Olympias, the Mighty Mother of Alexander the Great:
his mother’s primary objective in life was to make him king. Olympias doted on the young Alexander, telling him constantly of his noble lineage and his ties to Achilles. This story had a powerful effect on Alexander (he even carried a copy of the Iliad with him). When he crossed the Hellespont into Asia Minor, one of the first places he visited was the remains of Troy, paying homage to his ancestor Achilles. To see to his early education, Olympias brought in a relative, the stern Leonidas of Epirus, to act as both a tutor and mentor to the future king. Afterwards, Aristotle would be summoned from Athens to complete his education.
After Alexander’s death in 323 BCE and the onset of the Succession Wars over the inheritor of his kingdom, Olympias called for Roxanne, Alexander’s wife, to come to Pella where she and her son the future Alexander IV would be safe. After Antipater’s death in 319 BCE, one of Alexander’s commanders Polyperchon was named the new regent; however, he was forced out by Cassander, fleeing to Epirus with Roxanne and the young Alexander. While she had originally tried to remain neutral, Olympias realized her grandson could never be king as long as Cassander was regent, so she joined forces with her cousin Aeacides (King of Epirus) and the remainder of Polyperchon’s army and invaded Macedonia. At the orders of Olympias, Alexander’s half-brother Phillip (who actually had been king but in name only), his wife Eurydice and hundreds of selected Macedonians loyal to Cassander were executed in 317 BCE. However, Olympias’ invasion failed; Cassander captured her at Pydna and while he initially promised to save her life, he changed his mind and put her to death in 316 BCE. Sadly, Olympias’ dream of her grandson inheriting the throne of Alexander would never be realized and Roxanne and the young Alexander IV would meet the same fate as Olympias in 310 BCE.
Olympias was smart, ambitious, ruthless, and devoted to her Son. Olympias raised the young Alexander to be proud of his heritage. Her family claimed to be descendants of Achilles, the Greek demigod and hero of the Trojan War. Alexander traveled to Troy to pay respects to his ancestor, and he carried a copy of The Iliad with him at all times.
Olympias, born sometime around 375 B.C., was the daughter of King Neoptolemus of Epirus, a kingdom southwest of Macedonia.
Upon Alexander the Great’s demise, Olympias sought to have her grandson, Alexander IV, become king. However, a regent named Cassander ruled in her grandson’s place after a series of succession wars. The idea was that Cassander would turn over the throne until Alexander IV became older.
That wasn’t good enough for Olympias as she feared Cassander would maintain his grip on power. She invaded Macedonia with her own army from Epirus, which was now ruled by her cousin.
Olympias’ army managed to capture hundreds of people loyal to the regent and had all of Cassander’s followers brutally executed in 317 B.C.
Unfortunately for Olympias, her invasion of Macedonia failed and Cassander lived. He captured the queen and initially promised to spare her, but went back on this promise and had her executed in 316 B.C.
Olympias became regent for Alexander IV, her grandson (posthumous son of Alexander the Great by Roxane), and tried to seize control of Macedonia from Cassander's forces. The Macedonian army surrendered without a fight as they were loyal to Alexander the Greats mother; Olympias had the supporters of Cassander executed but Cassander was not there.
Cassander maneuvered a surprise attack and Olympias fled; he besieged Pydna where she fled, and she surrendered in 316 BCE. Cassander, who had promised not to kill Olympias, instead arranged to have Olympias murdered by relatives of his supporters that she had executed.She was said to either be stoned or stabbed to death.
Places: Epirus, Pella, Greece
Religion: follower of mystery religion
A Mother Loves Too much
To be the best
cursed by your greatness
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