| Olympias | |
|---|---|
 Roman medallion with Olympias, Museum of Thessaloniki | |
| Queen of Macedon | |
| Tenure | c. 357–316 BC |
| Born | 375 BC Molossia,Epirus,Ancient Greece[1] |
| Died | 316 BC (aged 59) Macedonia,Ancient Greece |
| Spouse | Philip II of Macedon |
| Issue | Alexander the Great Cleopatra of Macedon |
| Ancient Greek | Ολυμπιάς |
| House | Molossians |
| Father | Neoptolemus I of Epirus |
| Religion | Ancient Greek religion |
Olympias (Ancient Greek:Ὀλυμπιάς; c. 375–316 BC)[2] was aGreek princess of theMolossians,[3] the eldest daughter of kingNeoptolemus I of Epirus, the sister ofAlexander I of Epirus, the fourth wife ofPhilip II, the king ofMacedonia and the mother ofAlexander the Great. She was extremely influential in Alexander's life and was recognized asde facto leader of Macedon during Alexander's conquests.[4] According to the 1st century AD biographer,Plutarch, she was a devout member of theorgiastic snake-worshipingcult of Dionysus, and he suggests that she slept with snakes in her bed.[5]
After her son's death, Olympias fought on behalf of Alexander's sonAlexander IV, successfully defeatingAdea Eurydice.[6] After she was finally defeated byCassander, his armies refused to execute her, and he finally had to summon family members of those Olympias had previously killed to end her life.[6]
Olympias was the eldest daughter ofNeoptolemus I, king of theMolossians, anancient Greek tribe inEpirus,[7] and sister ofAlexander I of Epirus. She also had a sister named Troas, who married their paternal uncleArrybas of Epirus.
Her family belonged to theAeacidae, a well-respected family ofEpirus, which claimed descent fromNeoptolemus, son ofAchilles. They took their name from the mythical kingAeacus, who ruled in the island ofAegina in theSaronic Gulf.[8] The Aeacidae were perhaps the only Epirotes who were universally recognised as Greek.[7] Although unknown, some scholars have theorized that Olympias' mother may have been aChaonian princess, based on the rumour that Olympias used to say that she was also a descendant of the Trojan prince,Helenus son ofPriam (the last king of Troy) andAndromache, wife ofHector.[9][10]
Apparently, she was originally named Polyxena, asPlutarch mentions in his workMoralia, and changed her name to Myrtale prior to her marriage toPhilip II of Macedon as part of her initiation into an unknown mystery cult.[3] The nameOlympias was the third of four names by which she was known. She probably took it as a recognition of Philip's victory in theOlympic Games of 356 BC, the news of which coincided with Alexander's birth (Plut. Alexander 3.8).[11] She was finally named Stratonice, which was probably an epithet attached to Olympias following her victory overEurydice in 317 BC.[3]
WhenNeoptolemus I died in 360 BC, his brotherArybbas succeeded him on the Molossian throne. In 358 BC, Arybbas made a treaty with the new king ofMacedonia,Philip II, and theMolossians became allies of theMacedonians. The alliance was cemented with a diplomatic marriage between Arybbas' niece, Olympias, and Philip in 357 BC. It made Olympias thequeen consort of Macedonia, and Philip the king. Philip had allegedly fallen in love with Olympias when both were initiated into the mysteries ofCabeiri at theSanctuary of the Great Gods, on the island ofSamothrace,[12] though their marriage was largely political in nature in order to seal the alliance between Macedonia and Epirus.[13]
One year later, in 356 BC, Philip's race horse won in theOlympic Games; for this victory, his wife, who was known then as Myrtale,[14] received the nameOlympias. In the summer of the same year, Olympias gave birth to her first child,Alexander. Inancient Greece people believed that the birth of a great man was accompanied by portents. AsPlutarch 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's interpretation was that Olympias was pregnant of a son whose nature would be bold and lion-like.[15] Philip and Olympias also had a daughter,Cleopatra, who later married her uncle,Alexander I of Epirus, to further diplomatic ties betweenMacedonia andEpirus.
According to primary sources, their marriage was very stormy due to Philip's volatility and Olympias' ambition and jealousy, which led to their growing estrangement.[16] Things got more tumultuous in 337 BC when Philip married a noble Macedonian woman,Cleopatra, the niece ofAttalus, who was given the name Eurydice by Philip. At a gathering after the marriage, Philip failed to defend Alexander's claim to the Macedonian throne when Attalus threatened his legitimacy, causing great tensions between Philip, Olympias, and Alexander.[16] Olympias went into voluntary exile inEpirus along with Alexander, staying at the Molossian court of her brotherAlexander I, who was the king at the time.
In 336 BC, Philip cemented his ties to Alexander I of Epirus by offering him the hand of his and Olympias' daughterCleopatra 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 byPausanias, a member of Philip'ssomatophylakes, his personal bodyguard, while attending the wedding, and Olympias, who returned to Macedonia, was suspected of having countenanced his assassination.[17][16]
After the death of Philip II, which Olympias was believed to have either ordered or been an accessory to according to some ancient historical accounts, Olympias was allegedly also involved in overseeing the execution ofEurydice and her child in order to secure Alexander's position as the rightful king of Macedonia.[18] During Alexander's campaigns, she regularly corresponded with him and may have confirmed her son's claim inEgypt that his father was not Philip butZeus. The relationship between Olympias and Alexander was cordial, but her son tried to keep her away from politics. However, she wielded great influence in Macedonia and caused troubles toAntipater, the regent of the kingdom. In 330 BC, she returned to Epirus and served as a regent to her cousinAeacides in theEpirote state, as her brother Alexander I had died during a campaign insouthern Italy.
After Alexander the Great's death inBabylon in 323 BC, his wifeRoxana gave birth to their son namedAlexander IV. Alexander IV and his unclePhilip III Arrhidaeus, the half brother of Alexander the Great who may have been disabled, were subject to the regency ofPerdiccas, who tried to strengthen his position through a marriage with Antipater's daughterNicaea. At the same time, Olympias offered Perdiccas the hand of her and Philip's daughter, Cleopatra. Perdiccas chose Cleopatra, which angered Antipater, who allied himself with several otherDiadochi, deposed Perdiccas, and was declared regent, only to die within the year.
Polyperchon succeeded Antipater in 319 BC as regent, but Antipater's sonCassander established Philip II's son Philip III (Arrhidaeus) as king and forced Polyperchon out of Macedonia.[6] He fled to Epirus, takingRoxana and her son Alexander IV with him, who had previously been left in the care of Olympias. At the beginning, Olympias had not been involved in this conflict, but she soon realized that in the case of Cassander's rule, her grandson would lose the crown, so she allied with Polyperchon in 317 BC. The Macedonian soldiers supported her return and the united armies of Polyperchon and Olympias, with the house ofAeacides, invaded Macedonia to drive Cassander out from power.
After winning in battle by convincing the army ofAdea Eurydice, the wife ofPhilip III, to side with her own, Olympias captured and executed the two in October 317 BC. She also captured Cassander's brother and a hundred of his partisans.[6] Cassander soon blockaded and besieged Olympias inPydna and one of the terms of the capitulation had been that Olympias's life would be saved, but Cassander had decided to execute her, sparing only temporarily the lives of Roxana and Alexander IV (they were executed a few years later in 309 BC). When the fortress of Pydna fell, Cassander ordered Olympias killed, but the soldiers refused to harm the mother of Alexander the Great. There are differing stories about her death. Pausanias states that she was stoned to death by the families of her many victims. Justinus says she went out to meet her enemies in royal attire with two maids and forced them to stab her publicly, "so that you could see Alexander even in his dying mother." Cassander is also said to have denied to her body the rites of burial.[19]
A medal bearing the name "Olympias" was found in 1902 atAbu Qir,Egypt that dates back to AD 225–250,[20] and belongs to the Archaeological Museum ofThessaloniki.[21] The reverse shows aNereid 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 theOlympiads instead.[22]
Together with 59.1 and 59.3, this piece is part of a series of large gold medallions that was commissioned to honor Emperor Caracalla, representing him as the descendant of Alexander the Great. These medallions, found at Aboukir in Upper Egypt, demonstrate the artistry and technical prowess achieved by an imperial mint, perhaps that of Ephesus or Perinthus (both cities in western Asia Minor). Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great, is depicted here in profile. The back shows a "nereid" (sea nymph), perhaps Thetis, the mother of Achilles, riding on a hippocamp, a mythical sea-creature. Thus, the medallion forms part of a double comparison: Caracalla is compared to Alexander, the conqueror of the East; Alexander is compared to Achilles, a hero of the Trojan War.
Primary sources
Secondary sources
