Olympias
Encyclopedia
Olympias was a Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 princess of Epirus
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...

, daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus
Neoptolemus I of Epirus
Neoptolemus I of Epirus was a king of Epirus and son of Alcetas I, and father of Alexander I of Epirus and Queen Olympias. He was a maternal grandfather of Alexander the Great...

, the fourth wife of the king of Macedonia, Philip II
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...

, and mother of Alexander the Great. She was a devout member of the orgiastic
Orgy
In modern usage, an orgy is a sex party where guests engage in promiscuous or multifarious sexual activity or group sex. An orgy is similar to debauchery, which refers to excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures....

 snake-worshiping cult
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

 of Dionysus
Dionysus
Dionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...

, and it is suggested by the biographer, Plutarch, that she may have slept with snakes.

Origin

Olympias was the daughter of Neoptolemus I
Neoptolemus I of Epirus
Neoptolemus I of Epirus was a king of Epirus and son of Alcetas I, and father of Alexander I of Epirus and Queen Olympias. He was a maternal grandfather of Alexander the Great...

, king of the Molossians
Molossians
The Molossians were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Epirus since the Mycenaean era. On their northeast frontier they had the Chaonians and to their southern frontier the kingdom of the Thesprotians, to their north were the Illyrians. The Molossians were part of the League of...

, a principal Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 tribe in Epirus
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...

, and sister of Alexander I
Alexander I of Epirus
Alexander I of Epirus , also known as Alexander Molossus , was a king of Epirus of the Aeacid dynasty. As the son of Neoptolemus I and brother of Olympias, he was an uncle of Alexander the Great...

. Her family was member of the Aeacidae
Aeacidae
Aeacidae refers to the descendants of Aeacus, most notably Peleus, son of Aeacus, and Achilles, grandson of Aeacus. Neoptolemus was the son of Achilles and the princess Deidamea. The kings of Epirus and Olympias, mother to Alexander the Great, claimed to be members of this lineage.Aeacus of Greek...

, a well-respected family of ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

, which claimed descent from Neoptolemus
Neoptolemus
Neoptolemus was the son of the warrior Achilles and the princess Deidamia in Greek mythology. Achilles' mother foretold many years before Achilles' birth that there would be a great war. She saw that her only son was to die if he fought in the war...

, son of Achilles
Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles was a Greek hero of the Trojan War, the central character and the greatest warrior of Homer's Iliad.Plato named Achilles the handsomest of the heroes assembled against Troy....

. Apparently, she was originally named Polyxena, as Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

 mentions in his work Moralia
Moralia
The Moralia of the 1st-century Greek scholar Plutarch of Chaeronea is an eclectic collection of 78 essays and transcribed speeches. They give an insight into Roman and Greek life, but often are also fascinating timeless observations in their own right...

, and changed her name to Myrtale prior to her marriage to Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...

, as part of her initiation to an unknown mystery cult. The name Olympias was the third of four names by which she was known, taking it probably as a recognition of Philip's victory in the Olympic Games of 356 BC
356 BC
Year 356 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ambustus and Laenas...

, which coincided with Alexander's birth. She was finally named Stratonice, which was likely an epithet attached to Olympias following her victory over Eurydice
Eurydice II of Macedon
Eurydice was an ancient Macedonian queen, wife of king Amyntas III of Macedon.She was the daughter of Sirras, an Illyrian noble based in Lyncestis, Upper Macedonia...

 in 317 BC
317 BC
Year 317 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Brutus and Barbula...

.

Marriage to Philip

When Neoptolemus I
Neoptolemus I of Epirus
Neoptolemus I of Epirus was a king of Epirus and son of Alcetas I, and father of Alexander I of Epirus and Queen Olympias. He was a maternal grandfather of Alexander the Great...

 died in 360 BC
360 BC
Year 360 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ambustus and Visolus...

, his brother Arymbas
Arymbas
Arybbas was king of the Molossians. He was son of Alcetas and brother of Neoptolemus and grandfather of Pyrrhus. He married Troas . In ca. 360 BC, against an Illyrian attack, Arybbas evacuated his non-combatant population to Aetolia and let the Illyrians loot freely...

 succeeded him on the Molossian throne. In 358 BC
358 BC
Year 358 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ambustus and Proculus...

, Arymbas made a treaty with the new king of Macedonia, Philip II
Philip II of Macedon
Philip II of Macedon "friend" + ἵππος "horse" — transliterated ; 382 – 336 BC), was a king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336 BC. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip III.-Biography:...

, and the Molossians
Molossians
The Molossians were an ancient Greek tribe that inhabited the region of Epirus since the Mycenaean era. On their northeast frontier they had the Chaonians and to their southern frontier the kingdom of the Thesprotians, to their north were the Illyrians. The Molossians were part of the League of...

 became allies of the Macedonians
Ancient Macedonians
The Macedonians originated from inhabitants of the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, in the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Axios...

. The alliance was cemented with a diplomatic marriage, when Arymbas' niece Olympias became Philip's wife in 357 BC
357 BC
Year 357 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rutilus and Imperiosus...

 and, consequently, queen consort
Queen consort
A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king. A queen consort usually shares her husband's rank and holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles. Historically, queens consort do not share the king regnant's political and military powers. Most queens in history were queens consort...

 of Macedonia. Philip had first fallen in love with Olympias when both were initiated into the mysteries of Cabeiri
Cabeiri
In Greek mythology, the Cabeiri, were a group of enigmatic chthonic deities. They were worshiped in a mystery cult closely associated with that of Hephaestus, centered in the north Aegean islands of Lemnos and possibly Samothrace —at the Samothrace temple complex— and at Thebes...

 at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods
Samothrace temple complex
The Samothrace Temple Complex, known as the Sanctuary of the Great Gods , Greek Hieron ton Megalon Theon , is one of the principal Pan-Hellenic religious sanctuaries, located on the island of Samothrace within the larger Thrace...

, on the island of Samothrace
Samothrace
Samothrace is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. It is a self-governing municipality within the Evros peripheral unit of Thrace. The island is long and is in size and has a population of 2,723 . Its main industries are fishing and tourism. Resources on the island includes granite and...

.

One year later, in 356 BC
356 BC
Year 356 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Ambustus and Laenas...

, Philip's race horse won in the Olympic Games; for this victory his wife, who was known then as Myrtale, received the name Olympias. In the summer of the same year, Olympias gave birth to her first child Alexander. In ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

 people believed that the birth of a great man was accompanied by portents. As Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

 describes, the night before the consummation of their marriage Olympias dreamed that a thunderbolt fell upon her womb and a great fire was kindled, its flames dispersed all about and then were extinguished. After the marriage Philip dreamed that he put a seal upon his wife's womb, the device of which was the figure of a lion. Aristander
Aristander
Aristander of Telmessos , a Greek from Caria, was Alexander the Great's favorite seer. Aristander was already in Philip's entourage in 357/6, when he correctly interpreted a dream as revealing Olympias' pregnancy. The ancient sources place him interpreting omens from the conqueror's birth to his...

's interpretation was that Olympias was pregnant of a son whose nature would be bold and lion-like. Philip and Olympias also had a daughter, Cleopatra.

Their marriage was very stormy, Philip's volatility and Olympias' jealous temper had led to a growing estrangement. Things got even worse in 337 BC
337 BC
Year 337 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Longus and Paetus...

, when Philip married to a noble Macedonian woman, Cleopatra
Cleopatra Eurydice of Macedon
Eurydice , born Cleopatra was a mid. 4th century BCE Macedonian noblewoman, niece of Attalus, and 5th wife of Philip II of Macedon.- Biography :...

, who was niece of Attalus
Attalus (general)
Attalus , important courtier of Macedonian king Philip II of Macedonia.In 339 BC, Attalus' niece Cleopatra Eurydice married king Philip II of Macedonia. In spring of 336 BC, Philip II appointed Attalus and Parmenion as commanders of the advance force that would invade the Persian Empire in Asia Minor...

 and after the marriage changed her name to Eurydice. This caused great tensions between Philip, Olympias and Alexander. Olympias went into voluntary exile in Epirus
Epirus
The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...

, staying at the Molossian court of her brother Alexander I
Alexander I of Epirus
Alexander I of Epirus , also known as Alexander Molossus , was a king of Epirus of the Aeacid dynasty. As the son of Neoptolemus I and brother of Olympias, he was an uncle of Alexander the Great...

 who was the king at the time, along with her son Alexander who sided with her. In 336 BC
336 BC
Year 336 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crassus and Duillius...

, Philip cemented his ties to Alexander I of Epirus by offering him the hand of his and Olympias' daughter Cleopatra in marriage, a fact that led Olympias to further isolation as she could no longer count on her brother's support. However, Philip was murdered by his somatophylax
Somatophylakes
Somatophylakes , in its literal English translation from Greek, means "bodyguards".The most famous body of somatophylakes were those of Philip of Macedon and Alexander the Great. They consisted of seven men, drawn from the Macedonian nobility, who also acted as high-ranking military officers,...

 Pausanias while attending the wedding and Olympias, who returned to Macedonia, was suspected of having countenanced his assassination.

Impact in politics

Olympias later ordered Eurydice and her child by Philip to be murdered, in order to secure Alexander's position as king of Macedonia. During Alexander's campaigns, she regularly corresponded with him and may have confirmed her son's claim in Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...

 that his father was not Philip but Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

. The relationship between Olympias and Alexander was cordial, but her son kept her away from politics. However, she wielded great influence in Macedonia and caused troubles to Antipater
Antipater
Antipater was a Macedonian general and a supporter of kings Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great. In 320 BC, he became Regent of all of Alexander's Empire. Antipater was one of the sons of a Macedonian nobleman called Iollas or Iolaus and his family were distant collateral relatives to the...

, the regent of the kingdom. In 330 BC
330 BC
Year 330 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crassus and Venno...

, she returned to Epirus and served as a regent to her cousin Aeacides
Aeacides of Epirus
Aeacides , king of Epirus , was son of Arymbas and grandson of Alcetas I. He succeeded to the throne of Epirus on the death of his cousin Alexander, who was slain in Italy. Aeacides married Phthia, the daughter of Menon of Pharsalus, by whom he had the celebrated Pyrrhus and two daughters, Deidamia...

 in the Epirote state
Epirus (ancient state)
Epirus was an ancient Greek state, located in the geographical region of Epirus, in the western Balkans. The homeland of the ancient Epirotes was bordered by the Aetolian League to the south, Thessalia and Macedonia to the east and Illyrian tribes to the north...

, as her brother Alexander I had died during a campaign in southern Italy.

After Alexander the Great's death in Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...

 in 323 BC
323 BC
Year 323 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Longus and Cerretanus...

, his wife Roxana
Roxana
Roxana sometimes Roxane, was a Bactrian noble and a wife of Alexander the Great. She was born earlier than the year 343 BC, though the precise date remains uncertain....

 bore him a posthumous son who was called Alexander IV
Alexander IV of Macedon
Alexander IV Aegus was the son of Alexander the Great and Princess Roxana of Bactria.-Birth:...

. The latter, along with his uncle Philip III
Philip III of Macedon
Philip III Arrhidaeus was the king of Macedonia from after June 11, 323 BC until his death. He was a son of King Philip II of Macedonia by Philinna of Larissa, allegedly a Thessalian dancer, and a half-brother of Alexander the Great...

, half brother of Alexander the Great and mentally disabled, were subject to the regency of Perdiccas
Perdiccas
Perdiccas was one of Alexander the Great's generals. After Alexander's death in 323 BC he became regent of all Alexander's empire.Arrian tells us he was son of Orontes, a descendant of the independent princes of the Macedonian province of Orestis...

, who tried to strengthen his position by a marriage with Antipater's daughter Nicaea. At the same time, Olympias offered Perdiccas the hand of her daughter Cleopatra. Perdiccas chose Cleopatra, which angered Antipater; he invaded Macedon, deposed Perdiccas, and declared himself regent, only to die within the year.

Polyperchon
Polyperchon
Polyperchon , son of Simmias from Tymphaia in Epirus, was a Macedonian general who served under Philip II and Alexander the Great, accompanying Alexander throughout his long journeys. After the return to Babylon, Polyperchon was sent back to Macedon with Craterus, but had only reached Cilicia by...

 succeeded Antipater in 319 BC
319 BC
Year 319 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cursor and Cerretanus...

 as regent, but the latter's son Cassander
Cassander
Cassander , King of Macedonia , was a son of Antipater, and founder of the Antipatrid dynasty...

, who had captured Philip III, forced him out of Macedonia. Polyperchon fled to Epirus, taking Roxana and her son Alexander IV with him. At the beginning, Olympias had not been involved in this conflict, but soon she realized that in case of Cassander's rule, her grandson would definitely lose the crown. As a result, she allied with Polyperchon and united his army with the army of her cousin Aeacides to invade Macedonia and drive Cassander out from power in 317 BC
317 BC
Year 317 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Brutus and Barbula...

. She captured and executed Philip III in October of that year, while many supporters of Cassander were massacred. Cassander besieged Olympias in Pydna
Pydna
Pydna was a Greek city in ancient Macedon, the most important in Pieria. Modern Pydna is a small town and a former municipality in the northeastern part of Pieria regional unit, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Pydna-Kolindros, of which it is a...

 and forced her to surrender, although Polyperchon and Aeacides tried to relieve her. One of the terms of the capitulation had been that Olympias's life would be saved but Cassander executed her, while Roxana and Alexander IV were killed in secret. She was brought to trial for the numerous and cruel executions of which she had been accused of; condemned without a hearing, she was put to death in 316 BC
316 BC
Year 316 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Rutilus and Laenas...

 by the friends of those whom she had slain. Cassander is said to have denied her remains the rites of burial.

Medals

A medal bearing the name Olympias was found in 1902 at Abukir, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, and belongs to the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

. The reverse shows a Nereid mounted on a fantastic sea creature. It had been suggested that the Olympias depicted on the medal was Queen Olympias, but this theory has been challenged. The name ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΔΟΣ is thought to refer to the Olympiads instead.
Archaeologists believe that these medals were awarded to the victors in the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 which survived during the Roman period in Macedonia
Macedonia (Roman province)
The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon, the last Ancient King of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved...

 cities such as Veria
Veria
Veria is a city built at the foot of Vermion Mountains in Greece. It is a commercial center of Macedonia, the capital of the prefecture of Imathia, the province of Imathia and the seat of a bishop of the Greek Orthodox Church...

. These Games, known as the Alexandrian Olympics, were held in honour of the Roman emperors who visited the cities of Macedonia
Macedonia (Roman province)
The Roman province of Macedonia was officially established in 146 BC, after the Roman general Quintus Caecilius Metellus defeated Andriscus of Macedon, the last Ancient King of Macedon in 148 BC, and after the four client republics established by Rome in the region were dissolved...

.

Olympias in the modern world

  • Olympias is a character in Mary Renault
    Mary Renault
    Mary Renault born Eileen Mary Challans, was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece...

    's historical novels
    Historical fiction
    Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...

     Fire from Heaven
    Fire From Heaven
    Fire from Heaven is a 1969 historical novel by Mary Renault about the childhood and youth of Alexander the Great. It reportedly was a major inspiration for the Oliver Stone film Alexander. The book was nominated for the “Lost Man Booker Prize” of 1970, "a contest delayed by 40 years because a...

    and Funeral Games
    Funeral Games
    Funeral Games is a 1981 historical novel by Mary Renault, dealing with the death of Alexander the Great and its aftermath, the gradual disintegration of his empire...

    .
  • Angelina Jolie
    Angelina Jolie
    Angelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...

     portrayed Queen Olympias in Oliver Stone
    Oliver Stone
    William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...

    's 2004 biopic Alexander
    Alexander (film)
    Alexander is a 2004 epic film based on the life of Alexander the Great. It is not a remake of the 1956 film which starred Richard Burton. It was directed by Oliver Stone, with Colin Farrell in the title role...

    , opposite Colin Farrell
    Colin Farrell
    Colin James Farrell is an Irish actor, who has appeared in such film as Tigerland, Miami Vice, Minority Report, Phone Booth, The Recruit, Alexander and S.W.A.T....

     as Alexander the Great and Val Kilmer
    Val Kilmer
    Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...

     as Philip II.


See also

  • Alkimachos of Pydna
  • Olympias
    Olympias (trireme)
    Olympias is a reconstruction of an ancient Athenian trireme and an important example of experimental archaeology.She was constructed from 1985 to 1987 by a shipbuilder in Piraeus. Finance came from the Hellenic Navy and donors such as Frank Welsh . The building was advised by the historians J. S....

    , reconstruction of Greek trireme.

External links

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