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If you’ve seen Alexander (2004), you probably (unfortunately) remember Angelina Jolie’s depiction of his mother, Olympias. First of all, I’m sorry. The depiction of Olympias in that movie is just one of its many, many flaws. She’s depicted as a sexy seductive sorceress who is behind all of Alexander’s bad actions. This interpretation didn’t come out of nowhere, but instead has formulated over millennia of men villainizing her. Between the limited mentions of her in Plutarch, Justin, and thousands of historians after, Olympias has never been given a fair shot to prove who she really was. If you were a woman who was moved to a different land, who had to fight for the right to be respected in the slightest and attempted to protect her son at all costs, would you not do it using any means necessary?
The Best (…) Movie in the World: Oliver Stone’s Alexander
“Your soul is mine, Alexander”
-Olympias, Alexander (2004)
This movie really emphasized Olympias’ devotion to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, who is commonly associated with snakes. In practically all of her scenes there are depictions of, you guessed it, snakes: in her bed, on her floor, around her arms. If she’s there, chances are snakes are too. It’s as if Stone couldn’t find anything else interesting about her and decided to just overload her scenes with the one thing he knew for sure: snakes. Not even ten minutes into the movie she is singing to a young Alexander while holding a snake, warning that he should “never hesitate” as it could lead to his death (Alexander, 7:12-8:04).
Stone also plays into the theory that Olympias is the one who had Philip (Alexander’s father) murdered, and depicts her as hating him, and wanting Alexander to be only hers. If there’s one thing (and one thing only) I can commend this movie on, it’s the emphasis on her adoration for her son. After all, as we’ll find out, she only wanted what was best for him in the end.
When Philip finally takes interest in his own son, Olympias’ jealousy is displayed in her withering glare, further adding to her image as the villain of this movie (Alexander, 22:21).
She’s also pitted against other women in the movie, such as Philip’s new wife Eurydice (historically called Cleopatra). Upon their marriage, Olympias glares (the only look she seems to be capable of) at her and calls her a “little whore” (Alexander, 26:33-26:34). Later on in the movie, Stone adds to her jealous imagery when she talks to Alexander about Eurydice, trying to get him to do malicious things to her, her uncle, and her child. The wrap up of this is Alexander calling her a monster and kissing her on the lips… ancient problems require ancient solutions, I guess? She does, however, spit on his face for this, which feels like the right response (Alexander, 2:08:35-2:10:18). So, what we have of Olympias throughout this movie is not only is she obsessed with snakes, but she’s also extremely jealous. Great representation! Not a one-sided view at all! In fact, this is a super deep and accurate depiction! Is what I would say if it was any of those things, but it’s not.
Oliver Stone likely didn’t form this opinion of Olympias himself, and he’s definitely not the only one who depicts her in this light in the modern world. From Hollywood to scholars, Olympias is always depicted as the jealous, intense, overbearing villain.
Modern (Male) Scholars and Their Opinions
“Today, we would call her a vicious shrew”
-John Gunther, ‘Alexander the Great’ (1953), page 24
You would think once we get away from film and move onto academic, peer reviewed, published sources that maybe Olympias would get some time away from being cursed out, right? WRONG. In fact, it’s because of sources like these that movies like Alexander even happen. So, let’s see how bad it really is.
John Gunther, a scholar with a Bachelor of Philosophy (the first red flag), loves to write about Olympias like she was a witch. He brings up a point that Plutarch stated, which is that Olympias allegedly poisoned Alexander’s half-brother Arrhidaeus with magical herbs, causing him to be mentally slow (Gunther, 1953, p.25). He seems to have taken some *ahem* creative liberties with his wording here. In the translation of The Life of Alexander used for this page, this is how Plutarch brings about this claim:
“This, however, did not come upon him in the course of nature or of its own accord, indeed, it is said that as a boy he displayed an exceedingly gifted and noble disposition: but afterwards Olympias gave him drugs which injured his body and ruined his mind.” (Plut. Alex. 77.6)
This differs from Gunther’s wording of:
“Some historians say that Olympias actually poisoned this helpless boy with a magical herb, so that he would always be mentally subnormal.” (Gunther, 1953, p.25)
The difference between ‘drugs’ and ‘a magical herb’ is huge. Gunther’s wording makes it seem much more evil in the fantasy sense, as if she boiled the herbs over a cauldron while chanting “double double, toil and trouble” as snakes were climbing up around her arms. Not to mention that this is a claim some historians have already made. Yikes.
Another scholar, Guy MacLean Rogers, has some commentary on Olympias, claiming that she “never read the chapter in the textbook of Greek culture that forbade women to meddle in politics” (Rogers, 2004, p.4). On the same page, he also claims that in Macedonia, Alexander might have been the only man not afraid of his mother. These are two bold statements, and they only continue to villainize Olympias. It makes her seem feared by all, not just her immediate family. It also makes her seem rebellious and pushy, trying to stick her nose where it doesn’t belong instead of sitting on the sidelines and being a dutiful wife and mother.
Paul Cartledge is almost off the hook on the trend of male scholars criticizing women for doing exactly what men do in politics, however, he couldn’t seem to make it through his book without describing Olympias as “of immense energy and resource, with a bitterly cruel and vindictive streak” (Cartledge, 2004, p.309). He takes her actions and connects them to a bad temper and personality. Making it not acceptable for Olympias to behave cruelly, but I would bet any money he wouldn’t say the same thing if a man acted as she did.
As we can see, Olympias can’t seem to catch a break in the eyes of our lovely male scholars. But as was said with Stone, these opinions don’t come from nowhere. In fact, the villainization of Olympias can be stemmed back to the ancient scholars, such as Plutarch and Justin.
Ancient (Male) Scholars and Their Opinions
“A furious woman rather than a queen”
-Just. Epit. 14.6.1
There are very limited primary sources which discuss Olympias, but two main ones are Plutarch’s The Life of Alexander (written in 100 C.E.) and Justin’s Epitome of Pompeius Trogus’ Philippic Histories (written in the 2nd-3rd century C.E.). These were both written over 400 years after Olympias was alive, meaning they are also likely influenced by centuries of people talking down about her, so they don’t give 100% accuracy as to what she was really like. As well as that, Justin probably read Plutarch’s account and was inspired to write about Olympias in a similar fashion. Despite all of this, these are the most easily accessible ‘primary’ sources, but have done more harm than good for Olympias’ reputation.
As we’ve seen from the movie, Olympias liked her snakes. Or, maybe more historically correct is she liked Dionysus, but who doesn’t! While Olympias was extremely religious, she “carried out these divine inspirations in wilder fashion” than other women, who just did the normal stuff like orgies (Plut. Alex. 2.7). Since this is a primary source, there’s no actual evidence following of what she did that was so wild. Plutarch is most definitely Oliver Stone’s inspiration for his vision of Olympias. He claims she would terrify men by bringing out her large serpents that would coil themselves around her and that they also, on one occasion, were in bed with her (Plut. Alex. 2.6-2.7). This section is likely what inspired Gunther to treat Olympias like a witch, as Philip was (unfortunately) turned off “because he feared that some spells and enchantments might be practised upon him by her” (Plut. Alex. 2.6). Justin also touches on her religiosity, adding that Olympias claimed Philip was not Alexander’s father, but instead “she had conceived Alexander, not by him, but by a serpent of extraordinary size” (Justin, 11.11.3).
Plutarch also puts into mind that Olympias was the one who had Philip assassinated, allowing Alexander to claim the throne, her one wish. Although Pausanias, a member of Philip’s personal bodyguard, was the one who dealt the card of death to the king, Plutarch believed Olympias “incited him to the deed” (Plut. Alex. 10.6). This makes her seem evil, especially after Plutarch mentions that Philip “fell in love with her” upon first seeing her and the two were married because of this… definitely not for political reasons… nope (Plut. Alex. 2.2).
Another thing Plutarch does to vilify Olympias is his use of adjectives, which are carried onto the wordings of modern scholars. He refers to her as “a jealous and sullen woman”, who treated Philip’s new wife Cleopatra savagely upon his death (Plut. Alex. 9.5, 10.8). This wording is definitely reflected in the examples seen priorly, and it’s unsurprising that such descriptions have carried through for millennia. This is because Plutarch is a reputable and renowned source, so therefore everything he says must go.
Although mentioned by Plutarch, Justin goes into depth about the theory that Olympias was the one who had her husband Philip assassinated. It starts when Philip and Olympias got divorced based on claims of adultery by Olympias, although the idea of divorce could have also been Justin trying to make it seem like Philip didn’t have, like, seven wives (Just. Epit. 9.5). Justin claimed that Olympias was heavily affected by the divorce and Philip’s remarriage, and therefore had Pausanias assassinate Philip (Just. Epit. 9.7). In other words, Olympias was too affected by her womanly emotions and therefore just had to do something grim about it and murder her (ex) husband. I’m surprised Justin didn’t say she was on her period. Justin also says “it is certain” that Olympias had an escape horse ready for Pausanias, and when he was crucified after being caught for the murder, she put a crown of gold on him (Just. Epit. 9.7). She then forced Cleopatra to hang herself after Olympias had killed her daughter, and she “enjoyed the sight of her suffering this vengeance” (Just. Epit. 9.7). Oh man.
After Alexander died, Olympias, who had been living in Epirus, returned to Greece via invite when Polyperchon was appointed regent of the empire (Justin, Epit, 14.5). He claims that when she did return, it was not her power that made the Macedonians yield to her, but rather the memory of Philip and/or Alexander (Justin, 14.5.10). So essentially, it wasn’t Olympias herself that made the Macedonians accept her back, but rather the men who had died, because how on Earth could a woman even have that much power. He then refers to her as acting “like a furious woman rather than a queen” (Justin, 14.6.1). When she died, he said she went down regally at the hands of the relatives of those she had killed (Justin, 14.6.6-14.6.9).
So now we know how the treatment of Olympias got to be so bad. Olympias probably was as they describe, however, so were practically all of the men she was around. But because she’s a woman, she gets the short end of the stick and has to succumb to her villainization.
So Who Was Olympias: A Biography
“The scale of her son’s epic story has obscured her own.”
-Elizabeth Carney, ‘Olympias: Mother of Alexander the Great’ (2006), page i
Throughout the biography, it’s important to keep in mind that we know very little about Olympias’ life beyond what is written, and the rest is mainly speculation based on the world around her. The majority of information on her comes from after she married Philip. I have attempted to take what we have from the primary sources (Plutarch and Justin), and Elizabeth Carney’s work, as well as some of the less biased views from male historians in order to show that she was not a villain, but rather a mother rooting for her son and fighting for even the smallest amount of power for herself.
Olympias grew up in Epirus, where her father was king of Molossia (Carney, 2006, p.5). It wasn’t part of Greece, because Greece didn’t exist as it does now, so they went by their own rules. Epirus was never super urbanized, and was highly religious (Meyer, 2015, p.300). Women were able to own property and be guardians for their children -without the need for a man- they also required no guardians for themselves once they were adults (Carney, 2006, p.7). She was married to Philip, King of Macedon, likely not because he loved her, as Plutarch claimed, but rather for a political advantage, as it would give Epirus allies in Macedonia and vice versa. It would also allow for the two areas to have common ancestors, meaning Olympias’ main value in this arrangement would be to ensure an inter-generational political alliance (Carney, 2006, p.14). Why would anybody be mad about that?
While most people would think Olympias was thrilled to be uprooted and sent away to have children in a political move, she obviously wasn’t, because later in his life Alexander claimed his mother charged him rent for the nine months spent in her womb (Cartledge, 2004, p.142). Because she had given birth to a son, she was raised above Philip’s other wives, this wouldn’t have been the case if she had a daughter because boys were the ones who could inherit the throne after their father’s died, definitely not girls. Although Alexander’s half brother Arrhidaeus was older, due to his mental limitations -whether they started when he was young or because he was poisoned by those magical herbs- he was not capable of gaining access to the throne, making Alexander top dog and Olympias top wife (Carney, 2006, p.24).
Prior to her husband’s assassination, after an altercation at Philip’s symposium following his new marriage to Cleopatra (Eurydice in the movie), Alexander and Olympias left Macedonia for a brief period of time on their own will (Carney, 2006, p.32). Olympias had also attempted to get her brother to go to war against Philip; when he agreed to marry their daughter Cleopatra (not Philip’s new wife), however, this would have allowed for Philip to have political control over Alexander of Epirus (Olympias’ brother, not her son) as well (Justin, 9.7.7). Philip then arranged for Arrhidaeus to be married to the daughter of the Persian governor of Caria, Pixodarus (Rogers, 2004, p.29). Olympias told Alexander that this was a plan to replace him as heir (Rogers, 2004, p.29). It’s not hard to believe she would attempt to turn Alexander against Philip in a sense. After all, he didn’t care about his son until he realized his potential as heir, whereas she had been the one to care for him his whole life.
After the assassination is when Justin claims that Olympias made Cleopatra hang herself, however, there is no way to know what exactly is true, as the murder happened in private (Carney, 2006, p.43). Perhaps Olympias saw her chance to get rid of them for once and all, and have her son be the only possible heir -or perhaps Cleopatra committed suicide with her child out of distress for what else might have happened to her: rape, murder, sold into slavery, etc. (Carney, 2006, p.44).
After becoming king, while Alexander went off to expand the empire, becoming great, Olympias kept close watch over the affairs in Macedonia while Alexander was away, despite him leaving Antipater, a general and statesman, in charge of military control (Carney, 2006, p.49-50). Olympias and her daughter Cleopatra were very much involved in diplomatic processes on the international scale (Carney, 2006, p.50). There are a few examples of her engagement in politics: Olympias and Cleopatra’s names are the only personal ones that appear on a list of recipients of grain (without the addition of Alexander’s); Olympias claimed that Molossia, her homeland, belonged to her; and she requested the extradition of Harpalus, a friend of Alexander (Carney, 2006. p.51). A woman engaging in politics was, and still is, a hard thing for men to accept, however, when given what women were able to do where she grew up, it’s not so hard to believe she would want a chance to have a say.
Olympias was in Molossia for the majority of her life after Alexander’s death (Cartledge, 2004, p.309). It is probable that she was acting as regent over her nephew, Aeacides (Carney, 2006, p.67). While some believe that Aeacides came to rule Molossia due to Antipater’s help, it would make more sense that Olympias invited him to have the position given that it was her homeland (Carney, 2006, p.68). This indicates that she still held some political power and, despite a time of trauma after her son’s death, still had the capability to attempt to protect herself.
In the fall of 317 BCE, Adea Eurydice, wife of Arrhideaus and ally of Antipater’s son Cassander, and Olympias both led armies to the Molossia-Macedonia border, in the first war between women, both vying for a chance at the throne in their own rights (Carney, 2006, p.74). However, when they met, Macedonia’s army defected to Olympias before engaging in battle. This was the moment in which Olympias’ goals were met, and she was at the apex of her power and influence (Justin, 14.5.9-14.5.10; Carney, 2006, p.74-75). She had Adea Eurydice and Philip Arrhideaus walled up, and then arranged for Arrhideaus to be murdered and forced Adea Eurydice to hang herself (Carney, 2006, p.75). Olympias then had Cassander’s brother killed, the grave of his other overturned, and selected one hundred of Cassander’s allies to be slaughtered (Carney, 2006, p.75). She was not the first to commit acts like this, and she was not the last. The only difference is that the other people who committed these acts were men. Alexander did a very similar thing when his father was assassinated, but he was not scrutinized for it as Olympias was.
When she realized that Cassander was returning, Olympias went into hiding with Roxane, Alexander’s wife, and Heracles, Olympias’ grandson (Justin, 14.6.2). She gave herself up to Cassander, for reasons unknown, and was given a trial, but she was found guilty and condemned to death. She was killed by the relatives of those she had put to death, meeting them in regal apparel and fixing her hair and dress just before she died (Justin, 14.6.5-14.6.12).
Moral of the Story: Words Hurt
Olympias has been treated unfairly by scholars and historians for years, mainly because she dared to do what many women did not -and could not- while she lived. Her depictions in antiquity have led to modern scholars determining that she must have been evil and cold-hearted. In reality, it rather appears that Olympias was a young girl who was whisked away from her life of freedom as a princess to be one of seven wives, only able to prove her worth by having children. She had to fight to get what was best for her son, and took any means necessary to get him on the throne. When she was left without the ability to properly grieve him, she sought out the power she had tried so hard to secure for him. If she had been a man, she would have been treated as ruthless, clever, and definitely not jealous. So many men before and after her had done exactly what she did -fight for political power-, however, because she’s a woman she is treated unfairly and villainized for it.
Sources
Carney, Elizabeth. Olympias: Mother of Alexander the Great. Taylor & Francis Group, 2006. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral-proquest-com.ezproxy.acadiau.ca:9443/lib/acadia/detail.action?docID=273803.
Cartledge, Pauk. Alexander the Great. Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc., 2004.
Gunther, John. Alexander the Great. Updated ed., Sterling Publishing Co., 1953.
Justin, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus’ Philippic Histories. Translated by J S. Watson, 1853, books 7-14.
MacLean Rogers, Guy. Alexander: The Ambiguity of Greatness. 1st ed., Random House, Inc., 2004.
Meyer, Elizabeth. Molossia and Epeiros. 2015, http://www.academia.edu/26780014/_Molossia_and_Epeiros_.
Plutarch. The Life of Alexander. Translated by Bernadotte Perrin, Loeb, 1919.
Stone, Oliver, director. Alexander. 2004.
Images/Gifs (In Order of Appearance)
Sp!ros. Relief by Desiderio da Settignano. Olympias of Macedonia. 2019. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olympias_of_Macedonia.jpeg (Also featured image)
aish-rai. ANGELINA JOLIE as Queen Olympias in Alexander (2004). 2022, aish-rai.tumblr.com/post/688954055115096065/angelina-jolie-as-queen-olympias-in-alexander.
emmyrossvm, reposted by grantcary. Angelina Jolie as Olympias in “Alexander”. 2015. https://grantcary.tumblr.com/post/123928915843/angelina-jolie-as-olympias-in-alexander
ZoMeraz. Double Double Toil And Trouble GIF. 2020. https://tenor.com/view/double-double-toil-and-trouble-fire-burn-caudron-bubble-witch-gif-16497901
Hoet, Gerard. Olympias presenting the young Alexander the Great to Aristotle. Circa1733, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olympias_presenting_the_young_Alexander_the_Great_to_Aristotle_by_Gerard_Hoet_before_1733_MH.jpg.
Odysses. Plutarch head only. 2013. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plutarch_head_only.jpg
kladcat. Woodcut illustration of Olympias, wife of Philip II of Macedon, and the deaths of Pausanias and of Cleopatra and her daughter. 2011, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woodcut_illustration_of_Olympias,wife_of_Philip_II_of_Macedon,_and_the_deaths_of_Pausanias_and_of_Cleopatra_and_her_daughter-_Penn_Provenance_Project.jpg
Rouille, Guillaume. Olympias. 1553, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olympias.jpg.
Ancient Regions Epirus and Macedon. 2010. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ancient_Regions_Epirus_and_Macedon.png
Mortel, Richard. Philip II of Macedon. Circa 400 BCE, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philip-II-of-Macedonia.jpg.
Medallion with Olympias. between circa 215 and circa 243. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_-Medallion_with_Olympias–Walters_592-_Obverse.jpg
Women in Antiquity 
