Philip II and Alexander the Great: Father and Son ... - Historia Antigua

10 FATHER, SON, AND COURT
efforts to ally with Pixodarus to clear the way for uncontested entry
into Anatolia. There may have been more. Philip’s response to
Alexander’s actions (after Alexander returned to Pella) included
sending orders to Corinth to have Thessalus, Alexander’s diplomatic
agent, arrested and sent to Macedonia in chains). Two questions
arise. What was Thessalus doing in Corinth and how did
Philip know where he was? To answer the latter fi rst, we may note
that, according to Plutarch ( Alex. 9.6), Alexander’s and Philip’s reconciliation
was initiated by Demaratus of Corinth, who warned
Philip about stasis in the royal house.
Meanwhile, Demaratus the Corinthian, who was a guest-friend
of the [Argead] house and a man of frank speech, came to Philip.
After the fi rst greetings and welcomes were over, Philip asked
him how the Greeks were agreeing with one another, and Demaratus
replied: “It is surely very fi tting, Philip, that you should be
concerned about Greece, when you have fi lled your own house
with such great stasis and evils.” Thus brought to his senses,
Philip sent and fetched Alexander home, having persuaded him
to come through the agency of Demaratus. 23
Plutarch places this after his report of Alexander’s fl ight following
the fracas at Philip and Cleopatra’s wedding and before his narrative of
the Pixodarus affair, seeming to indicate that Demaratus’ intervention
and Alexander’s return occurred before Philip or at least Alexander
got involved with Pixodarus. However, if we are correct in placing
Philip and Alexander’s dealings with Pixodarus during Alexander’s
self-exile or, to put it another way, before Alexander’s return to Pella,
then Demaratus’ meeting with Philip and his subsequent accomplishment
of Alexander’s return must come after Alexander, via Thessalus,
proposed himself as bridegroom for Pixodarus’ daughter. Knowing
that Thessalus was in Corinth following his visit to Caria, we may
plausibly conjecture that Demaratus, coming from Corinth to Pella,
brought Philip the news of Thessalus’ whereabouts. We may further
conjecture that Demaratus had learned of Alexander’s and Thessalus’
activities from Thessalus himself at Corinth. Returning from Caria,
Thessalus may have stopped at Corinth and then waited there for a
response by Pixodarus, who, given his confusion, had probably not
responded immediately to Alexander. With Alexander in Illyria, there
was no reason for Thessalus to travel to Macedonia. Conceivably,
Demaratus learned or suspected that Thessalus had additional diplomatic
tasks in Greece aimed at gaining Greek support for Alexander.
While Thessalus tarried at Corinth, Demaratus may have hastened to