Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
The Classical Greek historians Herodotus and Thucydides reported the legend that the Macedonian kings of the Argead dynasty were descendants of Temenus, king of Argos, and could therefore claim the mythical Heracles as one of their ancestors as well as a direct lineage from Zeus, chief god of the Greek pantheon. Contradictory legends state that either Perdiccas I of Macedon or Caranus of Macedon were the founders of the Argead dynasty, with either five or eight kings before AmyntasI. The assertion that the Argeads descended from Temenus was accepted by the "Hellanodikai" authorities of the Ancient Olympic Games, permitting Alexander I of Macedon () to enter the competitions owing to his perceived Greek heritage. Little is known about the kingdom before the reign of AlexanderI's father Amyntas I of Macedon () during the Archaic period.
Cave of Zeus, Aydın
According to Ancient Greek mythology, Zeus, the Olympian ruler of the skies, used to hide in the cave to escape the fury of his brother Poseidon, the ruler of the seas after Zeus angered him. Poseidon, in his wrath, would unleash very high waves and other dangerous water conditions with his trident. As a popular habit, visitors tie a cloth piece on a wishing tree next to the cave's mouth in the hope that their wish comes true.