Alexander The Great's Mermaid Sister

<p>Dear Classical Wisdom Reader,</p><p>You’ll have to forgive me.</p><p>So, you may not be aware, but yesterday was actually the 2,349th anniversary of the death of Alexander the Great. </p><p>I know, I know: time flies!</p><p>Anyway, to mark the occasion, we had a special treat for our Members, an in-depth look at Alexander’s mysterious death. Discover the competing theories, and see if you can untie this millennia-old Gordian’s Knot…</p><p>Members can check that out <a href="https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/p/the-mysterious-death-of-alexander">HERE!</a></p><p><em>Not a Member? Sign up today to support the Classics and unlock ALL of our resources, including exclusive podcasts, in-depth articles, and more.</em></p><p><a href="https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/subscribe"><span>Become A Member</span></a></p><p>Now, <em>normally </em>we wouldn’t run two articles on the same historical figure in the same week.</p><p>But I just couldn’t help myself with this one.</p><p>You see, when it comes to world-changing figures like Alexander, stories about his life can sometimes get filled out with certain… <em>embellishments</em>.</p><p>Some that, yes, even have an element of the supernatural!</p><p>So today we’re looking at a colorful, ancient Greek folktale about Alexander’s half-sister, the mermaid.</p><p>Discover Alexander’s mythic quest to find the Fountain of Youth, how the modern world has maybe got mermaids wrong, and the real life half-sister behind the myth…</p><p>It just goes to show… families really can get complicated!</p><p>All the best,</p><p>Sean Kelly</p><p>Managing Editor</p><p>Classical Wisdom</p><div><hr></div><h1>Alexander’s Mermaid Sister</h1><p><em>by Ed Whelan</em></p><p>Alexander the Great is one of the most famous people that ever lived. </p><p>Naturally, such a larger-than-life figure inspired many stories, and these morphed into myths over time. One of the most fascinating examples of this is the myth about his sister, the mermaid.</p><p><strong>Mermaids in Ancient Greek Mythology</strong></p><div><figure><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!rvyw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b5c64d9-c3aa-4387-a553-f769e9975552_330x480.jpeg"></a><div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!rvyw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b5c64d9-c3aa-4387-a553-f769e9975552_330x480.jpeg"></a><source type="image/webp"><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!rvyw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b5c64d9-c3aa-4387-a553-f769e9975552_330x480.jpeg"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!rvyw!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b5c64d9-c3aa-4387-a553-f769e9975552_330x480.jpeg" width="330" height="480" alt="" title=""></a></source><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!rvyw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b5c64d9-c3aa-4387-a553-f769e9975552_330x480.jpeg"></a><div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!rvyw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b5c64d9-c3aa-4387-a553-f769e9975552_330x480.jpeg"></a><div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!rvyw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b5c64d9-c3aa-4387-a553-f769e9975552_330x480.jpeg"></a></div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!rvyw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b5c64d9-c3aa-4387-a553-f769e9975552_330x480.jpeg"></a></div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!rvyw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b5c64d9-c3aa-4387-a553-f769e9975552_330x480.jpeg"></a></div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!rvyw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0b5c64d9-c3aa-4387-a553-f769e9975552_330x480.jpeg"></a><figcaption><em>A Mermaid, by John William Waterhouse, 1900</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>According to the Greeks, Gaia, or Mother Earth, was one of the first primordial deities. She came into existence along with Chaos and other deities. Gaia gave birth to Uranus and she later had a sexual relationship with him and out of this incestuous union, she gave birth to the Titans.</p><p>From this race of primordial race of giants came the Cyclopes and Oceanus, the god or the embodiment of the Ocean and monstrous figures like Scylla and the three Gorgons. The most famous Gorgon is Medusa. Her two sisters, Stheno and Euryale, were transformed by Athena into sea monsters. In some accounts, they became sea-mermaids.</p><p>To the ancient Greeks, therefore, mermaids were often demonic sea-beings. They were thought to lure seamen to their death. In many myths, they are associated with the sirens, half-women and half-birds, whose singing lured many sailors to the rocks and death by drowning as in Homer’s <em>Odyssey</em>.</p><div><figure><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!QwPg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa899d02-2c6e-4f3a-9328-075b411395f1_1080x1349.jpeg"></a><div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!QwPg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa899d02-2c6e-4f3a-9328-075b411395f1_1080x1349.jpeg"></a><source type="image/webp"><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!QwPg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa899d02-2c6e-4f3a-9328-075b411395f1_1080x1349.jpeg"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!QwPg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa899d02-2c6e-4f3a-9328-075b411395f1_1080x1349.jpeg" width="398" height="497" alt="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QwPg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa899d02-2c6e-4f3a-9328-075b411395f1_1080x1349.jpeg" title="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QwPg!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa899d02-2c6e-4f3a-9328-075b411395f1_1080x1349.jpeg"></a></source><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!QwPg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa899d02-2c6e-4f3a-9328-075b411395f1_1080x1349.jpeg"></a><div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!QwPg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa899d02-2c6e-4f3a-9328-075b411395f1_1080x1349.jpeg"></a><div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!QwPg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa899d02-2c6e-4f3a-9328-075b411395f1_1080x1349.jpeg"></a></div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!QwPg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa899d02-2c6e-4f3a-9328-075b411395f1_1080x1349.jpeg"></a></div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!QwPg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa899d02-2c6e-4f3a-9328-075b411395f1_1080x1349.jpeg"></a></div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!QwPg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffa899d02-2c6e-4f3a-9328-075b411395f1_1080x1349.jpeg"></a><figcaption><em>The Sirens</em> by John Longstaff (1892)</figcaption></figure></div><p>The modern world has a favorable conception of mermaids, but in the ancient world they were malign sea figures often blamed for tragedies at sea. It was widely believed that they could cause storms at sea. They were depicted in folk art as a female demon, with a woman’s form from the waist up and a giant fishtail from the waist down.</p><p><a href="https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/p/alexander-the-greats-mermaid-sister?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p><strong>The Myth of the Mermaid Thessaloniki</strong></p><div><figure><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!mpbs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe05708bf-aa4c-49cd-bfa9-da0c4ca2c984_564x800.jpeg"></a><div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!mpbs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe05708bf-aa4c-49cd-bfa9-da0c4ca2c984_564x800.jpeg"></a><source type="image/webp"><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!mpbs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe05708bf-aa4c-49cd-bfa9-da0c4ca2c984_564x800.jpeg"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!mpbs!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe05708bf-aa4c-49cd-bfa9-da0c4ca2c984_564x800.jpeg" width="564" height="800" alt="" title=""></a></source><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!mpbs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe05708bf-aa4c-49cd-bfa9-da0c4ca2c984_564x800.jpeg"></a><div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!mpbs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe05708bf-aa4c-49cd-bfa9-da0c4ca2c984_564x800.jpeg"></a><div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!mpbs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe05708bf-aa4c-49cd-bfa9-da0c4ca2c984_564x800.jpeg"></a></div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!mpbs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe05708bf-aa4c-49cd-bfa9-da0c4ca2c984_564x800.jpeg"></a></div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!mpbs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe05708bf-aa4c-49cd-bfa9-da0c4ca2c984_564x800.jpeg"></a></div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!mpbs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe05708bf-aa4c-49cd-bfa9-da0c4ca2c984_564x800.jpeg"></a><figcaption>Mentis Bostantzoglou (Bost), Alexander the Great with his sister, 1984. Credit: Parallaxi, source: Daily Art Magazine</figcaption></figure></div><p>According to a popular Greek legend, there lived a mermaid in the Aegean Sea for centuries by the name of Thessaloniki. She was reputedly the half-sister of Alexander the Great. </p><p>Popular folklore had it that Alexander went searching for the Fountain of Youth while in Asia, and found it. After facing many dangers, he was able to fill a flask with the waters of immortality. Alexander washed his sister’s hair in the precious waters and, in doing so, made her immortal. The great conqueror did not drink the waters himself, and died in Babylon in 323 BC.</p><div><p>Want to learn more about Alexander the Great?</p><p>Discover the mysterious death of Alexander in <a href="https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/p/the-mysterious-death-of-alexander">our exclusive, in-depth article</a>.</p><p>Not a Member? Join today to unlock ALL our resources, including exclusive podcasts, in-depth articles, our vast e-book library and more.</p><p><a href="https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/subscribe"><span>Become A Member</span></a></p></div><p>Thessaloniki was left grief-stricken and never recovered. Heartbroken, she decided to kill herself but after she threw herself into the waters of the Aegean, she was transformed into a mermaid. A tragic figure, Thessaloniki was also dangerous. Whenever she saw a passing ship, she would ask the sailors if Alexander was alive or dead. Their answers could doom them to a watery death. If they told the mermaid that the great Macedonian was alive, Thessaloniki would leave them to go on their way. If they told her the truth, that he was long dead, she would become furious and turned into a demon or Gorgon, depending on the myth. She would then sink the ship and all the sailors on board would drown. The best-known version of this myth is found in the works of Pausanias.</p><p><a href="https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/p/alexander-the-greats-mermaid-sister?utm_source=substack&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_content=share&amp;action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p><strong>The Real Thessaloniki</strong></p><div><figure><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!2GLp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc64d2f26-2aae-44a2-92b6-c3544796dfb2_525x400.png"></a><div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!2GLp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc64d2f26-2aae-44a2-92b6-c3544796dfb2_525x400.png"></a><source type="image/webp"><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!2GLp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc64d2f26-2aae-44a2-92b6-c3544796dfb2_525x400.png"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!2GLp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc64d2f26-2aae-44a2-92b6-c3544796dfb2_525x400.png" width="525" height="400" alt="" title=""></a></source><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!2GLp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc64d2f26-2aae-44a2-92b6-c3544796dfb2_525x400.png"></a><div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!2GLp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc64d2f26-2aae-44a2-92b6-c3544796dfb2_525x400.png"></a><div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!2GLp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc64d2f26-2aae-44a2-92b6-c3544796dfb2_525x400.png"></a></div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!2GLp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc64d2f26-2aae-44a2-92b6-c3544796dfb2_525x400.png"></a></div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!2GLp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc64d2f26-2aae-44a2-92b6-c3544796dfb2_525x400.png"></a></div><a href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!2GLp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc64d2f26-2aae-44a2-92b6-c3544796dfb2_525x400.png"></a><figcaption>Inscription on a statue of Thessaloniki from the 2nd c. B.C., found in the area of the ancient Agora among a group of statues of the family of Alexander the Great. Inscription: ΘΕΣΣΑΛΟΝΙΚΗΝ ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΑΝ</figcaption></figure></div><p>Like so many more myths, this one was based on an actual stepsister of Alexander the Great, the half-sister of the great king. The real Thessaloniki was the daughter of Alexander’s father, Phillip II, and a Thessalian woman. It appears that she was raised by Olympias, the mother of Alexander, and had little contact with her older half-brother.</p><p>After the death of Alexander, she supported Olympias in the struggle for control of Macedonia. After the execution of Olympias, she married Cassander, who had ordered Olympias’ death. She had three sons with Cassander, and he treated her with respect and named the port city of Thessaloniki after her. </p><p>After the death of her husband, she tried to end the feud for the throne of Macedonia between two of her sons, Alexander V and Antipater. Ultimately, however, she was murdered by Antipater.</p><p>While there are many myths surrounding the life of Alexander the Great, the legend of his mermaid stepsister is one of the most striking. It is still extremely popular in Greek folklore. It illustrates how myths are often based on some truth: in this case, Alexander’s real-life step-sister, who was tragically killed.</p><p>Yet her legacy lives on through this curious myth.</p> <p><a href="https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/p/alexander-the-greats-mermaid-sister" target="_blank">- Enlace a artículo -</a></p> <p>Más info en https://ift.tt/yM3s15k / Tfno. & WA 607725547 Centro MENADEL (Frasco Martín) Psicología Clínica y Tradicional en Mijas. #Menadel #Psicología #Clínica #Tradicional #MijasPueblo</p> <p>*No suscribimos necesariamente las opiniones o artículos aquí compartidos. No todo es lo que parece.</p>