Deidamia^{[pronunciation?]} orDeidameia (Greek:Δηϊδάμεια,Greek:ði.iˈða.mi.a) orLaodamia (Greek:Λαοδάμεια,[La.oˈða.mi.a]) (died 233 BC^[2]) was the Queen regnant of Epirus in 234 – 233 BC.^[1] She was the daughter^[3] ofPyrrhus II of Epirus, king ofEpirus.

After the death of her father and that of her unclePtolemy, she was the last surviving representative of the royalAeacid dynasty in Epirus.^[2]

She had a sister,Nereis, who marriedGelo of Syracuse. During a rebellion in Epirus, her sister sent her 800Gallicmercenaries. Part of the Molossians^[4] supported her, and with the aid of the mercenaries she briefly tookAmbracia.

When the Epirots sued for peace as suppliants, she granted it only on condition that they acknowledged her hereditary rights, and the honours of her ancestors. But some of the Epirots plotted against her and bribed Nestor, one of Alexander's guards, to murder her. Nestor returned without accomplishing his purpose and she fled for refuge in the temple ofArtemis Hegemone (Ancient Greek:Ἡγεμόνης Ἀρτέμιδος), but was murdered^[5] on the altar^[6] in the sanctuary by Milon (Ancient Greek:Μίλων), a man already responsible of killing his own mother Philotera (Ancient Greek:Φιλωτέρα)^[7] who shortly after this crime committed suicide.^[8] According to Polyaenus, she said to Milon before he murdered her: "Slaughter, thou matricide, on slaughter raise" (Ancient Greek:ὁ μητροφόντης ἐπὶ φόνῳ πράσσει φόνον).^[7]

The date of this event cannot be accurately fixed, but it occurred during the reign ofDemetrius II inMacedonia (239–229 BC).

• Smith, William (editor);Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,"Deidameia (2)",Boston, (1867)

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870)."Deidameia (2)".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

• 3rd-century BC Greek people
• 3rd-century BC Greek women
• 3rd-century BC queens regnant
• 233 BC deaths
• Kings of Epirus
• Women in ancient Greek warfare
• Ancient Greek queens regnant

• Source attribution
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles needing pronunciation
• Articles containing Greek-language text
• Pages with Greek IPA
• Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text
• Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the DGRBM
• Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the DGRBM without a Wikisource reference
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the DGRBM
• Year of birth unknown