Talk:Olympias

Comments

For God's sake, whoever wrote this article is a complete ignorant, to say the least, and shouldn't be writing about a subject s/he doesn't know anything about. Olympias was daughter of a Neoptolemus, granted, but not the mythological one! There is a great, great, great gap of time between these two characters that amounts to some 25 generations, if Achilles did exist!

A genealogical tree of the characters involved can be found here.

I join you in disdain for the general level of classical studies on Wikipedia—this is why I started the Wiki Classical Dictionary—but let me suggest that the problem here isn't stupidity but merely failing to check where a link goes. The text is entirely correct, but the link Neoptolemus goes to the mythical individual, not to her father. That seems to be the only crime. It's very easy to do this. Imagine saying that that Alexander married Roxane and not realizing it goes to the Police song. It wouldn't mean you thought Alexander's wife didn't, um, need to put out the red light. Lectiodifficilior 03:01, 17 May 2005 (UTC)

Well, it's about time we started doing something about the woeful state of the classics information on Wiipedia. I've started with Olympias ...Philip02 (talk) 16:55, 3 October 2009 (UTC)

Family?

This article basically only names Olympias' relatives as her father and uncle. Who was her mother? Did she have brothers and sisters? Or is this information completely lost?

=/ So I'm assuming that's a "no", considering the time its been since I posted this. Ah, oh well. At least I learned about her brother, but no clue as to other mother/sisters (if any)/other brothers.

~~ I'd like to bring to people's attention that if you search Albania - the article there expresses the view that Olimpia was an "Illyrian" Princess (Illyrians portrayed as ancient Albanians). I have taken the liberty to add that she was an Epirotean Princess - which is what I was taught, but I only quoted that in once I saw that wikipedia seems to agree when you search under Alexander the Great. Was wondering, what is wikipedia's official view on this matter? Or are the two versions likely to co-exist? ApplesnPeaches ~~

She was Epirote thus a hellene according to history channell on Epirotes and MacedonsMegistias (talk) 00:48, 28 November 2007 (UTC) The name of Olympias' mother is not known. Olympias' eldest sister, Troas, married their uncle, Arybbas, brother of their father, Neoptolemus. As for Olympias being Illyrian - what the? Olympias was from the Molossi, the most powerful of the Epirote clans. Philip's first wife wasPhilip02 (talk) 16:58, 3 October 2009 (UTC) Audata of Illyria.

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie was excellent as Olympias in Alexander, an otherwise excreable film. Is the Dionysius worship and snake fetish a documented part of her history or is more myth/film magic? jengod 08:29, 1 January 2006 (UTC)

The snake stuff and Dionysus worship is documented in the ancient sources, AFAIK. She was also affiliated with the Kabeiroi cult. Alexander 007 00:42, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

I would respectfully suggest that Angelina Jolie has no business in this article. It's recentism.--98.210.233.15 (talk) 04:14, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

The so-called 'snake cult' was a creation of Plutarch of Charonea, and based on The Bacchae of Euripides (which, incidentally, was written in Pella and received its posthumous premiere in the Theatre of Argae).

Broken Link

For the Wiki Classical Dictionary link, it appears as broken to me. Has the link been moved/deleted?

Name

Being as how she wasn't named "Olympias" until her married to Philip II, what was she originally called? And the said fact should also be listed. I'll go add it now.

Her original name was Myrtale. Hulamoth

The name is mentioned here as well but not for her.Myrtaleand a Myrtilus in this page MyrtilusMegistias (talk) 23:27, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

:) Great, thanks for the information. Hmmm--you don't happen to know why 'Myrtale', do you?

Also Polyxena and Stratonice. Njál 17:56, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

Only Staryus and Justin remark that Olympias had other names. Be careful when moving away from the sources. There is no Macedonian literature, so what information that is available concerning the times of Philip and Alexander are by Greek and Roman writers. Most of what is in the article on Olympias (and the rest of the Macedon articles), is derivative and repetitive with sources unacknowledged. That is plagarism.Philip02 (talk) 17:05, 3 October 2009 (UTC)

Self-citation

What was that self-citation put for? - Sthenel (talk) 17:34, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Method of execution

By which method was she killed?--85.226.40.64 (talk) 11:57, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

restructure

please move the info about having Eurydice killed up to the previous paragraph. It belongs there more than it does in the campaigns of Alexander. 4.249.15.28 (talk) 19:50, 15 March 2010 (UTC)

Physical appearance

Some description should be researched and added to the article. Due to the genetic attributes that are reportedly unique to Alexander's physical appearnce and were viewed as inherited from his mother (the fuss over it [being unlike Phillip]). In legend, Northern Greek oral parables or stories relating to Olympias 'apo'- Epirotis, state that she was well known to have had a genetic trait that turned her hair to silver-white or very light grey but shiny in appearance in her early to mid-twenties. It is a real and very rare characteristic that some people still carry from the Hellenic prefectures of Epirus and Western Macedonia. The occurrence of this unusual totally silver color hair is documented somewhere and needs research. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.252.113.117 (talk) 05:28, 10 May 2013 (UTC)

myrtale

name, seems to coincide to the indo-aryan cult of (mitra - covenant, treaty, agreement, promise), as a part of a marriage ritual. or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrtus#Uses_in_myth_and_ritual as well.89.205.2.29 (talk) 01:22, 30 May 2013 (UTC)

Any source that links this with Olympias?Alexikoua (talk) 14:02, 31 May 2013 (UTC)

Marriage to Philip

Is it really true that Philip and Olympias had a daughter named Cleopatra and then Philip married a woman named Cleopatra? I guess it was a common name then, but it seems a little strange. CorinneSD (talk) 16:22, 31 August 2014 (UTC)