Thessalonica of Macedon

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Thessalonica or Thessalonike (in Greek Θεσσαλονίκη), a Macedonian princess, was a daughter of king Philip II of Macedon, by his Thessalian wife or concubine, Nicesipolis, (also spelled Nikasipolis), of Pherae. History links her to three of the most powerful men in the Ancient Macedon kingdom: daughter of King Philip II of Macedon, half sister of Alexander the Great and wife of Cassander.

Life

Thessalonica was born around 342 BC; to commemorate the birth of his daughter, which fell on the same day as the armies of Macedon won a significant battle in Thessaly, King Philip is said to have proclaimed, "Let her be called victory in Thessaly." In the Greek language her name is made up of two words Thessaly and Nike, that translates into Thessalia Victory. Her mother did not live long after her birth and upon her death Thessalonica appears to have been brought up by her stepmother Olympias. In memory of her close friend, Nicesipolis, the queen took Thessalonica to be raised as her own daughter. Thessalonica was, by far, the youngest child in the care of Olympias. Her interaction with her older brother Alexander would have been minimal, as he was under the tutelage of Aristotle in The Gardens Of Midas when she was born and about six or seven when he left on his Persian expedition. She was only 19 when Alexander, now King of the then most known world, died.

Thus favored, she spent her childhood in the queen’s quarters, to whose fortunes she attached herself when the latter returned to Macedon in 317 BC, and with whom she took refuge, along with the rest of the royal family, in the fortress of Pydna, on the advance of Cassander. The fall of Pydna and the execution of her stepmother threw her into the power of Cassander, who embraced the opportunity to connect himself with the ancient royal house of Macedon by marrying her; and he appears to have studiously treated her with the respect due to her illustrious birth. This may have been as much owing to policy as to affection: but the marriage appears to have been a prosperous one; she became the mother of three sons, Philip, Antipater, and Alexander; and her husband paid her the honour of conferring her name upon the city of Thessalonica, which he founded on the site of the ancient Therma, and which soon became, as it continues down to the present day, one of the most wealthy and populous cities of Macedonia. After the death of Cassander, Thessalonica appears to have at first retained much influence over her sons, but at length Antipater, becoming jealous of the superior favour which she showed to his younger brother Alexander, put his mother to death, 295 BC.

The Legend of Thessalonike

There exists a popular Greek legend which talks about a mermaid who lived in the Aegean for hundreds of years who was thought to be Thessalonike. The legend states that Alexander, in his quest for the Fountain of Immortality, retrieved with great exertion a flask of immortal water with which he bathed his sister's hair. When Alexander passed away his grief-stricken sister attempted to end her life by jumping into the sea. Instead of drowning, however, she became a mermaid passing judgment on mariners throughout the centuries and across the seven seas. To the sailors who encountered her she would always pose the same question: "Is Alexander the king alive?" (Greek: Ζει ο βασιλιάς Αλέξανδρος;), to which the correct answer would be "He lives and still rules" (Greek: Ζει και βασιλεύει, και τον κόσμο κυριεύει!). Given this answer she would allow the ship and her crew to sail safely away in calm seas. Any other answer would transform her into the raging Gorgon, bent on sending the ship and every sailor on board to the bottom.

External links

References

Smith, William (ed.); Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, "Thessalonice", Boston, (1867)

Thessalonica

Notes

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Last updated on Thursday February 28, 2008 at 01:14:13 PST (GMT -0800)
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