1 Motive for writing
Based on the names appearing in ancient Greek traditions, I created a person correlation chart by connecting marital and parent-child relationships. While creating the chart, questions arose, leading me to investigate further to resolve them.
Why did Phoenix, son of Amyntor, choose Peleus as his place of exile? [1]
Why was Minos of Crete able to marry Pasiphae, who lived far away near the Black Sea? [2]
Why did Melanthus, exiled by the Heracleidae, choose to migrate to Athens? [3]
After researching and contemplating these and many other questions, and finding answers to them, I began writing to record them.
I researched and considered many questions, and when the questions were resolved, I began writing in order to write them down.
2 Motive for creating the Person Correlation Diagram
Before starting to create the person correlation diagram of Bronze Age, I created the person correlation chart for the Hellenistic world centered on Alexander the Great. At that time, I considered figures like Cadmus, founder of Thebes, Heracles (ancestor on Alexander the Great's paternal side), and Aeacus (ancestor on his maternal side) to be mythological characters. Indeed, many names of Greek gods and river god from various regions of Greece appear in the traditions as the names of his father.
I began creating the person correlation diagram because I wanted to know when Heracles, the ancestor of Alexander the Great, actually lived and whether he was a real historical figure.
3 Thoughts while creating the Person Correlation Diagram
Ancient traditions often use expressions like "how many generations back from a certain person" or "60 years after the fall of Troy." While creating the correlation diagram, I was amazed at how accurate these were.
Before I began, I assumed the genealogies appearing in the traditions were nonsense and couldn't possibly connect.
However, in the end, over 3,000 individuals connected without contradiction.
Many relationships that were initially unclear and based only on conjecture gradually became certain. Conversely, many conjectures proved wrong, leading to unexpected connections.
For example, Oenomaus of Pisa appears in many traditions, but his origins were shrouded in deep fog. Initially, I speculated that Oenomaus was an Aeolian who expanded his power from Thessaly and was likely a relative of Perieres's son, Pisus, the founder of Pisa. However, as I connected the characters without contradiction, I discovered an Oenomaus of the same name who appears to be Oenomaus's grandfather. It became clear that Oenomaus was a Pelasgian who had settled in Pisa after traveling from Argos through Arcadia.
Furthermore, most men of the ruling class appearing in ancient Greek genealogies married daughters of the ruling class. Conversely, figures appearing in traditions are often linked to someone within these genealogies.
4 Points to note when creating the Person Correlation Diagram
4.1 Determining if characters are the same person
Works on ancient Greece, such as the Description of Greece by the 2nd-century AD geographer Pausanias, feature numerous names, some of which may be divine names. Furthermore, if the father's name is appended to the given name, it is possible to distinguish between individuals to a certain extent. However, to determine if characters are the same person, it is necessary to compare their place of origin and deeds.
Sometimes individuals from different eras are confused with each other simply because they share the same name.
4.1.1 Confusion due to the same race and the same name
Before the Trojan War, there were four famous Aeolus figures, some of whom have been confused.
1) Aeolus, son of Hellen, who became the progenitor of the Aeolis [4]
2) Aeolus, son of Hippotes, who lived in Arne and produced many children [5]
3) Aeolus, son of Melanippe, who migrated to Lipara [6]
4) Aeolus, grandfather of Ormenus, who founded Ormenion in Thessaly [7]
4.1.2 Confusion due to the same family and the same name
1) Oenomaus, father of Leucippus, who appears in the legend of Daphne [8]
2) Oenomaus, who lived in Pisa and was a contemporary of Pelops [9]
The former was the grandfather of the latter and lived in Arcadia.
4.1.3 Confusion Due to Identical Names of Father and Son
Confusion sometimes arises not only because individuals share the same name, but also because their fathers share the same name.
An example is Amphictyon, son of Deucalion.
1) Amphictyon, son of Deucalion, who became the son-in-law of King Cranaus of Athens [10]
2) Amphictyon, son of Deucalion, who expelled the Pelasgians from Thessaly [11]
Another example is Lycaon, son of Pelasgus.
1) Lycaon, son of Pelasgus, progenitor of the Pelasgians [12]
2) Lycaon, son of Pelasgus, who migrated from Argos to Arcadia [13]
4.1.4 Other Confusions
1) Minos, son of Europa, who remarried Asterius, son of Tectamus [14]
2) Minos of Crete, contemporary with Aegeus, King of Athens [15]
The latter is a descendant of the former, but appears in many traditions as Minos, son of Europa.
4.2 Selecting the most appropriate candidate from multiple candidates
Regarding the names of wives and mothers, different names may be recorded in multiple traditions.
4.2.1 When alternative names exist
An example of the same person being called by different names is the daughter of Aeolus, son of Hippotes, and mother of Boeotus.
1) Melanippe, daughter of Aeolus [16]
2) Arne, daughter of Aeolus [17]
3) Antiopa, daughter of Aeolus [18]
4.2.2 When names are incorrect
However, many cases differ from others due to being based on erroneous traditions or authorial misunderstandings.
For example, regarding Amphion, father of Chloris, wife of Neleus, son of Cretheus, two traditions exist.
1) Son of Antiope of Thebes [19]
2) Son of Iasius of Orchomenus [20]
While Amphion of Thebes is a famous figure with many surviving traditions, only the genealogy of Amphion son of Iasius is transmitted. It is not surprising that this was mistakenly transmitted.
Examining both theories reveals that the father of Neleus' wife is Amphion of Orchomenus.
5 How to draw the Person Correlation Diagram
Place the husband and the wife side by side, connect them with a double line, and position their children one level below.
In other words, the top of the vertical axis represents earlier eras, with later eras appearing lower down.
Therefore, individuals at the same height are, in principle, contemporaries.
5.1 Basis for the vertical axis (date) of the Correlation Diagram
5.1.1 List of reigns of the Athenian kings
The early 4th-century AD historian Eusebius, in his work "Chronicle," cites the names and reign lengths of Athenian kings from the writings of Castor, a 2nd-century BC Rhodian chronicler.
Among these, the first verifiable date is that of Agamestor's son, Aeschylus, the 29th king. The first Olympiad was held in the 12th year of his reign. Since the 1st Olympiad is dated to 776 BC, Aeschylus's 23-year reign spanned from 787 BC to 764 BC. [21]
Using this reign of Aeschylus as a reference point completes the chronology of reigns back to Cecrops, the first king of Athens.
5.1.2 The 21-year discrepancy in Total Reign Length
Castor records that the total reign length from the first king, Cecrops, to Thymoetes, son of Oxyntes (the fifteenth king), was 450 years.[22]
However, the total reign length from Cecrops to Thymoetes is 429 years, 21 years less. This discrepancy is likely due to Thymoetes' reign being 29 years, not 8 years.
Therefore, it becomes plausible that the accession of the 16th Athenian king, Melanthus, occurred not in 1132 BC, but 21 years later, in 1111 BC.
In 1111 BC, Melanthus fled from Messenia to Athens, pursued by the Dorians led by the Heracleidae. [23]
Castor, the 2nd-century BC grammarian Apollodorus, and the 5th-century BC historian Thucydides all report that the final return of the Heracleidae occurred 80 years after the fall of Troy. [24]
Calculating from the year of Troy's fall, 1186 BC, as determined by creating the Person Correlation Diagram, "80 years after Troy's fall" corresponds to 1106 BC. While there is a 5-year discrepancy, this generally aligns.
Presumably, 1132 BC was the year Melanthus first became king, which was the year he became king of the Messenians. The year he became king of the Athenians is estimated to be 1111 BC.
Furthermore, the five-year discrepancy likely arose from differing interpretations of how to determine the year of the Heracleidae's return, "80 years after Troy's fall."
The Heracleidae crossed over to the Peloponnesus in 1112 BC.[25]
Tisamenus, son of Orestes, migrated from Sparta to Achaia in 1104 BC.[26]
The discrepancy likely arose from differing interpretations of the year of their return.
5.2 How to determining the vertical axis of the Correlation Diagram
5.2.1 Number of years of One Generation
Herodotus calculated three generations as 100 years, but I set one generation as 25 years for males and 20 years for females. [27]
5.2.2 Age difference between Father and Child
Generally, I set it from 17 to 70 years.
Examples of fathers becoming fathers at an advanced age include Lysimachus, general of Alexander the Great, Erginus, King of Orchomenus, who fought and lost to Heracles, and Anchises, son of Capys, who migrated from Troad to Sicily. [28]
5.2.3 Age difference between Mother and Child
Generally, I set between 16 and 45 years.
Therefore, if there was an age difference of 30 years or more between children, it was assumed they had different mothers.
For example, the mother of Tyndareus's twin sons, the Dioscuri, Leda, and the mother of Tyndareus's daughter, Helen, were different.
Tradition states Leda was Helen's mother. However, constructing a genealogy reveals an age difference of over 30 years between the Dioscuri and Helen.
While Leda was the mother of the Dioscuri, Helen's mother appears to have been another woman. [29]
5.2.4 Age Difference Between Spouses
Generally, I set husband is older than his wife.
However, there are also cases where a man married a significantly older woman despite being younger himself.
For example, Demetrius, son of Antigonus, married Phila, daughter of Antipater. [30]
5.3 How to determining the horizontal axis of the Correlation Diagram
For individuals other than spouses or siblings, those who participated in specific events were recognized as contemporaries as follows.
5.3.1 Contemporary recognition based on participation in the same event
Participants in events with numerous attendees, such as the following, were recognized as contemporaries.
1) The Argonauts' expedition (1248 BC)
2) The Calydonian boar hunt (1246 BC)
3) The Seven against Thebes (1215 BC)
4) The Epigoni's siege of Thebes (1205 BC)
5) The Achaean expedition to Troy (1188–1186 BC)
6) The final return of the Heracleidae to the Peloponnese (1112–1104 BC)
However, closer examination reveals that participation in some events is questionable for certain individuals.
For example, Philoctetes, son of Poeas, appears in the tales of both the Argonauts' expedition and the Trojan expedition.[31]
The Trojan expedition in which Philoctetes participated was not the expedition of Agamemnon's time, but the Trojan expedition of 1244 BC.
5.3.2 Contemporary recognition based on other events
Beyond cases where they are said to have been "he was contemporary" [32], events such as "the Flood of Deucalion occurred during his reign" [33], "he was exiled" [34], "he went into exile" [35], or "he fought" [36] were used to recognize both as figures of the same era.
However, some examples appear to be errors in tradition, such as the following:
1) Pandion, son of Erichthonius of Athens, fought Labdacus of Thebes over a border dispute. [37]
When constructing genealogies, Labdacus (1375–1337 BC) was born after the death of Pandion (reigned 1442–1402 BC), the 5th king of Athens. If Pandion is correct and Labdacus erroneous, this would place him in the era of Cadmus. However, it seems unlikely that a border dispute existed between Athens and Thebes at that time.
2) Lamedon of Sicyon fought against the sons of Achaeus. [38]
When constructing genealogies, the birth years of Lamedon, who appears in the lineages of the kings of Sicyon, and the sons of Achaeus show a gap of over 70 years. If the battle is factual, Lamedon must be a different person.
6 Primary works referenced in creating the Correlation Diagram
1) "Iliad" and "Odyssey" by Homer, a bard of the 8th century BC
2) "Histories" by Herodotus, a historian of the 5th century BC
3) "Fabulae" by Hyginus, a writer of the 1st century BC
4) "Roman Antiquities" by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a historian of the 1st century BC
5) "Bibliotheca historica" by Diodorus Siculus, a historian of the 1st century BC
6) "Geographica" by Strabo, a geographer of the early 1st century AD
7) "Description of Greece" by Pausanias, a geographer of the 2nd century AD
8) "Bibliotheca" by Pseudo-Apollodorus, a grammarian around the 2nd century AD
9) "Deipnosophistae" by Athenaeus, a grammarian of the 2nd century AD
10) "Parallel Lives" and "Moralia" by Plutarch, a writer of the 2nd century AD
11) "Chronography" by Eusebius, a historian of the 4th century AD
7 Reflections after completing the writing
From the mid-18th century BC to the mid-12th century BC, spanning 600 years, the genealogies of over 3,000 individuals, primarily ancient Greek leaders, have been preserved to the present day. Based on these genealogies, it is possible to pinpoint events recorded in tradition to specific years and create a chronological table.
While many ancient civilizations existed in the world, only ancient Greece was able to create such genealogies and chronologies.
This achievement likely stems from a single genius of ancient Greece, or perhaps someone who passionately dedicated themselves to compiling genealogies.
I believe that person was Orpheus, author of the Genealogica.
And it seems the genealogies he recorded were passed down to later generations by numerous poets.
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