Olympias (Epirus)

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Olympias ( Greek  Ὀλυμπιάς ), also called Olympias II to distinguish it from her great-great aunt of the same name , was a queen of the Molossians and leader of the Epiroten from the Aiakid dynasty in the 3rd century BC.

Olympias was a daughter of King Pyrrhus I and was married to her (half) brother Alexandros II . It was the only sibling among the Aiakids. At the death of her brotherly husband, her sons Pyrrhos II and Ptolemy were still immature, which is why Olympias took over the reign for them. In order to fend off the expansion pressure of the Aitolian League , which claimed Akarnania , she entered into an alliance with Demetrios II of Macedonia , to whom she gave her daughter Phthia as a wife. Apparently in order to maintain the influence on her older son Pyrrhus II, Olympias had his concubine Tigris poisoned. The older son died early shortly after she handed over rule to him. Olympias also survived her second son Ptolemy and only died shortly after this, so that her granddaughter Deidameia , the daughter of her son Pyrrhus, was the last member of the dynasty.

literature

  • Susanne Funke: Aiakid myth and epiphany royalty. The way of a Hellenic monarchy. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-515-07611-5 .

Remarks

  1. Justin 28, 1, 1.
  2. Jump up ↑ Justin 28, 1, 1-2.
  3. Athenaios 13, 589f-590a.
  4. Justin 28: 3, 1-3.
predecessor Office successor
Alexandros II King of the Molossians
Hegemon of Epirus
Pyrrhus II