Menon of Pharsalus († 321 BC)

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Menon ( Greek Μένων Ménōn ; † 321 BC ) was a Thessalian cavalry general during the Lamic War (323–322 BC) against Macedonia .

Menon came from Pharsalos in Thessaly and probably belonged to the family of that Menon of Pharsalos († 400 BC), who lived in the late 5th century BC. Was a mercenary general of the Persian Prince Cyrus .

When the Lamian War broke out after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. BC Menon appeared as the commander of the cavalry (hipparchos) of the Greeks fighting against Macedonia under the leadership of Athens . He was instrumental in the victory over the general Leonnatos , who had tried to relieve the Antipater , who was trapped in Lamia . Then he again led the cavalry in the Battle of Krannon against a Macedonian superiority, which ended in a stalemate. An attempt to mediate between the Greeks and the Macedonians subsequently made by him and the general Antiphilos failed because of the condition set by Antipater to only accept separate peace with the individual cities, while the Greeks again insisted on a general peace between Macedonia and their union. The cities of Thessaly were subsequently conquered by the Macedonians without the Allies being able to do anything about it. The defeat of Athens in the naval battle of Amorgos in 322 BC BC also sealed the defeat of the Greeks. Menon himself sat down with the Aitolians who wanted to continue the fight. As an antipater on the occasion of the first Diadoch war in 321 BC After having withdrawn to Asia, the Aitolians launched an offensive into Thessaly. There the Macedonian governor Polyperchon opposed them, by whom they were defeated in a battle in which Menon fell.

Meno was the father of Phthis, who married the Epirot king Aiakides and became the mother of Pyrrhus .

literature

  • Waldemar Heckel : Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great. Prosopography of Alexander's Empire. Oxford et al. a. 2006, pp. 166-167.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Diodorus 18:15 , 4; Plutarch , Phokion 25, 4.
  2. ↑ Diodor 18, 17, 6-7.
  3. ↑ Diodorus 18, 38, 5-6.
  4. ^ Plutarch, Pyrrhus 1, 3.
personal data
SURNAME Meno of Pharsalus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Thessalian cavalry general
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 321 BC Chr.