The Macedonian, the ancestor of the Macedonians, and his brother Magnes lived in the land "around Olympus and Pieria." They were the children of Zeus and Thia, daughter of the king of Thessaly, Deucalion, as Homer writes around 700 BC.

A papyrus from the 1st century AD with genealogies adds that this Deucalion was the one who built at Dion in Macedonia, after the great flood of antiquity, one of the first altars of Olympian Zeus. Dion is a charming place in Pieria, where the eastern foothills of Olympus fade away and hundreds of springs with crystal-clear water emerge.

There also started the Vafyras, the ancient river, in whose crystal-clear waters the Nymphs bathed. Towering oaks and abundant waters were the divine signs for the worship of Olympian Zeus, who made his presence felt here with his lightning and the Muses who delighted in the lush nature and the shade of the trees.

The festivals for Zeus and the Muses during the reign of the active king Archelaus (413-399 BC) gained particular splendor. They lasted nine whole days, as many as the Muses, and gained great fame as the Olympic games of Macedonia.

[Excerpt from the introduction of the edition]