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An Ancient Ghost Story: Philinnion & Machates

Ghost stories have existed for thousands of years, often in similar forms and frequently dealing with the same themes, in many of the most ancient cultures. The writer H.P. Lovecraft once wrote, "As may naturally be expected of a form so closely connected with primal emotion, the horror-tale is as old as human thought and speech themselves." The human desire to defeat death, to live forever, found expression through stories of those who seemingly had done so by returning from the grave.

Still, to the ancients, these tales were not some kind of psychological expression of a basic human desire but illustrated the reality of the human condition. Those who had died could come back to the land of the living if the gods who ruled the underworld gave them special permission under the right circumstances.

The Tale of Philinnion & Machates

One of the oldest of these stories in the west is the tale of Philinnion and Machates from ancient Rome as told by Phlegon of Tralles (2nd century CE) and later by Proclus (5th century CE). The story is reported to have taken place during the reign of Philip II of Macedon (359-336 BCE). In this tale, the maiden Philinnion is the daughter of Demostratos and Kharito of Amphipolis. She is married to a general in Alexander's army named Craterus and dies six months after the wedding. She then appears, in bodily form, in the home of her parents where she "consorts" for three nights with a young man named Machates who was a guest there.

When she is finally seen by another member of the household and her parents discover her, she claims that what she has done was approved of by the will of the gods of the underworld and her parents should not have interfered with her; having given her explanation, she then dies a second time. Her parents, thinking that perhaps this woman is simply an imposter who looks exactly like their dead daughter, order her tomb opened and find her body missing. Further, the trinkets she gave to Machates during their time together are identical to those which were buried with her and which, of course, are also missing from the tomb, while the gifts he had given to her during their nights together are found there. The conclusion is that, somehow, Philinnion came back to life for purposes which are never specified.