May 22, 2011

Alexander the Great - Waldemar Heckel

Alexander the Great - Waldemar Heckel


Macedonians and Creeks: Language, Culture, Attitudes

It is clear from the extant Alexander historians that the lost sources made a clear distinction between Greeks and Macedonians - ethnically, culturally, and linguistically - and the must be an accurate reflection of contemporary attitudes. Alexander himself appears to have appreciated Creek culture and to have been conscious of Macedonian cultural inferiority, as is clear from 51.2a, below.

The vexed question of the cthnic background of the Macedonians has produced numerous discussions, many of them not entirely free of political bias; for the arguments concerning the ancient Greeks and Macedonians have been used to serve the nationalistic pretensions of contemporary politicians. The mere fact that Vlasidis and Karakostanoglou (1995) was distributed to all delegates at the Sixth fnternoiional Conference on Ancient Macedonia in 1996 attests to modern concerns with the views ol ancient historians; see also Trifle (1998) and Danforth (1995) for the contemporary Issues; cf. Borza (1990: 90ff.). For the Macedonian language, see Hoffmann (1906), Hammond (1994b). and Badian (1982).

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