Macedonian names and makeDonski pseudo-linguistics: The case of the name Milon

Macedonian names and makeDonski pseudo-linguistics: The case of the name Milon

Miltiades Elia Bolaris
September 22, 2009

Balkan Illusion - phantasia archaica:"...it is very interesting to note that many of the authentic ancient Macedonian words, according to their etymology and pronunciation, have a striking resemblance to the appropriate words used in the modern Macedonian language (and other so called "Slav"[sic] languages)." "Milo.

This name was mentioned by Plutarch as a name of a Macedonian military leader in the Macedonian-Roman conflicts. This name exists to the present day in the Macedonian onomasticon. It has an obvious identification with the present day Macedonian adjective "milo" (dear), from which a number of names are (Milosh, Milko, Milka)."

Quotes taken from: "Similarities between ancient Macedonian and today's' Macedonian Culture (Linguistics and Onomastics)" by Aleksandar Donski, celebrity propagandist and folk "historian" from FYROM.

Milon / Μίλων

For every Leonidas, who sacrifices himself at the pass of last stand in Thermopylae, history gives us also a traitor, an Ephialtes, who gives in and betrays everything and capitulates to the enemy.

For every Alexander, who is tireless, intelligent, fearless and invincible, history gives us a lazy, stupid, coward of a loser like Milon of Berroia / Μίλων ο Βερροιαίος, who "αἴσχιστα φεύγοντος ἄνευ τῶν ὅπλων μονοχίτωνος / fled shamefully without his armor, wearing only his chiton", at the skirmishes at the mountain passes of Πιερία/Pieria, before the main battle of Πύδνα/Pydna (168 BC), as Plutarch tells us:16]

Ὁ μὲν οὖν Νασικᾶς ἐνταῦθα διενυκτέρευσε· τῷ δὲ Περσεῖ, τὸν Αἰμίλιον ἀτρεμοῦντα κατὰ χώραν ὁρῶντι καὶ μὴ λογιζομένῳ τὸ γινόμενον, ἀποδρὰς ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ Κρὴς αὐτόμολος ἧκε μηνύων τὴν περίοδον τῶν Ῥωμαίων. ὁ δὲ συνταραχθείς, τὸ μὲν στρατόπεδον οὐκ ἐκίνησε, μυρίους δὲ μισθοφόρους ξένους καὶ δισχιλίους Μακεδόνας Μίλωνι παραδοὺς ἐξαπέστειλε, παρακελευσάμενος ταχῦναι καὶ καταλαβεῖν τὰς ὑπερβολάς. τούτοις ὁ μὲν Πολύβιός φησιν ἔτι κοιμωμένοις ἐπιπεσεῖν τοὺς Ῥωμαίους, ὁ δὲ Νασικᾶς ὀξὺν ἀγῶνα περὶ τοῖς ἄκροις γενέσθαι καὶ κίνδυνον, αὐτὸς δὲ Θρᾷκα μισθοφόρον εἰς χεῖρας συνδραμόντα τῷ ξυστῷ διὰ τοῦ στήθους πατάξας καταβαλεῖν, ἐκβιασθέντων δὲ τῶν πολεμίων, καὶ τοῦ Μίλωνος αἴσχιστα φεύγοντος ἄνευ τῶν ὅπλων μονοχίτωνος, ἀσφαλῶς ἀκολουθεῖν ἅμα καταβιβάζων εἰς τὴν χώραν τὸ στράτευμα Πλουταρχου

Βιοι Παραλληλοι, Αιμιλιος Παυλος

16] So here it was that Nasikas passed the night. A Cretan deserter, who fled the Roman camp during the march, discovered to Perseus the design which the Romans had to encompass him: for he, seeing that Aemilius lay still, had not suspected any such attempt. He was startled at the news, yet did not put his army in motion, but sent ten thousand mercenary soldiers, and two thousand Macedonians, under command of Milo, with order to hasten and possess themselves of the passes. Polybius relates that the Romans found these men asleep when they attacked them; but Nasica says there was a sharp and severe conflict on the top of the mountain, that he himself encountered a Thracian mercenary, pierced him through with his javelin, and slew him; and that the enemy being forced to retreat, Milo stripped to his coat and fled shamefully without his armor, while he followed without danger, and conveyed the whole army down into the country.

Plutarch , Parallel lives, Aemilius Paulus

(Trans. by John Dryden)About a century before the battle of Pydna, another Milon, an Epirotan this time, not a Macedonian, had made his appearance onj the other side of the Ionian Sea, in Italy.

He was Milon/Μίλων, one of Pyrrhus'/Πύρρος generals.

He had been left back in Taras/Τάρας/Tarentum, along with his son Helenos/'Ελενος, as a real guard against the Romans, until Pyrrhos had a chance to return. Pyrrhus intended to go back to Italy, and attack Rome from a position of strength, having first secured control over the rest of Greece. His early death in Argos put an end to those plans and we never hear of Milon of Epeiros in Taras again.The name Milon/Μίλων as shown above is not only Macedonian but an Epirotan name too: We have an inscription from Epirus corroborating the historical documentation, an epigraphic proof that the name Milon was fairly commonplace in Epirus:Cabanes, L'Épire 547,17 Epeiros, Illyria, and Dalmatia :

Epeiros

τὸ κοινὸν τῶν Ἠπειρωτῶν Μίλωνα Σωσάνδρου Θεσπρωτὸν ἀρετῆς

the common of the Epirotansto Milon son of Sosandrosa Thesprotan due to (his) virtueWhile we know the name to have been both Macedonian and Epirotan, searching further from Macedonia and Epiros we discover that it was also to be found elsewhere:

In lower Moesia, where is now Bulgaria, we encounter this inscription from the Roman Times:

IGBulg V 5807T

hrace and Moesia Inferior

Ἀσκληπιῶι Πό(πλιος) ∙ Καλπούρ(νιος) ∙

Μίλων ἀνέθηκεν.

To Asclepios Poplios Kalpournios Milonmade this offering.A funerary inscription from the Greek city of Byzantion (later Constantinople, now Istanbul), in Thrace, gives us some tender details of the life of a young man, Zotychos, son of Milon.IK Byzantion 268Thrace and Moesia Inferior

ἐξῆλθον τοῦ βίου Ζώτιχος Μίλωνος ζήσας ἔτη ∙ κεʹ ∙ μῆ(νας) ∙ ι∙αʹ ∙οἱ γονεῖς Μίλων καὶ Εἶα τὸ σῆμα ἐθέμε μνάμας χάρ-

Zotychos son of Milon,exited this life, having lived 24 years and 11 months.

The parents, Milon and Eia,erected this tombstone in memory's graceBroadening our search we soon come to find out that Milon was not a name confined only to Northern Greece. The most famous man called Milon in Antiquity was a man who lived in Southern Italy. He was was Milon of Croton (the Crotoniates)/Μιλων ο Κροτωνιατης, the renowned athlete. He was neither a Macedonian nor an Epeirotan, but a South Italian Greek. He lived in the 6th century BC, in the Doric Greek city state of Croton / Κροτων in Southern Italy (modern Italian Crotone, in Calabria).

In 510 BC he led the Crotonian army to victory against the city of the neighboring Greek city state of Sybaris/Σύβαρις.

Milon was legendary for his strength and loved to be equated to Heracles, taking his likeness as far as to walk around with a Heracleian club. He was a powerful wrestler who broke all records in all thirty two Pan-Hellenic national games that he participated in. He won continuously in six Olympic and seven Pythian (Delphic) Games.

Milon, according to legend, died a horrible death, trying to split a tree with his bare hands. The wedge fell out and his fingers were trapped in. He was eaten either by wolves or a lion, and this is how sculptors and painters immortalized him, as the example of the sculpture in the beginning of this article shows.

Milon/Μίλων, therefore, seems to be a Greek name that occurred throughout the ancient Hellenic world, twelve hundred years before the South Slavs made their appearance in the lower Balkans: we will mention a few select inscriptions, from different areas. The first is from Arcadia, in the middle of Peloponnese, where the Greek names

Kleonymos/Κλεώνυμος,

Aristolaos/ Ἀριστόλαος,

Milon / Μίλων and Apelichos / Ἀπέλιχος are mentioned.

IPArk 24 Arkadia (IG V,2) ρότερον ἢ Κλεώνυμος/Kleonymos τὰν πρωρὰν ἐξάγαγε τὰν Ἀριστολάω/of Aristolaosκαὶ τὸς πειρατὰς ἐξέβαλε. {²(§2)}² τὰς δὲ καδίκας τὰς ὦφλε Μίλων/Milonκαὶ Ἀπέλιχος/Apelichos ταῖ πόλι τῶ̣ σίτω ἀφεῶσθαι, καὶ τὰς λιποδαμ[ί]-

There are several inscriptions from Athens, which mentions a man from the nearby island of Salamis:IG II² 10203AtticaΜίλωνΣαλαμίνιος.

Milon the SalaminianThen another inscription, also from Athens, mentioning one, Milon son of Milon, Ionides (from Ionia):IG II² 1939AtticaΜενίσκος Μενάνδρου

Ὀτρυνεύς Μίλων Μίλωνος Ἰωνίδης / Milon son of Milon, Ionides․․#ων Διοφάντου — Milon's name appears also in its feminine form as Milonia/Μιλωνία, a female who is actually a Milesia (a woman from Miletos), a Greek city in Caria:Agora 17 605AtticaΣε]κόνδα /Seconda․․]λωνία {²[Μι]λωνία?}/MiloniaΜι]λη[σί]α / Milesia At the Athenian agora an article was found by archaeologists that belonged to a man called Milon:Agora 21 F 56AtticaΜίλωνός εἰμιI belong to MilonFar from Northern Greece, not related to Macedonia, is the Dorian island of Rhodos, in the Dodecanese, where many inscriptions survive with the same Milon:Tit. Cam. 91bRhodes and S. Dodecanese (

IG XII,1) :

Rhodos

Κλειναγόρας ΜίλωνοςΜίλων καὶ̣ Χαιριάδας καὶΔαμώνασσα τὸν πατέρα

Kleinagoras son of MilonMilon and Chairiadas andDamonassa to their fatherIn Rhodos again, we find a Peloponnesian man called Milon:IG XII,1 408 Rhodes and S. Dodecanese

(IG XII,1) : Rhodos

Μίλων Γορτύνιος.

Milon the Gortynian (a city in Arcadia, in central Peloponnese).

Inside Asia Minor we find numerous inscriptions with people named Milon. The first one if from Lydia:TAM V,1 106, Lydia: SaittaiΣτρατονείκην καὶ οἱ ἀδελ-φοὶ Γλύκων καὶ Μίλων τὴνἀδελφὴν μνήμης χάριν καὶto Stratonike and the brothersGlykon and Milon to theirsister in memory's grace Further south, in the Greek city of Didyma in Ionia, we find an inscription on a sanctuary building which was built, as we are told, during the chairmanship of Milon, the son of Diotimos:Didyma 109, Ioniaταμιευόντων δὲ καὶ παρεδρευόντ[ων]ἐν τῶι ἱερῶι Χαριδήμου τοῦ Ἀθηναίου, Μίλωνος τοῦ Διοτίμου, ἀρχιτεκτονοῦντος Μαια[νδρ]ίου τοῦ Θράσωνος ¹[¹{ἀπολογισμὸς}]¹while treasurer and chairmanat the sanctuary were Charidemos the Athenian and Mi-lon son of Diotimos, and architect was Maiandrios, son of Thrason ¹[¹{the furnishing of the book-keeping accounting}]¹In the Carian city of Aphrodisias, in southwestern Asia Minor, among many other inscriptions with the name Milon we find:Aphrodisias 324, Caria : Aphrodisias

Μίλων τρὶςτοῦ Ἑρμίουτοῦ Μίλωνος.ἡ βουλὴ καὶ ὁ δῆμος ἐτείμησεν

the senate and the municipality honoredMilon, Hermion's son who was Milon's son,thriceIn Phrygia, in central Asia Minor, y today's Turkish capital of Ancara, we find a dedication to yet another man called Milon:Haspels, Highlands of Phrygia 352,140, Phrygiaλλος

κὲ Μειλ-

ησία Μίλωνι.

llos and Meil

esia to Milon

Back across the Aegean in the city of Eretria on the island of Euboea we read the simple inscription:IG XII,9 428, Euboia (IG XII,9) : Eretria

Μίλων

MilonThen, in the Egyptian city of Abydos we read in Greek on a partially preserved wall graffiti:

Graffites d'Abydos 588,

Egypt and Nubia

Μίλων υἱὸς

Ὀρθομένη τὸ

Milon son of Orthomenes the Finally, going back to Italy, where Milon the Crotoniates was from,we find this funerary inscription:

See more in: American Chronicle


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