Karanos (King)

Trihemiobols from Aigai, before 500 BC The motif is associated with the Karanos oracle.

Karanos ( Greek Κάρανος ) is said to have been the first king of Macedonia . However, its historicity is controversial in research, which is why the following statements should be viewed with caution. He is said to have been in the early eighth century BC. And was supposed to be the founder of the Argead dynasty .

According to tradition, Karanos is said to have been the son of Aristodamidas , king of Argos from the house of the Temenids . When Aristodamidas died, Pheidon took control of Argos and drove Karanos away. Karanos went to Delphi and consulted the oracle that lived there . The oracle said he would find a kingdom led by goats. So he went to Macedonia. He pursued a herd of goats that fled from a storm and came to Edessa in Emathia , which he made his capital and in Aigairenamed (from ancient Greek αἲξ "goat" or αἰγίς "storm cloud"). Karanos waged wars against his neighbors and was the first to unite all the peoples of Macedonia in one empire.

A legend tells that after his victory over Kisseus, a neighboring king, he erected a victory mark, as was the custom in Argos. Then a lion came down from Olympus and destroyed it. Karanos recognized through the advice of the gods that one should not erect victory memorials if one wanted to end an argument peacefully. Whereupon he ordered that this should not be done in the future. Even Alexander the Great is said to have adhered to it. Karanos is said to have been succeeded by his son Koinos , but neither should he have been historical.

swell

Junianus Justinus , 7, 1;
Pausanias , traveling in Greece , 9, 40, 8 - 9.

Remarks

↑ See, for example, the comment in R. Malcolm Errington : A History of Macedonia (= Hellenistic Culture and Society. Vol. 5). University of California Press, Berkeley CA 1990, ISBN 0-520-06319-8 , p. 251.

predecessor	Office	successor
no predecessor	King of Macedonia 1st half of the 8th century BC Chr.	Koinos

personal data
SURNAME	Karanos
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	King of Macedonia, vassal of Darius I of Persia
DATE OF BIRTH	9th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	8th century BC Chr.

[1] See, for example, the comment in R. Malcolm Errington : A History of Macedonia (= Hellenistic Culture and Society. Vol. 5). University of California Press, Berkeley CA 1990, ISBN 0-520-06319-8 , p. 251.