olympia and philip

[amir]

Did Philip ever divorce olympia ? or did he just accuse her of adultery ?

[marcus]

Hi Amir,Wow! You have loads of questions, don't you? (not that that's a problem).Philip did not 'divorce' Olympias. I'm not even aware that there was any hint of adultery - are you sure you're not thinking of Princess Diana? :-)The divorce theory came about because, in the past, people couldn't cope with the idea of the Macedonian kings being polygamous. So, if Philip married Eurydice, then he must have divorced Olympias. It was the same prudishness that let them to say that Philip's other wives were concubines rather than wives - again, not true, but it satisfied their moral standpoint.All the bestMarcus

[ruthaki]

It was acceptable for the Macedonian kings to take as many wives as they pleased. These were usually political marriages to consolidate the countries they'd just conquored. Philip had many wives (at least 7) and Olympias was terribly jealous, especially since she was not true-blooded Macedonian (she was from Epiros). There were early gossip rumours that she was pretty 'friendly' with Nectenabo, the ousted shaman/pharoah from Egypt who had come to visit Philip appealing for help. It was supposed he who convinced her she'd be visited by the 'golden snake of Ammon' which would pregnate her. The rumors were the 'golden snake' might have been attached to him. Hence Alexander's deep interest in finding Nectenabo's tomb when he arrived in Egypt. Obviously Philip didn't buy those rumors as he always believed Alexander to be his real son.

[alejandro]

Hi AmirI am really interested in the comic because I really like drawing. Is there a website where I can have a look at it or any sketches you have? When do you plan to finish it? where to publish it?
RegardsAlejandro

[Tre]

Greetings Ruth!It's unlikely Philip ever heard such rumors since they are part of the Romance, rather than factual.While it is true Olympias was from Epirus, once she married into the Argead clan she was an Argead. By producing Philip's only viable son, she became the primary wife. While people assume she was terribly jealous, in fact she raised Thessalonike as her own. The problem with Olympias was she was not accepting of the female 'passive' role - she behaved as a male Argead and that was not particularly welcome in Macedon.One has to be careful when reading Greek interpretations of Macedonian marriage policies and of powerful women.
Regards,Tre

[maciek]

Hi Amir again!!
My opinion is that there was no real devorces but it was (if we can say so) first lady in the court - it was definetly Olimpias for a long time but new marriage with Cleopatra changed it and then Olimpias was real angree! I doubt if she was realy jaleous - I belive in her political objectives only so as far as she had primary role (after Phillip of course) everything was more or less ok.
Maciek

[marcus]

Indeed, Tre. I would also add that, while Olympias was not originally Macedonian, neither were most of Philip's wives - his first was an Illyrian, the daughter of Bardylis. So the idea that Olympias might have a problem with not being Macedonian doesn't hold much water.All the bestMarcus

[amir]

Comics take a very long time to make. My last one took over two years, but it was my first one. The story of Alexander is as we all know not only fasinating but also complicated. I am determined to make a factually correct comic, thats why I have so many questions.
As for the web site, I am afraid because the pictures will need copyright protection until they can be posted, however i can tell you so far the pictures look great.

[ruthaki]

It was pretty well known that Philip's wives were generally "campaign" wives, although he was supposedly smitten by Olympias. I think it was an issue for her once he married his last and youngest wife who happened to be pure Macedonian.

[marcus]

Hi Ruth,I don't know whether Eurydice's being 'pure Macedonian' was in itself enough to cause Olympias alarm. If there was any hint that her son was going to be passed over for a child of Eurydice's, then that would send her off on one.At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where the other queens came from - whether they were pure Macedonian or not - if you were the mother of the acknowledged heir then you were top banana!All the bestMarcus

[Tre]

The eruption between Olympias and Cleopatra after Philip's assassination and his naming her 'Eurydike' after his own mother more than suggests that Philip had placed this last wife over Olympias. It had nothing to do with her being 'pure Macedonian' but rather the attraction of her powerful family, their fit into Philip's new plans for the future which did not include Alexander as heir and in fact, Philip may well have been smitten with the young woman.

[marcus]

Good point, Tre, about the change of name - I had temporarily forgotten that. It depends, of course, on whether one believes that Philip's plans for the future did or didn't include Alexander - but probably more important is whether Olympias thought they did (which she clearly didn't, hence the... er... trouble).All the bestMarcus

[agesilaos]

There is of course the possibility that they included Alexander but not Olympias! Sadly the mother was dominant over the father in Alexander's psychology

[Tre]

Of course Karl, in Argead politics, one could always be assured of who the mother supported as the future King, one could never be sure of Philip. Neither party was parent of the year material.Regards,Tre

[ruthaki]

And as the saying goes "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Olympias was determined her son would rule and she was vicious enough to do anything necessary to insure that he did.