Olympias of Epirus

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Olympias of Epirus ( ancient Greek Ὀλυμπιάς ; * around 375 BC in Epirus ; † 316 BC in Pydna ) was a princess from the tribe of the Molossians . She was a daughter of King Neoptolemus I of Epirus. Her younger brother was the future King Alexandros I and her sister was named Troas . Around 357 BC She married the Macedonian King Philip II and became the mother of Alexander the Great .

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The main sources for Olympias are the historical works of the ancient historians Diodor and Iustinus as well as the Alexander Vita Plutarch . The information on Olympias' life up to the death of her son Alexander is relatively sparse and sometimes very contradicting. Often there are only anecdotal, irrelevant and dubious reports about them that are close to the Alexander novel. It was only from the beginning of the Diadoch period that more reliable historiography began with the work of Hieronymus von Kardia , which is particularly evident in the completely preserved books 18 to 20 of the world history of Diodorus.

Life

Youth and marriage with Philip II

The Molossian royal house of Epirus derived its descent from the mythical hero Achilles . On the maternal side, Olympias claimed an ascendancy from the beautiful Helena .

The birth names of Olympias are Polyxena , Myrtale and Stratonike ; she received the name Olympias shortly after her marriage to Philip II (see below). Since her father died early, she grew up under the tutelage of her uncle and brother-in-law, King Arybbas , who had succeeded his brother Neoptolemus on the throne.

According to the romantic love story of the Greek biographer Plutarch, Olympias met Philipp as a child on the occasion of the initiation into the mysteries on the island of Samothrace . Philip was still a youth himself; he immediately fell in love with her and married with her uncle's consent. Historically more reliable is the account of the historian Iustinus, according to which Philip after his first successful wars around 357 BC. BC entered into this (his fifth) marriage for political reasons to seal the alliance between Macedonia and Epirus.

Olympias is described as a passionate, proud, domineering and hateful woman capable of cruel deeds. Religiously exalted, she was an enthusiastic follower of the Dionysus cult and already performed as a dancer and bacchante at the orgiastic celebrations in honor of God in her home town of Epirus. According to Plutarch, tamed snakes also took part in these cult activities, which were supposed to be touched and wrapped around the maenads, who were crowned with ivy . Archaeological excavations in Dodona confirmed the serpent cult of the ancient inhabitants there, and in Pella there were indications that the women worshiped Dionysus . Olympias also kept its own cult snake. Her husband seemed alienated by her religious conduct.

From Olympias' marriage to Philip two children emerged: probably in July 356 BC. The heir to the throne Alexander was born and a year or two later a daughter named Cleopatra was born . According to a custom of Greek historiography, which liked to operate with actual or constructed synchronisms, news of the birth of Alexander is said to have reached his father on the day of his victory at the Olympic Games , which is why the mother took the name Olympias in memory of that day. After his visit to the temple of Siwa (Egypt), Alexander later started the legend that his mother had conceived him from the god Zeus / Amun . Olympias played an important role in the upbringing of her son and may have shaped him in his religious beliefs. Throughout his life there was a very close mother-son bond. There is no evidence that Olympias was able to exercise direct political influence.

The marriage was anything but harmonious, as the self-confident and proud Olympias rejected her husband's open polygamy . It is unclear whether Olympias was his only legitimate wife. In the course of his expansion policy, Philip married several women of royal blood, each of whom came from the countries that the Macedonian ruler wanted to bind politically to himself. This also applied to Olympias. Perhaps there was some kind of legitimate polygamy in Macedonian royal law.

When Philip in 337 BC When the young Cleopatra , the niece of the Macedonian nobleman and general Attalus , married, it came to a break with Olympias. On the occasion of the wedding celebration, a violent argument broke out between Alexander and his drunken father after Attalus had provocatively denied the legitimacy of Alexander's succession to the throne, since he was the son of an Epirotin - a foreigner - while the Macedonian Cleopatra could give birth to her husband a son of real origin. Olympias then went into exile with her son in Epirus. There she stayed after her son soon at least outwardly reconciled himself with his father, and tried to incite her brother, King Alexandros I of Epirus, to go to war against her husband.

During the preparations for his campaign against Persia, Philip determined the marriage of his daughter Cleopatra to her uncle, Olympias' brother Alexandros I of Epirus. He probably wanted to assure himself of the loyalty of the Epirot king in order to be able to carry out his campaign undisturbed. At the wedding celebrations in 336 BC In Aigai , Philip was murdered by a Macedonian named Pausanias . Even in antiquity, some authors blamed Olympias for inciting the murder of her husband. Her motive would be to seek vengeance and secure her son's succession to the throne. Justin and Plutarch mention this accusation, but not Alexander's famous teacher Aristotle and Diodor’s detailed account of the assassination attempt. Olympias at least showed joy at the bloody act, as she quickly returned to Macedonia and erected a burial mound for the murdered murderer and made public sacrifices. The opinion of modern scholars about Olympias' possible involvement in the murder is divided. It has also been suggested that Alexander himself might have been involved in the assassination attempt. But most historians consider it likely that the Olympias would be more likely than their son's involvement in the regicide, if at all. It is no longer possible to clarify with certainty nowadays whether or which people in the know Pausanias had.

After Philip's death, Alexander secured the throne by ruthlessly eliminating all competitors. At the same time he had Attalus, sent by Philip to lead the vanguard of the Persian campaign to Asia Minor, murdered. So he could undoubtedly succeed him as king. Olympias, in turn, had her rival Cleopatra and her little daughter Europa murdered in Alexander's absence.

Years during the reign of Alexander the Great

When Alexander the Great in 334 BC BC set out from Pella on his Persian campaign, he is said to have been accompanied by his mother to the Hellespont . Despite her efforts, Olympias was not installed as regent of Macedonia by her son. During Alexander's absence in Asia, the old general Antipater was supposed to administer the country with extensive powers as the “strategist of Europe”. Antipater had a hostile relationship with Olympias. Alexander's complaints about Antipater did not fall on fertile ground. Instead, he advised his mother not to get too involved in politics. Nevertheless, the relationship between mother and son remained very good despite the great geographical distance. For example, after the Battle of Granicus (334 BC) Alexander sent her purple robes and other looted items. Other gifts sent by the Macedonian king to Olympias, as well as their mutual correspondence, prove their good understanding. However, the authenticity of some surviving letters is disputed. After his oracle survey in Ammon Temple of Siwa (Egypt) Alexander wrote to his mother allegedly that he had learned from the god secret sayings that he would discuss only after his return to her.

Because of increasing tensions with Antipater, Olympias went around 331 BC. Again in exile to Epirus, where her daughter Cleopatra reigned while her husband Alexandros of Epirus fought in Italy . Both women conspired against Antipater and accused him of various offenses with Alexander the Great. Cleopatra's husband was meanwhile in his military ventures in southern Italy in 331 BC. Murdered BC. His body was sent to Epirus to his widow Cleopatra and sister Olympias. Olympias ousted her daughter from the rule of Epirus, so that Cleopatra around 325 BC. Moved to Macedonia. Perhaps the Olympias' numerous complaints about Antipater still had an effect, because they could be one of the causes for the 324 BC. BC Antipater was ordered by Alexander to be the ruler of Macedonia, who was to be replaced by Krateros .

Olympias' role during the Diadoch Wars

After Alexander unexpectedly in 323 BC After he died in Babylon , Olympias was initially unable to play a role in the diadochi power struggles that followed. It was limited to Epirus and had no influence whatsoever in Macedonia, as Antipater ruled there unrestrictedly until his death. During the First Diadoch War (321 BC) Olympias tried to improve her position through an alliance with the imperial regent Perdiccas , because Cleopatra probably offered her hand to Perdiccas at the instigation of her mother Olympias. But Perdiccas was born in 320 BC. Assassinated on the Nile while trying to conquer Egypt , and Antipater became the new ruler of the Alexander Empire . So Olympias had until the death of the aged, 80-year-old Antipater in 319 BC. Wait before she could participate politically again.

Kassander , the son of Antipater, did not want to accept his father's decision, who had appointed the respected Macedonian general Polyperchon as his successor as imperial administrator and who had given Kassander only the second highest office in the empire with the office of Chiliarch . This sparked the second Diadoch War. In order to implement his ambitious plans, Kassander allied himself with the ruler of Asia Minor Antigonus and the Egyptian satrap Ptolemaios I. Polyperchon, for his part, won the successful Greek general Eumenes of Cardia and Olympias as allies and promised the Greek states a limited "freedom" and reinstatement for their support democratic regime. Contrary to Antipater's earlier warning, Polyperchon advocated a return of the Olympias as royal head to Macedonia, who was supposed to take over the upbringing of their four-year-old grandson Alexander IV Aigos - the posthumous son of Alexander the Great of Roxane - but not the legal guardianship that Polyperchon wanted to continue to practice himself. The imperial administrator hoped that Olympias could further his interests in Macedonia through her respected position as the mother of Alexander the great.

Eumenes swore allegiance to Olympias, as did her grandson and the second king, Philip III. Arrhidaios , a half-brother of Alexander the Great. Olympias also seems to have her stepson Philip III. to have supported initially. She heeded Eumenes' advice to stay in Epirus and wait and see. At the same time, the Greek general had warned them not to commit rash acts of revenge and make themselves so hated when they returned to Macedonia. Because of his fight against Antigonus in Asia, Eumenes could not, as Olympias wanted, take over the protection of her grandson.

Polyperchon tried to assert himself in the Greek theater of war. The possession of the Athenian port of Piraeus was very important . On behalf of Cassander, Nikanor occupied the Athenian fortress Munychia and then Piraeus shortly after Antipater's death . Probably without consultation with Polyperchon, Olympias wrote to Nikanor requesting that the fortress and port be returned to the control of the Athenians, in accordance with the Imperial Administrator's Decree of Freedom. The Athenians therefore paid homage to Olympias as regent. Apparently Nikanor complied with the order, but postponed its execution with all sorts of excuses. An attempt by Polyperchon's son Alexander to replace Nikanor failed, so that Kassander, when he docked with an army in Athens , was able to take possession of Piraeus (probably in the summer of 318 BC). Not only here, but also on other occasions, Polyperchon was not very successful. Therefore many Greek cities, including Athens, converted to Kassander.

Eurydice , the young and ambitious wife of King Philip III, often referred to as insane in literature. Arrhidaios, sought himself in 317 BC To provide royal authority in place of her husband. She wanted to assert herself in Macedonia against the mother of Alexander the great, deposed Polyperchon as imperial administrator and transferred this office to his rival Kassander. In return, Polyperchon, who had fallen on the defensive , carried out further recruiting with the help of King Aiakides of Epirus , a cousin of the Olympias. Presumably now he ceded custody of the young Alexander IV to his grandmother, perhaps also the imperial administration. With the newly raised troops and Olympias, Polyperchon moved to Macedonia. At Euïa (unknown position) the armies of the two rival queens finally faced each other. Polyperchon served as general of Olympias and Kassander's brother Nikanor as general of Eurydice. Because of her reputation, Olympias managed to get the opposing troops overflowing to her without a fight. On her orders, her captured opponent Eurydice and her husband were imprisoned. Philip III was stabbed to death by Thracians after a while and Eurydice was forced to commit suicide, which she did not - as suggested by Olympias - with a sword, rope or poison, but by hanging with her own belt.

Olympias also carried out a bloody wave of purges against the family members and followers of Kassander, whom she alleged to have brought about the early death of Alexander the great by administering a poisonous potion. Kassander's brother Nikanor and 100 aristocratic Macedonians were among the victims of the executions. Furthermore, Olympias had the tomb of Iolaos , the alleged murderer of her son, desecrated.

death

The death of Olympias in a miniature from the medieval Alexander novel (around 1300).

Because of this cruel procedure, many Macedonians turned away from Olympias, and Cassander, who had meanwhile besieged the Arcadian city of Tegea in the Peloponnese , quickly returned to Macedonia, although Polyperchon had tried to prevent him from building defensive positions. Olympias commanded Aristonous , a former "bodyguard" ( somatophylax ) of Alexander the Great, to fight Kassander and went to Pydna . Her daughter-in-law Roxane, her grandson Alexander IV, her stepdaughter Thessalonike , Deidameia, the daughter of Aiakides, and other aristocratic women from her followers also stayed there with her . However, Kassander managed to lock Olympias in Pydna. Aiakides wanted to free them with a relief army, but part of his Molossian contingent mutinied. The Epirots banished their king and allied themselves with Kassander, to which many Macedonians who had previously been on the other side converted. Polyperchon, however, was too weak to attempt relief after many of his soldiers had been lured away by an officer Kassander through gifts of money. Olympias was isolated, and the defense of Pydna soon turned out to be very difficult, as many people were unfit for military service and the city could hardly be supplied because of the land and sea blockade of Kassander.

During the winter of 317/316 BC The siege of Pydna showed devastating effects. Grain had to be rationed, horses and pack animals were slaughtered and the elephants starved to death. In the course of time, more and more people died due to a lack of food, so that finally some of the soldiers forced Olympias' permission to leave the city; then they switched to Kassander's side. After a failed attempt to escape by ship and with no prospect of rescue, Olympias was ready to surrender. Kassander had promised her that her life would be spared in this case.

No sooner had Olympias surrendered than she was indicted for her crimes by relatives of her victims at the instigation of Kassander in front of the Macedonian army assembly. However, she was not allowed to defend herself before the committee and was sentenced to death. Cassander, however, did not want to appear as the main culprit behind her death and secretly tried to persuade her to flee to Athens by ship. This should look like an admission of guilt by the queen and she herself should perish at sea. Olympias refused the proposal and wished to be able to defend himself personally before the Macedonian people. Kassander feared that because of her great reputation, the memory of the great deeds of her husband and son and the fickleness of the Macedonians, there could be a change of opinion. So Kassander hired 200 men to kill the queen. The troop penetrated their residence, but withdrew again at the sight of Olympias, accompanied by only two servants, without having achieved anything. Finally, the old queen was murdered by relatives of those she had executed out of revenge and a favor to Kassander. She is said to have died proud and fearless. Allegedly, Kassander did not allow his killed enemy to be properly buried.

Representations

Zeus / Jupiter seduces Olympias. Fresco by Giulio Romano in the Palazzo del Te, Mantua, created between 1526 and 1534 .

During excavation work in Abukir, Egypt in 1902, two medallions were discovered among several ancient coins that show Olympias in profile. Both works are of Roman origin, made in the early to mid 3rd century AD during the Severan period . This imperial dynasty derived its descent from the Macedonian dynasty of the Argeadians , which they demonstrated by making such Kontorniaten . One of the medallions is in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki , the other in the Münzkabinett Berlin . The latter can be distinguished by a scepter in Olympias' hand (see below). Similar representations were discovered in a tomb near the Platonic Academy in Athens and in the Mildenhall treasure , among other places .

In the National Museum of Beirut you can see a mosaic on which the conception and birth of Alexander is described in three scenes. The work comes from the Villa Soueidié in Baalbek (Heliopolis), Lebanon and was probably made at the end of the 4th century AD. The representation is obviously based on the legend of a divine descent of Alexander, which was already widespread in late antiquity, possibly influenced by the story of Pseudo-Callisthenes in his Alexander novel . Because the first scene shows a seated Olympias, around whose right arm a snake winds, which is either the god Amun in animal form or, if one follows the Alexander novel, the magical Pharaoh Nectanebos II . The second scene shows Olympias, who is lying on a kline and is supported by a woman giving birth. The third scene shows the newborn Alexander being washed by a nymph in the bathroom .

reception

In the feature film Alexander the Great (1956) (director: Robert Rossen ) the role of Olympias was played by Danielle Darrieux , in the feature film Alexander (2004) (director: Oliver Stone ) by Angelina Jolie .

literature

Web links

Commons : Olympias  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Diodorus 19, 51, 5; Justin 7, 6, 10; 17, 3, 14.
  2. ^ H. Strasburger, RE XVIII, 1, col. 179.
  3. ^ Theopompos , The Fragments of the Greek Historians (FGrH) 115 F355.
  4. ↑ Plutarch , Moralia , p. 401a; Justin 9, 7, 13.
  5. ↑ Plutarch, Alexander 2, 2; Pyrrhus 1,5 ; Justin 7, 6, 11.
  6. ↑ Plutarch , Alexander 2, 2; see. Curtius Rufus 8, 1, 26.
  7. ↑ Justin 7, 6, 10ff .; Satyros von Kallatis in C. Müller, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum (FHG), III 161, Fragment 5 = Athenaios 13, 557b-c.
  8. ↑ Plutarch, Alexander 2, 6-9; Duris , FGrH 76 F 52 = Athenaios 13, 560f; see S. Lauffer, 1993, p. 22f. and Robin Lane Fox, Alexander the Great , German Stuttgart 2004, p. 44f.
  9. ↑ Plutarch, Alexander 3, 8 and moralia 401b; Justin 12, 16, 6.
  10. ↑ Plutarch, Alexander 3, 3-4.
  11. ^ S. Lauffer, 1993, pp. 21f. and 35.
  12. ↑ Satyros von Kallatis, FHG III p. 161, fragment 5 = Athenaios 13, 557d-e; Plutarch, Alexander 9, 6-14; Justin 9, 7, 3-7; see S. Lauffer, 1993, p. 35f.
  13. ↑ Aristotle , Politik 5, 10, 1311b; Diodor 16, 92ff .; Justin 9: 6f .; Plutarch, Alexander 10, 6; see S. Lauffer, 1993, p. 36f.
  14. ↑ Diodor 17, 2 et al
  15. ↑ Justin 9: 7, 12; Pausanias 8, 7, 7.
  16. ↑ Plutarch, Alexander 3, 3 (who gives Eratosthenes as the source); Iulius Valerius 1, 47.
  17. ↑ Arrian , Anabasis 1, 11, 3; Curtius Rufus 4, 1, 39; Justin 11, 7, 1.
  18. ↑ Plutarch, Alexander 39, 12; Arrian, Anabasis 7, 12, 6f .; Diodor 17, 118, 1; Justin 12, 14, 3.
  19. ↑ Plutarch, Alexander 16:19.
  20. ↑ Plutarch, Alexander 25, 6; 39, 12f .; Diodorus 17, 32, 1; Arrian, Anabasis 6, 1, 4f .; Athenaios 14, 659f.
  21. ↑ Plutarch, Alexander 27, 8, on this W. Huss, 2001, p. 71 and S. Lauffer, 1993, p. 89.
  22. ^ Diodor 18:49, 4; Pausanias 1, 11, 3.
  23. ^ Livy 8, 24, 17.
  24. ^ S. Lauffer, 1993, p. 176.
  25. ↑ So Arrian, FGrH 156, F 9, 21; similar to Justin 13, 6, 4; Diodorus (18, 23) ignored Olympias' (alleged) participation in Cleopatra's marriage offer.
  26. ↑ Diodor 18, 48, 4f .; see. Plutarch, Phokion 31, 1.
  27. ↑ Diodorus 18, 49 and 54.
  28. ^ Diodor 18:49, 4; 18, 57, 2; 18, 65, 2; 19, 11, 9; on this W. Huss, 2001, pp. 130f. Note 267.
  29. ↑ Plutarch, Eumenes 12, 3f.
  30. ↑ Diodorus 18, 58, 3; Plutarch, Eumenes 13, 1; Nepos , Eumenes 6, 1f.
  31. ↑ Plutarch, Phocion 31.
  32. ↑ Diodorus 18, 65 and 18, 68, 1.
  33. ↑ Justin 14: 5: 1-3.
  34. ↑ Diodorus 19:11 , 1-7; Justin 14, 5, 8-10; see. Pausanias 1, 11, 4 and 8, 7, 7; Aelian , Varia historia 13, 36; Duris, FGrH 76, F 52; on this W. Huss, 2001, pp. 135 and 137.
  35. ↑ Diodorus 19, 11, 8f .; Justin 14, 6, 1; Plutarch, Alexander 77, 1f .; among others
  36. ↑ Diodor 19, 35f .; Justin 14, 6, 1-4; on this W. Huss, 2001, p. 138.
  37. ^ So H. Strasburger, RE XVIII 1, Col. 182; W. Huss, 2001, p. 138, note 328 dates the siege of Pydna to 316/315 BC. Chr.
  38. ↑ Diodorus 19, 49, 1-50, 5; Justin 14, 6, 5; see. Polyaine 4, 11, 3.
  39. ↑ Diodor 19:51; Justice 14, 6, 6-12; see. Pausanias 9, 7, 2.
  40. ↑ Porphyrios , Chronik , FGrH 260 F 3, 3.
personal data
SURNAME Olympias of Epirus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Olympia of Epirus; Polyxena
BRIEF DESCRIPTION by marriage queen of Macedonia, mother of Alexander the great
DATE OF BIRTH around 376 BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH Epirus
DATE OF DEATH 316 BC Chr.
Place of death Pydna