The Mythology of Power in Antigonos II Gonatas’ Propaganda

Abstract

The death of the Macedon king Demetrios Poliorketes in 283 B.C. brought about a period of political turmoil in Greece. However, Demetrios’ successor, Antigonos Gonatas, was able to stabilize the situation in Macedonia and lay the foundations for a balanced government using a program of meticulous political propaganda that was based extensively on mythological references. This paper aims to demonstrate that Antigonos aligned himself closely with the Macedonian tradition of the Argead dynasty, sponsoring the cults of Herakles and Asklepios. In addition, I argue that Antigonos also sought to establish an original political identity by promoting the god Pan, thus diverging from the previous choices of the Diadochi (who included Ptolemy in Egypt and Lysimachos in Thrace).