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Olympias
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Olympias (; c. 375–316 BC) was an ancient Greek princess of the Molossians, the eldest daughter of King Neoptolemus I of Epirus, and the sister of Alexander I of Epirus. She was the mother of Alexander the Great by Philip II, king of Macedonia. She was extremely influential in Alexander's life and was recognized as de facto leader of Macedon during his conquests.
OverviewAI-generated
Olympias, born in 375 BCE in Passaron, was a female politician and queen consort from Macedonia. Her given name was Olimpia, and she spoke Ancient Greek. She was the daughter of Neoptolemus I of Epirus and the sister of Alexandros I of Epirus and Troas. Olympias was married to Philip II of Macedon. Their children included Alexander the Great and Cleopatra of Macedon.
She died in 316 BCE in Pydna. Her manner of death is listed as homicide and suicide, with stoning cited as the cause of death. Olympias is described in sources such as the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition and Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary.
Synthesized by Vinony from 29 facts across 5 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, Last.fm, Crossref, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Key facts
- Royalty.name
- Olympias
- Royalty.image
- Coin olympias mus theski.JPG
- Royalty.caption
- Roman medallion with Olympias, Museum of Thessaloniki
- Royalty.succession
- Queen of Macedon
- Royalty.reign
- 357–316 BC
- Royalty.birth_date
- 375 BC
- Royalty.birth_place
- Molossia, Epirus, Ancient Greece
- Royalty.death_date
- 316 BC (aged 59)
- Royalty.death_place
- Macedonia, Ancient Greece
- Royalty.consort
- yes
- Royalty.spouse
- Philip II of Macedon
- Royalty.issue
- Alexander the GreatCleopatra of Macedon
- Royalty.father
- Neoptolemus I of Epirus
- Royalty.religion
- Ancient Greek religion
- Royalty.native_lang1
- Ancient Greek
- Royalty.native_lang1_name1
- Ολυμπιάς
- Royalty.royal house
- Molossians
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Olimpia
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- Macedonia
- Place of birth
- Passaron
- Place of death
- Pydna
- Spouse
- Philip II of Macedon
- Child
- Cleopatra of Macedon
- Father
- Neoptolemus I of Epirus
- Sibling
- Troas
- Occupation
- politician
- Languages spoken
- Ancient Greek
- Noble title
- queen consort
- Image
- Coin olympias mus theski.JPG
Show 8 more facts
- Commons category
- Olympias
- date of death
- 0316-01-01
- date of birth
- 0375-01-01
- manner of death
- homicide
- described by source
- Pauly–Wissowa
- cause of death
- stoning
- name in native language
- Ὀλυμπιάς
- P12749
- Deckle-edge
via Wikidata · CC0
~12 min read
Encyclopedic overview
9 sectionsContents
- Origin
- Queen of Macedonia
- Alexander's reign and the Wars of the Diadochi
- Iconography
- In popular culture
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
Olympias (; c. 375–316 BC) was an ancient Greek princess of the Molossians, the eldest daughter of King Neoptolemus I of Epirus, and the sister of Alexander I of Epirus. She was the mother of Alexander the Great by Philip II, king of Macedonia. She was extremely influential in Alexander's life and was recognized as de facto leader of Macedon during his conquests.
After Alexander the Great's death, conflict broke out over who would inherit the empire. Olympias fought on behalf of her grandson Alexander IV; she defeated Adea Eurydice, and Alexander IV was included in the line of succession. However, she was eventually defeated by Cassander and executed, and Alexander IV was assassinated before wielding any power.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Olympias” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.