Today we celebrate Alexander’s birthday, a date I could never forget.
I still don’t
know if the ancient Greeks and Macedonians celebrated their birthdays, although
the people of
In antiquity, people did not live by a calendar with a recurring yearly date as we do. Celebrations occurred following some astrological events making time very elastic.
The only way to
be sure of Alexander’s date of birth
is that the
Legend has a more elegant explanation for the fire. The story goes that Artemis was far too busy helping Alexander into the world and neglected her duties in the temple.
Whatever the story, scholars so far all agree on the date of 20/21 July for Alexander’s birth.
Happy birthday Alexander!
I always remember his birthday as well as his deathday every year too.
ReplyDeleteI recently found that ancient Greeks (or rather the ancient Athenians at least [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attic_calendar#Days_of_the_month]) celebrated birthdays every month rather than evey year, but I don't know of this custom elsewhere in the Greek world.
As the ancient Persians celebrated their birthdays annually (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday#Ancient_Persia), I think Alexander may have adopted such custom for himself and his Companions (although I couldn't find any information about birth dates of names like Ptolemy, Seleucus or Cassander, who ruled the Hellenistic kingdoms after desmembering Alexander's Empire).
I’m not convinced about this Wikipedia article on birthday celebrations. The Athenians clearly celebrated their gods on specific days, but it does not say they celebrated their own family’s birthday as well. Gods are gods, but knocking on the door of your family and friends every month seems a little too much to be true – don’t you think so?
DeleteYes, who knows if Alexander celebrated his birthday and that of his friends. He loved to give, and any occasion would be welcome.
I refuse to ‘celebrate’ the death of Alexander. He is dead, and the date is of no importance. He died too young and without the glory he so wished.
True, but as far as I know it is the only reference on celebrating birthdays in Ancient Greece, thus celebrating a human being' birthday every month is just a conjecture.
DeleteAs for deathdays, ancient Greek-Romans celebrated them annually for people who become gods or divine heroes (Hyacinthos, Adonis, Antinoos, etc. [even Jesus in a Roman Judaea]) because it is the day they are reborn as divine beings. This practice was adopted by the Christian church, celebrating the deathday of a saint as his/her cult day.
That's why in Antiquity it was more important record deathdays of famous/important people than their birthdays.