Øystein Wiklund Lyngsnes Øystein Wiklund Lyngsnes Øystein "The Women Who Would Be Kings" A study of the Argead royal women in the early Diadochoi Wars (323-316 BCE): The Rivalry of Adea-Eurydike and Olympias and the Death of the Argead dynasty Master’s thesis Master’s Master’s thesis in History, Master's Programme Supervisor: Leif Inge Ree Petersen "The Women Who Would Be Kings": Adea-Eurydike and Olympias Be Kings": Adea-Eurydike Who Would "The Women Trondheim, May 2018 NTNU Faculty of Humanities Faculty Department of Historical Studies Department of Historical Norwegian University of Science and Technology of Science University Norwegian The Malmaison cameo, 3rd century BCE, Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. ―The Women Who Would be Kings‖ A study of the Argead women in the early Diadochoi Wars (323-316 BCE): The Rivalry of Adea-Eurydike and Olympias i ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... v Chronology ............................................................................................................................... vi Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................ ix 1.0 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Nature of the Extant Sources ........................................................................................... 6 1.2 Problems of chronology ................................................................................................. 11 1.3 Modern Historiography .................................................................................................. 17 2.0 Macedonian Politics ........................................................................................................... 21 2.1 The Macedonian kingdom of Philip and Alexander ...................................................... 21 2.2 Royal legitimacy ............................................................................................................ 24 2.3 The Kings, the Military and the Successors................................................................... 28 2.4 Argead women and royalty ............................................................................................ 31 2.5 Summary of Macedonian politics .................................................................................. 33 3.0 Greco-Macedonian Women ............................................................................................... 35 3.1 Women in Ancient Athens ............................................................................................. 35 3.2 Macedonian women ....................................................................................................... 38 3.3 Gender as performance and performative gender .......................................................... 41 3.4 Summary of Greco-Macedonian women ....................................................................... 44 4.0 Ambitions, Motivations, Actions ....................................................................................... 45 4.1 Kleopatra and the Successors ......................................................................................... 45 4.2 Kynnane‘s Ambition ...................................................................................................... 51 4.3 Adea or Eurydike? ......................................................................................................... 53 4.4 Olympias, religion, axiōma and timé ............................................................................. 55 4.5 Summary of motivations and actions ............................................................................. 59 5.0 Rivalry of Adea & Olympias: Strategies ........................................................................... 61 5.1 Military strength............................................................................................................. 61 iii 5.2 Philia .............................................................................................................................. 73 5.3 Murder............................................................................................................................ 82 5.4 Summary of Adea‘s and Olympias‘ rivalry ................................................................... 86 6.0 The Diadochoi and the Legacy of Adea and Olympias ..................................................... 89 6.1 The wives of Kassander? ............................................................................................... 89 6.2 The royal tombs of Aigai – the grave of Adea-Eurydike............................................... 94 6.3 The world of the Diadochoi and Epigonoi ................................................................... 100 6.4 Summary of Adea‘s and Olympias‘ legacy ................................................................. 103 7.0 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 105 8.0 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 111 8.1 Extant sources .............................................................................................................. 111 8.2 Research literature ....................................................................................................... 112 8.3 Further research ........................................................................................................... 122 Appendix I – Genealogic table of Philip II‘s extended family .............................................. 123 Appendix II – Prosopography ................................................................................................ 125 Adea (Eurydike) ................................................................................................................. 125 Alexander (IV) ................................................................................................................... 126 Antipater ............................................................................................................................ 127 Kassander ........................................................................................................................... 128 Kleopatra ............................................................................................................................ 130 Kynnane ............................................................................................................................. 130 Olympias ............................................................................................................................ 131 Philip (III) Arrhidaios ........................................................................................................ 133 Polyperchon ....................................................................................................................... 133 Thessalonikē ...................................................................................................................... 134 iv Acknowledgements I would like to extend my warmest gratitude to my supervisor Leif Inge Ree Petersen, PhD, for patiently spending many hours poring over my drafts, for reeling me in when my passion for the subject got out of hand, and for the excellent and humorous discussions we have had over the course of the past two years. I would also like to thank Russell Peter McCreight of MacEwan University for igniting in me the embers of interest in ancient history, and who kept fanning the flame when it almost died out. I would also be remiss if I did not thank my fellow students in hall 6395; your walking trips, philosophical deliberations, and incessant jokes about ―horses and swords‖ always brightened my day. A warm thank you to Henning Berg Schmidt of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, who tried his very best to help whatever the time of day or night, never allowing me to give up on myself. Lastly, thank you to my parents; without your encouragement from an early age, I would never have taken an interest in the field of history, and without you buying me a book on Greek mythology at the airport in Rhodes nearly two decades ago, ancient history would to this day be as foreign to me as it is to you. Μετὰ χάριτος. v Chronology Note all dates are Before Common Era (BCE). Period of Philip and Alexander 382 Likely birth year of Philip II of Macedon. 357 Likely birth year of Philip‘s children Kynnane and (Philip) Arrhidaios. 357 Philip marries Olympias (named Polyxena at this point). 356 Birth of Alexander the Great, Philip‘s chariot‘s victory in the Olympic Games and his victory over the Illyrians, prompting Olympias‘ name change. 354 Likely birth year of Kleopatra, daughter of Olympias and Philip. 345 Likely birth year of Thessalonikē, daughter of Nikesipolis and Philip. 338 Battle of Chaironeia which secured Philip‘s hegemony over the Greek peninsula and was Alexander‘s baptism of fire. 337 Philip‘s marriage to Kleopatra/Eurydike, daughter of Attalos, which caused a rift between him and Olympias and her children and they leave in self- imposed exile. 336 Philip is murdered at the marriage celebrations of his daughter