The myths concerning the origins of the Macedonians were known not only in Macedonia but were current in southern Greece from very early on.
Thus Hesiod already knew that Makedon, the mythical progenitor of the race, was descended from Zeus through Deukalion who fathered Hellen and Thyia by his wife, Pyrrha. Hellen fathered Aiolos, Doros and Xanthos, mythical progenitors of the Aiolians, Dorians and Ionians respectively, and Thyia bore Makedon and Magnes, forefathers of the Macedonians and Magnesians respectively.
According to Hellanikos, an historian of the 5th century BC who lived in Macedonia and possibly recorded local traditions, Makedon was son of Aiolos (not Thyia), and thus a direct descendant of Hellen; this version of the myth emphasized the close relations of the Macedonians with the Aiolian peoples of Thessaly.
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