Philip and Illirian women habits

Discuss Philip's achievements and Macedonia pre-Alexander

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hiphys
Pezhetairos (foot soldier)
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Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2012 2:59 am

Philip and Illirian women habits

Post by hiphys »

I'm reading the book "Alexander the Great: a New History", by W. Heckel and L. A. Tritle, Wiley-Blackwell 2011, and I found a quote of the chapter 10, by Elizabeth D. Carney, very interesting. She writes:" Cynnane was trained to fight as a warrior (...) and would train her daughter in turn. Exactly why Philip seems to have invited these alternative identities in the children of his wives by non-Macedonian women is not clear, but it did give them a sense of themselves that was not exclusively grounded in court politics and the current succession pecking order." What is amazing, IMHO, isn't the fact that Cynnane "was trained to fight as a warrior", but that Philip "apparently allowed his Illirian wife Audata to bring up their daughter Cynnane in a fashion very much at odds with Macedonian expectations about women." And I'd add that such a thing is perhaps an "ante litteram" example of promoting cultural biodiversity. It's stunning that an ancient Macedonian may teach us now how to safeguard a thing that needed, in our age, a Convention signed by 150 government leaders at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, with short success.
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