CHAOS: THE ORACLE: CAST OF CHARACTERS

Abrocomes Brother to Xerxes the Great; killed in Battle of Thermopylae.
Ada of Caria Member of the House of Hecatomnus (the Hecatomnids); ruler of Caria, first as Persian Satrap and later as Queen under auspices of Alexander III.
Aeschreas A city leader in Delphi.
Aetolians The people of Aetolia.
Agenor King of Sidon.
Agesilaus Brother to King Agis?
Agis Spartan king who rebelled against Alexander III.
Agrianians Paeonian-Thracian tribe; in the time of Philip II, the territory of the Agrianes was administered by Pella; crack javelin throwers and an elite unit of Alexander III’s light infantry, who fought under the command of General Attalus.
Alexander I Philip II’s brother-in-law; husband of Cleopatra, Philip II’s daughter.
Alexander II Brother of Philip II.
Alexander III King of Macedon; son of Philip II; Alexander the Great.
Alexander Lyncestes Native of the upper-Macedonian district called Lyncestis.
Amastris
(Amastrine)
Persian princess; daughter of Oxyathres, the brother of Persian King Darius III.
Amphitryon King of Thebes.
Amyntas Macedonian officer in Alexander III’s army.
Amyntas III Father of King Philip II.
Amyntas IV Infant nephew of Philip II who was the heir to the throne; Philip II usurped him.
Amyntor Macedonian nobleman and general in the army of Alexander; father of Hephaestion.
Anaxandridas II King of Sparta between 560 and 525 BCE; father of Leonidas I.
Androsthenes Childhood friend of Alexander III; admiral during Persian campaign.
Antipater Macedonian general who served under Philip II and Alexander III. In 320 BCE; regent of Alexander’s entire empire.
Apollonius Rhodius Apollonius of Rhodes; best known as author of the Argonautica, an epic poem about Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece.
Archelaus King of Macedon from 413 to 399 BCE; founded Pella as capital of the kingdom.
Archytas of Tarentum Philosopher, mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and strategist; lecturer at Plato’s academy.
Ardiaei Illyrian tribe residing inland; eventually settled the Adriatic coast of the Balkan Peninsula.
Ariobarzanes Persian satrap of Persis; fought against Alexander III at the Battle of the Persian Gate as Alexander’s forces were making their way to Persepolis in 330 BCE.
Aristander of Telmessus Greek from Caria; Alexander III’s favorite seer; already in Philip’s entourage in 357/6, when he correctly interpreted a dream as revealing Olympias’ pregnancy.
Aristotle Greek philosopher and scientist born in the Macedonian city of Stagira, Chalkidice.
Arsinoe II Ptolemaic Greek Princess of Ancient Egypt; through marriage was Queen of Thrace, Asia Minor, and Macedonia as wife of King Lysimachus; later was co-ruler of Egypt with her brother-husband Ptolemy II Philadelphus.
Artabazus Persian general and satrap; son of Persian satrap of Phrygia, Pharnabazus, and younger kinsman to Ariobarzanes of Phrygia who revolted against Artaxerxes II around 366 BCE.
Artonis One of 80 noble Persian women married to the elite Macedonian officers of Alexander III in a mass ceremony in Susa.
Arymbas Bodyguard to Alexander III.
Ascalaphus Brother to Pannenion; one of the generals of Alexander III.
Assakenoi Highland chieftain who refused to submit to Alexander III.
Atropates Persian nobleman who served Darius III, then Alexander III, and eventually founded an independent kingdom and dynasty named after himself.
Attalus Important courtier of Philip II.
Autophradates Persian commander in the Aegean who faced the Macedonians.
Axiothea of Phlius Woman who studied at Plato’s academy.
Bactrian People of Bactria.
Barsine Daughter of Artabazus, satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia; wife of Mentor of Rhodes and after his death, Mentor’s brother, Memnon.
Batis Commander of Persian garrison at Gaza.
Bessus Prominent Persian satrap of Bactria
Brisēís Queen in Asia Minor at time of the Trojan War; concubine to Achilles; Agamemnon stole her from Achilles.
Bucephalus The favorite steed of Alexander III.
Cabeiri
(Cabiri, Kabeiroi, or Kabiri)
Group of enigmatic chthonic deities; worshiped in a mystery cult closely associated with Hephaestus; centered in the north Aegean islands of Lemnos and possibly Samothrace—at the Samothrace temple complex—and at Thebes; distant origins of the Cabeiri and the Samothracian gods may include pre-Greek elements, or other non-Greek elements, such as Hittite, Thracian, proto-Etruscan, or Phrygian.
Cadmus King of Tyre; brother to Queen Europa.
Callicrates One of the architects of the Parthenon.
Carians Inhabitants of Caria in southwest Anatolia.
Cassander King of Macedonia kingdom from 305 BCE until 297 BCE.
Cersobleptes Thracian prince conquered by Philip II.
Chaldean People of Chaldea, a small Semitic nation that emerged between the late tenth and early nine century BCE; Chaldean tribes were absorbed into the native population of Babylonia.
Choerilos Astronomer traveling with Alexander’s army; author’s fictional character.
Cleitus the Black Officer of Macedonian army led by Alexander III; saved Alexander’s life at the Battle of the Granicus; was killed by Alexander in drunken quarrel several years later.
Cleodaeos A biologist who travels with Alexander’s army; author’s fictional character.
Cleomenes Agiad King of Sparta; pursued an adventurous and at times unscrupulous foreign policy aimed at crushing Argos and extending Sparta’s influence both inside and outside the Peloponnese; during his reign the Peloponnesian League came formally into existence.
Cleopatra Daughter of Philip II; half-sister to Alexander III.
Cleopatra Eurydice Mid-fourth century BCE Macedonian noblewoman; niece of Attalus; last of the seven wives of Philip II of Macedon.
Cleophis Mother of Assakenos (Assacanus), the war-leader of the Assakenoi (Assacani) people at the time of Alexander III’s invasion.
Clysonymus Murdered by his friend, Patroclus, during an argument over a game of dice.
Cnemon Main character in Menander’s Dyskolos.
Coenus Aon of Polemocrates and son-in-law of Parmenion; one of the ablest and most faithful generals of Alexander III in his Persian expedition.
Cossaeans Tribe of mountain people settled in modern-day western Iran; situated somewhere in the Zagros mountains between Media on the north and Susiana in the south; reportedly, when Persian kings went down from Ecbatana, where they usually spent the summer, into Babylonia they made gifts to the Cossaeans—perhaps a kind of toll.
Crantor Scholar at Plato’s academy.
Craterus Macedonian general under Alexander III; one of the Diadochi; son of Macedonian nobleman, Alexander from Orestis, and brother of Admiral Amphoterus.
Crateus Son of Tegeates, founder of Tegea; father to Aerope.
Critias Athenian political figure and author; born in Athens; son of Callaeschrus; first cousin of Plato’s mother, Perictione; became leading and violent member of the Thirty Tyrants.
Cyrus the Younger Son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis; Persian prince and general; died in 401 BCE after failed battle to oust his brother, Artaxerxes II, from the Persian throne.
Darius III Originally named Artashata (and called Codomannus by the Greeks) he adopted the name Darius as a dynastic name; last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia from 336 BCE to 330 BCE.
Demaratus Friend of Alexander; mediated reconciliation between Alexander and his father, Philip II.
Democritus Influential pre-Socratic philosopher primarily remembered for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe.
Demosthenes Prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens; orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during fourth century BCE.
Diadochi Rival generals, families, and friends of Alexander III who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BCE; The Wars of the Diadochi mark the beginning of the Hellenistic period.
dikasts Athenian citizens chosen by lot to serve as jurors.
Dorians One of the four major Greek ethnē (along with Aeolians, Achaeans and Ionians) into which the Greeks—or Hellenes, those in the ancient period considered themselves—divided; earliest literary mention in Odyssey, where they already can be found inhabiting the island of Crete.
Drypetis
(Drypteis)
Princess of the Achaemenid dynasty in Persia; born between 350 and 345 BCE; daughter of Stateira I and Darius III of Persia.
Eleusinians The people of Eleusis.
Epaminondas Theban general and statesman of fourth century BCE who transformed Ancient Greek city-state of Thebes, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a preeminent position in Greek politics.
ephebe Young man between ages of eighteen and twenty who has petitioned for full citizenship.
Ephialtes Malian Greek traitor at the Battle of Thermopylae.
Epigonoi Sons of the Argive heroes who had fought and been killed in the first Theban war, the subject of the Thebaid, in which Polynices and six allies (the Seven Against Thebes) attacked Thebes because Polynices’ brother, Eteocles, refused to give up the throne as promised.
Ergastines Young women in charge of weaving the peplos over-garment offered to Athena.
Erigyius Childhood friend of Alexander III; exiled by Philip for his role in testing the king’s loyalty to his son, Alexander.
eromenos An adolescent boy courted by an older man, or in an erotic relationship with an older man.
Eudoxus Scholar at Plato’s academy.
Eumenes Greek general and scholar; participated in Wars of the Diadochi as a supporter of the Macedonian Argead royal house.
Euripides Tragedian (writer of tragedies) during classical Athens. He is one of the three whose plays have survived; other two were Aeschylus and Sophocles.
Europa Daughter of Cleopatra Eurydice and Philip II; murdered at the bequest of Olympias, Alexander III’s mother, when he ascended the throne.
Eurydice I Mother of King Philip II; wife of Orpheus.
Eurydike Queen of Nemea; mother of Opheltes.
Eurymedon the Hierophant Representative of Demetra of Eleusis; with the school of Isocrates and Demophilos they brought a charge of impiety against Aristotle.
Getae Several Thracian tribes inhabiting the regions to either side of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania.
Glaucias (Glaukias) King of the Taulanti.
Guraeans One of three Kamboja highlander clans—Aspasioi of the Kunar/Alishang valleys, Guraeans of the Guraeus (Panjkora) valley, and Assakenoi of the Swat and Buner valleys—conquered by Alexander III.
Harpalus Childhood friend of Alexander III; exiled by Philip for his role in testing the king’s loyalty to his son, Alexander.
Hecataeus Historian who believed Uranus, Cronus, and Zeus were ancient rulers who came to be worshipped as gods as a way to honor their roles as generous benefactors to their subjects.
Hephaestion Childhood friend of Alexander; general in Alexander’s army; escort to the narrator.
Heraclides Scholar at Plato’s academy.
Heromenes Mathematician and scholar, who travels with Alexander’s army; author’s fictional character.
Hesiod Poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BCE, around the same time as Homer.
Hippodamus Greek architect, urban planner, physician, mathematician, meteorologist, and philosopher; considered the father of urban planning; namesake of Hippodamian plan of city layouts (grid plan).
Hisarlik
(Hissarlik)
Modern name for the generally agreed site of ancient Troy (also known as Ilion); located in modern-day Turkey.
Hittites Anatolian people who established an empire centered on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia.
Homer Author of the Iliad and the Odyssey; believed to have been the first and greatest of the epic poets in Ancient Greece.
Hydarnes General at the Battle of Thermopylae.
Hypaspists Elite infantry force of Alexander III’s army; carried the traditional panoply and weapons of the Greek hoplite—thorax or linothorax, greaves, the dory (spear), and xiphos (shortsword).
Hyperanthes Brother to Xerxes the Great; killed in Battle of Thermopylae.
Ictinos One of the architects of the Parthenon.
Iollas Son of Antipater, cup-bearer to Alexander III; may have poisoned Alexander to bring about his death
Iphicles Twin brother to Heracles; son of Amphitryon and Alcmene.
Ismarus Son of Eumolpos; married to daughter of King Tegyrius.
Jason, Tyrant of Pherae Ruler of Thessaly during the period just before King Philip II of Macedon came to power.
Kallisthenes Official court historian of Alexander III’s reign.
Karademas General who implied to Darius III as a Greek, he was a better general than any Persian and should lead the army and made derogatory comments about Persian culture; Darius ordered him executed, but realized he had just executed the only competent general; Darius took Karademas’ army and left Babylon to intercept Alexander.
Lacedaemonians Inhabitants of Sparta or Lacedaemon.
Laomedon Childhood friend of Alexander III; admiral during the Persian campaign,
Lasthenia of Mantinea Woman who studied at Plato’s academy.
Leochares Athenian sculptor.
Leodamas of Thasos Mathematician; lecturer at Plato’s academy.
Leonidas I Greek warrior-king of Sparta; led forces during the Second Persian War; remembered for his death at the Battle of Thermopylae; third son of Anaxandridas II of Sparta; descended from the demigod Heracles.
Locrians Ancient Greek tribe inhabiting the region of Locris in Central Greece, around Parnassus.
Lycomedes Also known as Lycurgus; king of Dolopians on island of Scyros near Euboea; father of a number of daughters including Deidameia; grandfather of Pyrrhus or Neoptolemus.
Lykourgos Priest-King of Nemea; father of Opheltes.
Lysander Spartan admiral who commanded Spartan fleet in the Hellespont, which defeated the Athenians at Aegospotami in 405 BCE; forced the Athenians to capitulate, bringing end to Peloponnesian War; organized the dominion of Sparta over Greece in the last decade of his life; was worshipped as a god during his lifetime.
Macedonians Inhabitants of Macedon.
Magadha Empire One of the sixteen mahajanapadas of ancient India; core of the kingdom was the area of Bihar south of the Ganges.
Medes Ancient Iranian people who lived in an area known as Media (in modern-day northwestern Iran).
Medius of Larissa Son of Oxythemis; native of Larissa in Thessaly; friend of Alexander III; commanded a trireme during the descent of the Indus river; Alexander supped just before his last illness.
Melqart Tutelary god of the Phoenician city of Tyre; considered to be the ancestor of the Tyrian royal family; identified with Heracles and referred to as the Tyrian Herakles.
Memnon General from Rhodes sent by King Darius III to surge against Macedonian troops in Ionia.
Menander Greek dramatist (writer of dramas); best-known representative of Athenian New Comedy; author of more than a hundred comedies.
Menidas High commander in the army of Alexander III.
Menoetius Alexander III’s sailing master; husband to Polymele; father to Patroclus, Achilles’ dearest friend.
Meroes Friend of King Porus who Alexander enlisted to deliver a message requesting submission.
Mothakes Citizens of other places who have been raised as Spartans.
Nabataean Arabic people who inhabited northern Arabia and the Southern Levant; settlements included the assumed capital city of Petra; gave the name of Nabatene to the borderland between Arabia and Syria, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea.
Nearchus Childhood friend of Alexander III; exiled by Philip for his role in testing the king’s loyalty to his son, Alexander.
Neoclides Companion to Plato; lecturer at Plato’s academy.
Neoptolemus I Greek king of Epirus; son to Alcetas I; father to Troas, Alexander I of Epirus, and Queen Olympias; maternal grandfather to Alexander III.
Odyssey Ancient Greek epic poem attributed to Homer; in part, a sequel to the Iliad.
Oenomaus King of Pisa.
Olympias Mother to Alexander III.
Onomarchus One of two generals who led Phocis in the Battle of Crocus Field and the Battle of Thermopylae.
Opheltes Son of Priest-King Lykourgos of Nemea and his queen, Eurydike.
Ops Philosopher traveling with Alexander’s army; author’s fictional character.
oracle A priestess or priest who conveys the god’s messages; a place where priests or priestesses live; a prophecy issued by a priest or priestess.
Orontobates Persian married to daughter of Pixodarus, the usurping satrap of Caria; sent by the king of Persia to succeed him; upon approach of Alexander III, he and Memnon of Rhodes entrenched at Halicarnassus.
Oxyartes Bactrian; father of Roxana, the wife of Alexander of Macedon; one of the chiefs who accompanied Bessus on his retreat across the Oxus river into Sogdiana.
Pammenes Guardian of Philip while he was being held hostage in Thebes.
Parmenion King Philip II’s second in command; defeated Illyrians on day of Alexander III’s birth; became Alexander’s second in command; father of Philotas, Alexander’s commander of the Companion Cavalry; all entered Persia.
Parysatis Illegitimate daughter of Artaxerxes I, Emperor of Persia and Andia of Babylon; half-sister of Xerxes II, Sogdianus, and Darius II.
Pausanias Assassinator and captain of Philip II’s bodyguards.
Peithon
(Pithon)
Son of Crateuas, a nobleman from Eordaia in western Macedonia; of Illyrian origin; known as one of the bodyguards of Alexander III; became satrap of Media; claimed to be one of the Diadochi.
Pelasgians Used by some ancient Greek writers to refer to populations that either were the ancestors of the Greeks or preceded the Greeks.
Pelopidas Advocate of the Sacred Band of Thebes; Philip II is thought to have been his eromenos; translated as beloved.
Penelope Wife to Eumaeus.
Perdiccas One of Alexander III’s generals.
Perdiccas III Brother of Philip II.
perioikoi Freedmen living in Sparta.
Pharmuches Commander in Alexander III’s army; wiped out by Spitamenes.
Pharnabazus Persian commander in the Aegean who faced the Macedonians.
Pheidias Sculptor of the statue of Zeus.
Philemon Athenian poet and playwright of the New Comedy; born either at Soli in Cilicia or at Syracuse in Sicily, moved to Athens some time before 330 BCE, when he is known to have been producing plays.
Philip Arrhidaeus Alexander III’s half-brother.
Philip II King of Macedon; father to Alexander III (Alexander the Great).
Philip of Opus Scholar at Plato’s academy.
Philomelus One of two generals who led Phocis in the Battle of Crocus Field and the Battle of Thermopylae.
Philotas Macedonian general serving under Philip II and Alexander III.
Phocian League A mixed race of Aeolians and Achaeans who laid claim to partial management of the temple at Delphi and its treasures.
Phocians Residents of Phocis.
Phocion Nicknamed, The Good; an Athenian statesman and strategos; subject of one of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives.
Phoenix Theban general, who along with Prothytes, led insurrection against Alexander.
Phrasaortes General appointed by Alexander III general to succeed Ariobarzanes.
Pixodarus Persian satrap of Caria; daughter married Alexander’s half-brother, Philip Arrhidaeus.
Plato Philosopher and mathematician in Classical Greece; essential figure in the development of philosophy; founded the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world; along with his teacher Socrates and his most famous student, Aristotle, Plato laid the foundations of Western philosophy and science.
Pluratus King of the Ardiaioi (Ardiaei) who fought Philip II in a battle that left Philip wounded in the lower-right leg.
Porus wiz Puru
(Poros)
King of Pauravas, territory spanning the region between the Hydaspes (Jhelum) and Acesines (Chenab) rivers in modern-day Punjab, Pakistan; famously fought and lost to Alexander III in Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BCE; impressed by his adversary Alexander not only reinstated him as satrap of his own kingdom, but also granted him dominion over lands to the north extending until the Hyphasis; was assassinated by one of Alexander’s generals, Eudemus, sometime between 321 and 315 BCE.
Prodicus Greek philosopher; part of the first generation of Sophists; came to Athens as ambassador from Ceos; became known as a speaker and a teacher; Plato treated him with greater respect than other sophists.
Prothytes Theban general who, along with Phoenix, led insurrection against Alexander.
Ptolemy Childhood friend and Macedonian general under Alexander III; became ruler of Egypt and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty; exiled by Philip for his role in testing the king’s loyalty to his son, Alexander.
Ptolemy II King of Ptolemaic Egypt from 283 BCE to 246 BCE; son of the founder of the Ptolemaic kingdom, Ptolemy I Soter and Berenice; educated by Philitas of Cos.
Pythia Apollo’s oracle at Delphi.
Queen Sisygambis Queen of Issus who mistook Hephaestion as king.
satrap Provincial governor in Persian empire.
scholarch Head of a school in ancient Greece; especially remembered for its use to mean the heads of schools of philosophy, such as the Platonic Academy.
Seleucus (I Nicator) One of the Diadochi; served as an infantry general under Alexander III; eventually assumed title of basileus and established Seleucid Empire over much of the territory in the Near East, which Alexander had conquered.
Socrates Classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher credited as one of the founders of western philosophy; enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes.
Somatophylakes Alexander III’s personal bodyguards.
Spartiates Citizens of Sparta who enjoy full rights; Males of Sparta known to the Spartans as peers or men of equal status.
Speusippus Scholar at Plato’s academy; nephew of Plato.
Spitamenes Sogdian warlord; leader of the uprising in Sogdiana and Bactria against Alexander III in 329 BCE.
Spithridates Satrap of Lydia and Ionia under the High King Darius III Codomannus; Persian commander at Battle of the Granicus.
Stasicrates
(Dinocrates of Rhodes)
Greek architect and technical adviser for Alexander III; known for city plan of Alexandria, monumental funeral pyre for Hephaestion, and reconstruction of Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, among others.
Taulanti Cluster of Illyrian tribes; Taulas, one of the six sons of Illyrius, was the eponymous ancestor of the Taulanti.
Theaetetus of Sunium Mathematician; lecturer at Plato’s academy.
Thersander One of the Epigoni, who attacked Thebes in retaliation for deaths of their fathers, the Seven Against Thebes, who had attempted the same thing; son of Polynices and Argea.
Thesprotians Ancient Greek tribe of Thesprotis, Epirus, akin to the Molossians; Homer frequently mentions Thesprotia, which had friendly relations with Ithaca and Doulichi.
Thessalus Corinthian actor Alexander engaged to test Philip II’s loyalty.
Timotheus of Miletus A Greek musician and dithyrambic poet; exponent of the new music; added one or more strings to the lyre, whereby he incurred the displeasure of the Spartans and Athenians.
Triballi Ancient tribe of the plains of modern, southern Serbia and western Bulgaria.
Tyndarids People of Tyndaridae.
Tyrians People of Tyre.
Uxians Tribe of Uxian; fought Alexander III in Battle of Uxian Defile; battle raged on mountain range between key Persian cities of Susa and Persepolis, the ancient capital of the Persian Empire that held symbolic value among the native Persian population, who believed if the city were to fall into enemy hands, then, in effect, the whole Persian Empire would fall into the hands of the enemy.
Xenocrates Scholar at Plato’s academy.
Xerxes Also known as Xerxes the Great; ruled from 486 BCE until his murder in 465 BCE; commander of the royal bodyguard; invaded Greece in 480 BCE.
Zethus Strategist traveling with Alexander’s army; author’s fictional character.
Zeuxis Artist who lived in Pella and painted the palace’s halls.