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Classical Greeks Attitude Towards the Macedonians

Peter Green Explains the Greek Attitude

By N.S. Gill, About.com

What specifically did the Greeks have against the Macedonians; that is, why did they consider their northern neighbors inferior? In his biography of Alexander the Great (Alexander of Macedon 356-323 B.C.), Peter Green explains that the Macedonians
  • made up a story about being descendants of Hercules,
  • sliced a dog in two for the purposes of ritual,
  • used a less prestigious dialect,
  • ran the country with "retrograde political institutions" (that is, the Macedonians were more like so-called feudal Europeans with noblemen acting like feudal barons owing personal service to their king),
  • their fighting style was ineffective (until Alexander the Great's father, Philip, learned from the Thracians among whom he was sent for education and as a youthful hostage),
  • they were oath-breakers,
  • they dressed in bear pelts,
  • they regularly drank to excess,
  • they were assassinators, and
  • they were incestuous.
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