One of the world’s pre-eminent scholars on Ancient Greek history, Professor Paul Cartledge of Cambridge University, has weighed in decisively on the origins of Alexander the Great in the most recent episode of the Ouzo Talk Podcast.
In an evidence-based discussion on the podcast, the AG Leventis Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Greek Culture dismissed doubts about Alexander’s Greek/Hellenic identity, with the academic and writer of both books and documentaries pointing to a range of historical sources to support his conclusion.
“If you want to be in any doubt about the ‘Hellenicity’ of Alexander, cease to be – do not even consider it for all sorts of reasons,” Cartledge told Ouzo Talk.
“The Macedonians collectively – the Macedonian royal house – were Hellenes. He spoke Greek, he has Greek ancestry.
“The North Macedonian Republic is in a part near to Macedonia – Greek Macedonia – where the Paeonians lived. The Paeonians were not Greeks.
“There’s absolutely no question about the claim of North Macedonia being, shall we say, ‘inappropriate’. He is not a North Macedonian – he’s a Macedonian.”
In further solidifying his argument, Cartledge referenced the ancient poet Hesiod, whose works are regarded as a cornerstone of Greek cultural identity.
In Hesiod’s writings – particularly in fragments that discuss the genealogy of the Hellenes, Cartledge traced the ancestry of the Greeks back to a figure named ‘Hellene’, from whom all Greeks supposedly descend, before following the line down on to a figure named Makedon, who is identified as a progenitor of the Macedonian people.
“That’s seventh century – this is before anybody had an interest either in ‘inventing’ the Macedonians or trying to deny that they were Greek,” Cartledge emphasised to Ouzo Talk.
“The one piece of evidence that I always cite is a famous poet from Hesiod (and he’s sometimes been called the equivalent of a Bible for the Greeks in the sense that he set out the duties, the powers of all the gods and goddesses) and he wrote a book called Theogony. Well, another of his works survives only in quotations, in fragments, but one key bit of it – he’s talking about the ancestry of the Hellenes.
“If they’re called ‘Hellenes’, then there must have been once upon a time somebody called ‘Hellene’ who is the ultimate ancestor in the direct paternity line of all Hellenes. So go right back up to the top of the Greeks’ family tree and you’ll find a guy called Makedon.”
Cartledge continued at length about the subject before being quizzed on the life and legacy of Alexander – widely regarded as one of the most important figures in history.
The episode marks the second appearance of Cartledge on the Ouzo Talk podcast, following up from last year’s episode dedicated to Ancient Greece, and is now the first Ouzo Talk Podcast episode to be released as a full video episode. For co-hosts Tom Skolarikis and Nick Athanassiou, the first video episode is a thank you to listeners for their continued support over three seasons, emphasising that Alexander the Great was the perfect topic to start with.
“This has been a long time coming, for sure, but it absolutely made sense to do it for our dedicated episode to Alexander the Great with Professor Paul Cartledge,” says Athanassiou. “It’s not every day that you have someone the calibre of Paul Cartledge coming on your show – who has written books, documentaries and contributed so much to how we learn about our ancient heritage. He’s absolutely someone who will someday be mentioned in the same breath as Herodotus and Plutarch when it comes to historical sources, so we’re very lucky to have him, both as a podcast, and as a Greek community.”
For Skolarikis, the topic of Alexander is a complex topic that requires a highly qualified educator to navigate. “There’s so much hearsay out there when it comes to Alexander The Great, and the only way to fight that is to have someone who is highly qualified to separate the fact from the fiction,” says Skolarikis.
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