According to John Haywood's "Atlas of World History":
"Macedonia, a country considered by Greeks as a kingdom of barbarians, was inhabited by Illyrians, Thracians and greek Dorians".
There is no agreement as to what was Ancient Macedonian language like. By some scholars considered as similar to Dorian greek dialect, by others as similar to Aeolian greek dialect, by some as a separate dialect of Greek, and by some others as a language distinct from Greek, even if related.
Another interesting fact is that when in 460 BC king Alexander I of Macedonia wanted to take part in Olympic games, he was initially not allowed to do so: ''ΟΥ ΒΑΡΒΑΡΩΝ ΑΓΩΝΙΣΤΕΟΝ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΤΟΝ ΑΓΩΝΑ, ΑΛΛΑ ΕΛΛΗΝΩΝ'' (in English: "no barbarians can contest the games but [only] Hellenes").
Only later, when he invented a story that his dynasty originated from kings of the Greek city of Argos, they allowed him to participate.
He was also called Philhellene, meaning friend of the Greeks, very good indicator that his origin wasn't Greek but he was someone who admired Greeks so much that he accepted their culture and became Hellene himself.
Also if we go by racial means and analyse the busts of the Macedonians, we will see that they were quite different than the Greeks.
This is the bust of Alexander the Great made by the Greek sculptor Lysippus:
Although a Roman copy, it is regarded as the most accurate description of Alexander...
As we can see, he doesn't look like typical Greek at all, with that big and slightly concave nose and with his heavy Dinaric features...
The Greeks make jokes for people having similar appearance like Alexander calling them "Flatheads".
What people need to realize is that being Greek by origin and being Hellene by culture is not the same...
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