Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 25(2): 261–276

Mait KÕIV

ABSTRACT

The article focuses on the manipulations of the genealogy of a legendarily famous Argive king or tyrant Pheidon ruling during the Greek Archaic Age (eighth to sixth century BC). The ancients did not possess any precise knowledge about his dating, which caused variable attempts to locate him in time. On the other hand, he became a target of different synchronisations which led to the manipulation not only of the Argive data, but also the genealogies of the Macedonian, the Median and the Assyrian kings. The discussion will reveal how genealogical evidence, or pseudo-evidence, was forged and manipulated for arriving at ostensibly historical accounts which, although possibly based on genuine traditions, produced visions of the past which in many points clearly did not correspond to the truth.

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Articolul se concentrează asupra manipulării genealogiei faimosului regale legendary Pheidon din Argos în epoca greacă arhaică (sec. VIII–VI a.Chr.). Cei din vechime nu posedau nicio cunoaștere precisă asupra datărilor, cee ace determină încercări diferite de a-l localiza în timp. Pe de altă parte, regale a devenit ținta unor sincronizări diferite care a condus la manipulări nu numai a datelor din Argos, dar și a genealogiei regilor macedoneni, mezi sau asirieni.

 

KEYWORDS

Ancient Greece, ancient historiography, royal genealogies, ancient chronography