Blood Pollution and Macedonian Rulers: Narratives between Character and Belief

Evidence on polluted murderers from the Hellenistic period is scantier in comparison with the classical era. There are elements of continuity in the representation of the religious dimension of homicide, while, at the same time, it is also possible to identify in the mentalities features of innovation. This chapter tries to substantiate these claims by bringing into focus two stories in which the problem of blood pollution seem to still play a role. The examples here discussed are taken one from the very beginning of the rise of Macedonian power over the Greek world, and the second from the other end of the temporal spectrum, when Rome starts affirming her influence in the East. Alexander the Great and Perseus of Macedon are the figures under scrutiny. The belief in blood pollution seems not to have simply died away. Rather, the concept was subject to negotiation.