"Between Tr+ôzen and Epidaurus, there was a fortress Methana, and a peninsula of the same name. In some copies of Thucydides Methone is the common reading, a place of the same name with the Macedonian city, at the siege of which Philip lost an eye. Hence Demetrius of Scepsis is of opinion, that some persons were led into error by the name, and supposed that it was Methone near Tr+ôzen. It was against this town, it is said, that the persons sent by Agamemnon to levy sailors, uttered the imprecation, that `they might never cease to build walls,' [p. 57] but it was not these people; but the Macedonians, according to Theopompus, who refused the levy of men; besides, it is not probable that those, who were in the neighbourhood of Agamemnon, would disobey his orders."I find this an interesting angle on the origins of the Macedonian state. Taken at face value, this would push back the founding of the Macedonian state hundreds of years. Could this be the case, or could this be a later addition by Theopompus to 'legitimize' Philip and his ancestor's by attaching them to Illiad, as participants or not?

[marcus]

Well, difficult to know, to be honest. It could well, be Theopompus 'legitimising', or it could be his using some "history" that someone else had concocted - either knowingly or unknowingly.It's an interesting quote, isn't it? And it's not one I've come across before. Thanks for that. ATBMarcus