Olympias
Olympias,
d. 316 B.C., wife of Philip IIPhilip II,382–336 B.C., king of Macedon (359–336 B.C.), son of Amyntas II. While a hostage in Thebes (367–364), he gained much knowledge of Greece and its people.
..... Click the link for more information. of Macedon and mother of Alexander the GreatAlexander the Great
or Alexander III,
356–323 B.C., king of Macedon, conqueror of much of Asia. Youth and Kingship
The son of Philip II of Macedon and Olympias, he had Aristotle as his tutor and was given a classical education.
..... Click the link for more information. . She did not get on well with Philip, who had other wives, but the story that she murdered him is probably false. She reputedly had great influence in molding her son and in giving him an interest in mysticism and in art. Her violent ambitions plunged her into quarrels with Antipater, whom Alexander had left as regent in Macedon, and after Alexander's death she tried to forestall CassanderCassander
, 358–297 B.C., king of Macedon, one of the chief figures in the wars of the Diadochi. The son of Antipater, he was an officer under Alexander the Great, but there was ill feeling between them.
..... Click the link for more information. , Antipater's son, in Macedon. He in turn besieged her in Pydna on the Gulf of Thessaloníki, and after her capture he ordered her execution.