Biography: The life of Olympias

Olympias; the mother of greatness, the wife of excellence, the women of snakes, the
mastermind behind King Philip IIs assassination? Worshipping snakes in the cult of Dionysus,
she loved them so much that she may even of had them in her bed or by her bedside at night.
The daughter of Neoptolemus I, who was king of the Molossians, she was also a tribute in
Epirus, and a sister of Alexander I.2 Her family actually belonged to the Aeacidae, a very well
known and respected family of Epirus, which they claimed descent from Neoptolemus, who was
the son of Achilles!1 Originally being named Polyxena, Olympia then changed her name to
Myrtale before her marriage to Philip II of Macedon as a sign of her initiation with an unknown
mysterious cult. So the name Olympias was actually the third name out of four names in which
she was known by! It is greatly assumed that she probably decided to rename herself Olympias
after Philips victory in the Olympic Games of 356 BC, as recognition of what Philip had
accomplished. She was lastly named Stratonice, which was most likely a nickname given to her
after her glorious victory over Eurydice in 317 BC!

After Neoptolemus I death in 360 BC, his brother Arymbas succeeded him and then took
reign on the throne of Molossian. Arymbus made a treaty with the new king of Macedonia,
Philip II, and the Molossians then became allies with the Macedonians. Their alliance was
cemented and grew extremely strong with the diplomatic marriage of Arymbas niece Olympias
and Philip II in 357 BC. Olympias became Philips wife and also queen consort of Macedonia,
Philip had fallen for Olympias on the island of Samothrace where they both had joined a group
that explores the mysteries of Cabeiri at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods. One year after falling
in love Philips race horse won in the Olympic Games. After this victory in 356 BC, Olympias

who was known as Myrtale at the time, took the name of Olympias to pay tribute to her
husbands glorious victory in the Olympic games! That summer after the Olympic games,
Olympias gave birth to her first child, Alexander the Great.

Back in ancient Greece it was believed that the birth of an extraordinary man was
accompanied by portents, and the night before the consummation of Olympias and Philip IIs
marriage Olympias had a dream that a thunderbolt fell upon her womb and a great fire was then
kindled, as its flames dispersed all around and then were extinguished! As for Philip he dreamed
that after the marriage he put a seal upon his wifes womb, a device that had a figure of a lion!
The interpretation that Aristander had about those dreams were that Olympias was pregnant with
a son who would have a bold nature and would have very similar characteristics of a lion.
Olympias and Philip II also had a daughter that went by the name of Cleopatra. The marriage
between Olympias and Philip was very chaotic; because Olympias had a very jealous temper and
Philip had such a high volatility, which pushed them further and further away from one another
and grew to their estrangement. Things escalated even more in 337 BC when Philip married a
very noble Macedonian woman, that went by the name of Cleopatra, who was given the name
Eurydice by Philip and who was niece of Attalus. Philips new marriage caused much friction
between Olympias, Philip, and Alexander. For her own good Olympias went into voluntary
exile in Epirus along with her son Alexander, who sided with his mother, which they stayed at
the Molossian court of her brother Alexander I, who was the king at the time there.

Philip cemented his ties to Alexander I of Epirus by offering him the hand of Olympias
and his daughter Cleopatra in marriage, another factor in which led Olympias even further away
into isolation and exile as she could no longer go to her brother for support. It is more than

assumed that after all that had happened between Olympias and Philip, when Olympias went into
exile she started plotting her revenge and thinking of ways to kill Philip for all the grief and
despair he had left her all alone with. Philip was murdered by Pausanias, a member of Philips
loyal personal bodyguards, which was assumed that he was conspiring against Philip with
Olympias calling the shots. At the wedding of which Philip was giving away their daughter at it
is assumed that Olympias thought itd be the perfect place to seek her revenge and literally stick
the knife in Philips back for in her eyes betraying her! She returned to Macedonia for the
wedding to see firsthand what happens, and it was suspected by many but not proven that she
had countenanced Philips assassination!

After the death of king Philip II, Olympias savagely ordered the execution of Eurydice
and her own child, in order to secure Alexanders position in line as the next king of Macedonia!
While Alexanders campaign went on, she constantly corresponded with him whispering great
influence in his ears and may have possibly hinted at her sons claim to Egypt, saying that his
was not Philip as everyone suspected but Zeus himself! A myth to show the confidence she had
in her son, and how much she believed in what he could accomplish. The relationship between
Alexander and his mother Olympias was very pleasantly friendly but Alexander felt it necessary
to still keep his mother away from the politics. Even though he didnt involve his mother
Olympias into his politics, he held great influence over Macedonia and caused a lot of trouble to
Antipater, who was the regent of the kingdom. But then in 330 BC, she had returned to Epirus
and served as a regent herself to her cousin Aeacides in the Epirote state, because she was greatly
needed as her brother Alexander I had died during his campaign in the southern part of Italy!
Olympias; the mother of greatness, the wife of excellence, the women of snakes and pure evil,
the mastermind behind King Philip IIs assassination? A lot of these things could be said about

her, that she was a very ambitious and violent ruler; mother of Alexander the Great3 but most
are just speculations that well never have a for sure answers too. But one thing we do know for
sure is that, she plays a very important role in history, she had a passionate and imperious
nature,4 she had a lot of influence over people in great power, and that influence she had helped
shape history and a lot of the glorious things that Philip II and his son Alexander the Great
accomplished!

Work Cited

1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympias#Bibliography
2. http://www.livius.org/person/olympias/
3.http://womenshistory.about.com/od/ancientqueens/p/olympias.htm
4.http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/427989/Olympias