Alexander Olympia's Conspiracy

Olympia was involved in a conspiracy to kill Phillip II of Macedon, but only out of necessity. Philip’s isolating marriage left her no other choice but to arrange his death, whether or not she and Alexander had planned it for years. Alexander’s bizarre reaction to his brother’s marriage arrangement illustrate lack of strategy in a strategic man, implying that the scheme was the result of his mother’s presence and the arrival of Cleopatra’s son. In Alexander, Olympia was presented as a conniving and evil wife. I propose that Olympia was neither villain nor saint, but a women looking to secure the status of her and her son. In Alexander Olympia confesses to innocent Alexander she had a hand in Phillip’s death and even shares a brief, incestuous kiss with him (as if the audience didn’t dislike her enough already). She is portrayed as overtly sexual – a seductive murderer. Peter Green disagrees with this characterization, citing Olympia’s respect for Nicesispolis, a mistress of Phillip through her kind treatment of the mistress and care of her

Demosthenes was ready to start a revolution, and was very dramatic – even ceasing to outwardly mourn his daughter and dress in celebratory robes despite her recent death (Green, 114). I can sympathize with his point of view: Phillip was an unwelcome ruler attempting to unite the city states, an uncivilized Macedonian from Northern Greece. His son, short Alexander with hair “traditionally said to have resembled a lion’s mane” and a fast, nervous gait would hardly have made a polished ruler (Green 55). First rumors swirled about Alexander’s legitimacy. Then Phillip II’s new wife, Cleopatra, produced a new heir – who was then conveniently discarded after Phillip II’s dramatic assassination by a spurned ex-lover. Demosthenes would hardly have been excited for Alexander to rule over