Caranus or Karanos (Greek: Κάρανος, romanized: Káranos) was the first king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia according to later traditions. According to Herodotus, however, the first king was Perdiccas I. Caranus is first reported by Theopompus and is the mythical founder of the Argead dynasty.
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👉 Caranus of Macedon in the context of Tyrimmas of Macedon
Tyrimmas (Ancient Greek: Τυρίμμας) was according to Macedonian tradition an Argead king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia. He is not mentioned in the list of Argead kings given by Herodotus, but is first mentioned in the fourth century, when the Macedonian records of the Argead kings appear to have changed permanently. A fragment of the historian Satyrus records three kings before Perdiccas I, the founder of the Argead dynasty in Herodotus' list: Caranus, Coenus and Tyrimmas.
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Caranus of Macedon in the context of Argead dynasty
The Argead dynasty (Greek: Ἀργεάδαι, romanized: Argeádai), also known as the Temenid dynasty (Greek: Τημενίδαι, Tēmenídai) was an ancient Macedonian royal house of Dorian Greek provenance. They were the founders and the ruling dynasty of the kingdom of Macedon from about 700 to 310 BC.
Their tradition, as described in ancient Greek historiography, traced their origins to Argos, of Peloponnese in Southern Greece, hence the name Argeads or Argives. Initially, the Argeadae were the rulers of the tribe of the same name, (Argead Macedonians) who prevailed in early Emathia. By the time of Philip II they had expanded their reign further, to include under the rule of Macedonia all Upper Macedonian states. The family's most celebrated members were Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great, under whose leadership the kingdom of Macedonia gradually gained predominance throughout Greece, established the Hellenic League, defeated the Achaemenid Empire and expanded as far as Egypt and India. The mythical founder of the Argead dynasty is King Caranus. The Argeads claimed descent from Heracles through his great-great-grandson Temenus, also king of Argos.
Caranus of Macedon in the context of Perdiccas I of Macedon
Perdiccas I (Greek: Περδίκκας, romanized: Perdíkkas; fl. c. 650 BC) was king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. By allowing thirty years for the span of an average generation from the beginning of Archelaus' reign in 413 BC, British historian Nicholas Hammond estimated that Perdiccas ruled around 653 BC.
There are two separate historical traditions describing the foundation of the Argead dynasty. The earlier, documented by Herodotus and Thucydides in the fifth century BC, records Perdiccas as the first king of Macedonia. The later tradition first emerged sometime at the beginning of the fourth century BC and claimed that Caranus, rather than Perdiccas, was the founder. Aside from Satyrus, who adds Coenus and Tyrimmas to the list, Marsyas of Pella, Theopompos, and Justin all agree that Caranus was Perdiccas' father. Furthermore, Plutarch claimed in his biography of Alexander the Great that all of his sources agreed that Caranus was the founder. This unhistorical assertion is rejected by modern scholarship as Argead court propaganda, possibly intended to diminish the significance of the name 'Perdiccas' in rival family branches following Amyntas III accession.
Caranus of Macedon in the context of Archelaus (play)
Archelaus (Ancient Greek: Ἀρχέλαος, Archelaos) is a drama written and performed in Macedonia by Euripides honouring Archelaus I of Macedon on a par with king Caranus. There is no doubt that Euripides transformed Caranus to Archelaus (meaning "leader of the people") in the play, in an attempt to please Archelaus I of Macedon. In the play, Archelaus son of Temenus was exiled from Argos by his brothers and went to Thrace, to king Cisseus who happened to be at war with neighbouring people and promised Archelaus his kingdom and daughter if he could protect him against the enemies. Archelaus did it and went to ask the king for his promised reward. The king however broke his promise and decided to kill Archelaus by treachery. He therefore gave orders to prepare a pitfall to trap him. But a slave of the king told Archelaus about the plot and the hero asked for a secret interview with the king: when alone he threw him inside the pitfall. He then fled to Macedonia, led by a goat, according to some command of Apollo, and founded the city of Aigai after the goat.
From the main play only fragments have been saved. The works Alcmene, Temenus, Temenidai and Archelaus were part of the Macedonian tetralogy of Euripides.