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Hellenization of the Ancient Macedonians
Gandeto
February 26, 2009
Greeks, in the past twenty or so years have embarked on a mission to show the world that Ancient Macedonians spoke a Greek dialect and thus, must be classed as Greeks.
In fact we rarely find articles written by these Greeks where the ethnicity of the ancient Macedonians is not directly connected to the supposed "Greek language" they spoke. For instance, a cursory look at the articles they have recently published in the American Chronicle or their comments expressed through their web sites, we find every opportunity being used to tell the reader that ancient Macedonians spoke Greek language and therefore their Hellenism has been attested. The gist of their objective is focused on establishing a connection between the language ancient Macedonians spoke and their ethnicity.
Even though a great number of prominent philological and linguistic scholars have expressly shown that there is no connection between ethnicity and the language people speak, these Greek propagandists have placed the bulk of their offensive attack through bombardment on the ancient Macedonian language. If they can convince the English speaking audience that the language spoken by the ancient Macedonians was Greek, then, they feel that the battle about the ethnicity of the ancient Macedonians has already been won and by implication the greatness of the Macedonians, including the name, will, by default, fall in their hands.
Currently there are two uncoordinated Greek currents regarding the ethnicity and the language of the ancient Macedonians. Some Greeks believe that by the 4th and 3rd century BC., the ancient Macedonians were fully Hellenized. Others believe that they were always Greek and thus, there was no reason to be Hellenized.
There is one key element that needs to be addressed concerning the Hellenization of the ancient Macedonians before an attempt is made to present the arguments for or against it. First and foremost, it must be stressed from the onset that language alone does not characterize the ethnicity of the people. It could be one of the indices to, but not the sole determinant of the ethnic make-up of the people in question.
To assume that since people speak a certain language then, they must be of certain given ethnicity or nationality is patently untrue. If we presume that ancient Macedonians spoke Greek and nothing else, a very contentious point in and of itself and on this basis we classify them as Greeks, then, we ought to do the same with the Thracians who used Greek in a written form. There are Thracian coins and vessels found with Greek inscriptions on them, and yet no claim has been placed on the Thracians being Greek. Several inscriptions found in Macedonian tombs are written in standard Greek, contrary to some Greek authors´ claims. There are some that exhibit Doric characteristics and some with Aeolic ones. Thus, "within an area of few miles", writes Borza, "exist examples of standard Attic, plus two other Greek dialects from the late classical and early Hellenistic times" (Borza, 1990: 93).
"As a question of method", asks Borza, "why would an area three hundred miles north of Athens—not colonizes by Athens—use an Attic dialect, unless it were imported? That is, the Attic dialect could hardly be native, and its use is likely part of the process of hellenization. To put the question differently: if the native language of the Macedonians is Greek, what is its Macedonian dialect?"
The Greek author Daskalakis made a strong argument against the Hellenization of the Macedonians since he believed that they were Greeks from the time immemorial. He felt that "the proud and intractable" Macedonians would have not tolerated artists from Greece who stayed at the court in Pella, if they did not consider themselves as Hellenes.
This would be a valid point if the Macedonian kings did not use and exploit Hellenism for their own pragmatic purposes that were ´uniquely Macedonian´. (Borza 1995:126). On the other hand, we do have strong inclinations that Archelaus and Euripides met their destinies on account of being too closely implicated with Hellenism. At any rate, to suggest that ancient Macedonians did not use their own native tongue, is to leap over some very compelling historical facts, which cannot be overlooked or ignored. Science does not have enough evidence to firmly address the issue, and as long as no new evidence is found to settle the problem, we remain firm that ancient Macedonians used their own paternal tongue, and along with some of the Royal House personnel and barons, in addition to it, used Greek for administrative purposes during Alexander´s time and onward. The usage of ´diglossoi´ by Hammond (Hammond, 1989: 48) indicates clearly the existence of two languages in use in Macedonia during the 5th century BC.
The other point advanced by the Greek authors is the question of penetration of Hellenism beyond the Macedonian Royal Court to the Macedonian countryside itself. They feel that it would have been impossible to spread Hellenism in Macedonia, unless, there was an outright conquest of Greeks over Macedonia. In reality, the spread of certain language, and/or culture, is rarely accomplished through military conquests. The acceptance and usage of a foreign language, for pragmatic purposes and economic reasons, is not an unusual occurrence in itself. This is tantamount to the usage of English in aviation, marine traffic, and on the Internet in modern times. Surely, there is no American/British conquest needed to advance the usage of this internationally accepted element of communication. Once again, these advocates make explicitly clear that they see ethnicity through the usage of Greek language.
One gets the impression that their primary task is to deny the Macedonians their own Macedonian language, and if they can establish that Ancient Macedonians used Greek language instead, then the task would be accomplished. All speakers of Greek are, inevitably, Hellenes. Troubling and quite sad, is this line from Daskalakis who says:
"Till now it is not history that has given birth to such a freak, but the fertile imagination of those who advocate the theory that the ancient Macedonians were not Greek."
In other words what this author is suggesting is that all modern scholars who have expressed an opposite opinion than his own have arrived to their conclusions not through scientific argumentations and analysis but simply through concepts of their fertile imagination.
What do modern revisionists of history think about the language of the ancient Macedonians?
"As the Macedonians settled the region following the expulsion of existing peoples, they probably introduced their own customs and language(s); there is no evidence that they adopted any existing language, even though they were now in contact with neighboring populations who spoke a variety of Greek and non-Greek tongues."
For start, perhaps, we should go to the ancient Greeks, themselves, but that would be a topic for another volume. (Perhaps, these Greek have taken Beloch´s argument regarding the language adapted by Alexander the Great for his empire for all its worth). Be that as it may, the mention of "fertile imagination" attributed to those who feel that ancient Macedonians were not Greeks, brings to mind a line from Pierre Jouguet ("Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic World" p.70)
"The mythical imagination was always fertile in Greece, and it would have found Greek ancestors for the Macedonian people as easily as it had done for the royal line."
In conclusion:
The ethnicity of the ancient Macedonians is neither the subject nor the business of the modern Greeks to be concerned about. Ancient Macedonians left their mark in history as Macedonians and any attempt to subvert and corrupt the legacy of this famous legendary people is nothing less than a total fabrication and rape of historical evidence and hijacking of the world´s cultural inheritance. Every learned person in the world should raise his/her voice against such an immoral act of brutality.
Second, under the guise of Hellenization, Greeks have usurped and destroyed many people´s cultural, linguistic and moral fiber of their ethnic heritage. Hellenism is nothing less than a pure form of racism.
I will leave you with R. Stefov´s description of Hellenism which in no uncertain terms eloquently sums it up:
"Hellenism, whatever purpose it was intended to serve should have died a long time ago along with Fascism, Nazism and slavery but unfortunately it has not. Instead, nurtured by the Powers that created it, it has flourished and swallowed and destroyed nations of people including part of my own; the Macedonians in Greek occupied Macedonia who to this day are struggling to get free.
What is this phenomenon called "Hellenism"? Whatever it is, it has different interpretations to different people but as Macedonians that have been touched by it, while refusing to yield to it, for us it has been a nightmare. Greece, after invading, occupying and annexing 51% of the Macedonian territories in 1912, 1913, in the name of Hellenism tortured, murdered and expelled all Macedonians who refused to become "Hellenes". It then changed all people´s and place names to "Hellenize" them and make them Greek. If that was not enough, Greece then abolished the Macedonian language rendering it illegal to be spoken both in public and private, all this in the name of "Hellenism".
In other words, Hellenism for the Macedonians has been a relentless enemy whose aim has been to destroy what is real and replace it with something artificial which has no roots or a real past."
In my opinion Hellenism is a toxic, poignant blight that must be removed from the face of the earth. Its venomous, racist tentacles must be severed from its head. It must not be forcibly spread to any other ethnic groups. It must not be allowed to deprive, suffocate and desecrate other ethnic cultures of their heritable cultural wealth like it has done with the ethnic Macedonians, Vlachs, Albanians and Romas.
Until next time…
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