Olympias was daughter of Pyrrhus

Pyrrhus of Epirus

Pyrrhus or Pyrrhos was a Greek general and statesman of the Hellenistic era. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house , and later he became king of Epirus and Macedon . He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome...

, king 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...

 from his first wife Antigone

Antigone of Epirus

Antigone was a Greek Macedonian noblewoman. Through her mother’s second marriage was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty and through marriage was a Queen of Epirus....

. She was the wife of her own paternal half-brother Alexander II

Alexander II of Epirus

Alexander II was a king of Epirus, and the son of Pyrrhus and Lanassa, the daughter of the Sicilian tyrant Agathocles.-Reign:He succeeded his father as king in 272 BC, and continued the war which his father had begun with Antigonus II Gonatas, whom he succeeded in driving from the kingdom of Macedon...

. After his death about 260 BC she assumed the regency of the kingdom on behalf of her two sons, Pyrrhus II

Pyrrhus II of Epirus

Pyrrhus II was the son of Olympias II and Alexander II of Epirus. He was a brother of Ptolemy and Phthia of Macedon. He ruled as king of Epirus from 255 BC to 237 ВС...

 and Ptolemy

Ptolemy of Epirus

Ptolemy ; 237 BC-died 234 ВС), king of Epirus, was the second son of Alexander II, king of Epirus, and Olympias, grandson of the great Pyrrhus and brother of Phthia of Macedon. He was named in honor of his late uncle Ptolemy, a late brother of his parents...

; and in order to strengthen herself against the Aetolian League

Aetolian League

The Aetolian League was a confederation of tribal communities and cities in ancient Greece centered on Aetolia in central Greece. It was established, probably during the early Hellenistic era, in opposition to Macedon and the Achaean League. Two annual meetings were held in Thermika and Panaetolika...

 she gave before 239 BC her daughter Phthia

Phthia of Macedonia

For other uses, see PhthiaPhthia was a daughter of Alexander II , king of Epirus, who was married to Demetrius II , king of Macedonia...

 in marriage to Demetrius II

Demetrius II of Macedon

Demetrius II Aetolicus son of Antigonus Gonatas and Phila, reigned as king of Macedonia from the winter of 239 to 229 BC. He belonged to the Antigonid dynasty and was born in 275 BC. There is a possibility that his father had already elevated to him to position of power equal to his own before his...

, king of Macedon

Macedon

Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....

ia. By this alliance she secured herself in the possession of the sovereignty, which she continued to administer till her sons were grown up to manhood, when she resigned it into the hands of Pyrrhus II. But the deaths of that prince and his brother Ptolemy followed in quick succession, and Olympias herself died of grief for her double loss. Such is Justin

Junianus Justinus

Justin was a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire. His name is mentioned only in the title of his own history, and there it is in the genitive, which would be M. Juniani Justini no matter which nomen he bore.Of his personal history nothing is known...

's statement: according to another account Olympias had poisoned a Leucadian

Lefkada

Lefkada, or Leucas or Leucadia , is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of Greece, connected to the mainland by a long causeway and floating bridge. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Lefkada . It is situated on the northern part of the island,...

damsel named Tigris, to whom her son Pyrrhus was attached, and was herself poisoned by him in revenge.