- See also Emathion
In Greek mythology, Emathus, Emathius or Amathus (Ancient Greek:Ἥμαθος, Ἠμάθιος, Ἄμαθος), was son of Makednos, from whom Emathia (the Homeric name of Lower Macedonia) was believed to have derived its name.[1] The daughters of his brother Pierus, the Pierides, are sometimes called Emathides after him.[2] The Emathian or Emathius in Latin is a frequently used epithet in Latin poets for Alexander the Great.[3]
Emathus was apparently first called son of Makednos in Marsyas of Pella (c. 330 BC), who made Emathos and Pieros the eponymous founders of these two regions in Ancient Macedonia.[4] According to Solinus (9.10), Emathius was unrelated to and earlier than Makednos. He also says that while the country was still called Emathia, Orestes and Hermione arrived and had a son Orestis there, who founded an empire (also called Orestis) stretching to the Adriatic; this was some time before Makednos.
According to Stephanus of Byzantium, Brusos was a son of Emathius, from whom Brusis, a portion of Macedonia, was believed to have derived its name.[5] Galadrus, another son of Emathius, is likewise credited with giving his name to the city of Galadrai.[6]
Notes[edit]
- ^ Eustathius of Thessalonica ad Hom. p. 980.
- ^ Ovidius Met. v. 669.
- ^ Pierre Grimal, Dictionnaire de la mythologie grecque et romaine s.v. Amathus
- ^ Macedonian Institutions Under the Kings - Page 240 [1] by Miltiadēs V. Chatzopoulos (Amathos)
- ^ Stephanus of Byzantium. s. v. Brusis
- ^ Hammond, A History of Macedonia p 34, 36.
References[edit]
- Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1
- Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses translated by Brookes More (1859-1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Publius Ovidius Naso, Metamorphoses. Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.