Bonus episode! We covered Alexander the Great’s half-sister Thessalonica- the mother of Philip IV, Antipater II and Alexander V- way back in the early episodes of the podcast. After all, we’ve witnessed quite a bit of family scheming (which I’ll come back to with a new perspective today). However, today’s topic is going to take her story beyond her death in 295 BCE. In fact, her memory would live on in the form of a mermaid reported to ask sailors a question in the Aegean. Spoiler alert: you don’t want to give her the wrong answer…
Sources for this episode: 1) Gerakiti, E., Daily Art Magazine (2020), Alexander the Great and His Mermaid Sister in Folklore (online) [Accessed 19/04/2021]. 2) Justinus, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus’ Philippic Histories (books 16-20), translated by Rev. J. S. Watson (1853). Available at Attalus [Accessed 31/05/2021]. 3) Mitakidou, S., Manna, A. L. and Kanatsouli, M. (2002), Folktales from Greece: A Treasury of Delights. Greenwood Village: Libraries Unlimited. 4) Plutarch, (1920) the Parallel Lives (The Life of Pyrrhus 6) in: the Loeb Classical Library edition (Vol. IX). Proofread by Robert Thayer, available at the University of Chicago [Accessed 31/05/2021]. 5) Author unknown, Royal Museums Greenwich (date unknown), What is a mermaid? (online) [Accessed 19/04/2021]. 6-10) Wikipedia articles for Thessalonike of Macedon, Philip IV of Macedon, Antipater II of Macedon, Aegean Sea, and Aegeus (online) [Accessed 18/04/2021]. 11-12) Wikipedia articles for Nicesipolis and Battle of the Crocus Fields (online) [Accessed 31/05/2021].