Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
In a lot of online pop history and movies, the parents of Alexander the Great are said to have hated each other, fought all the time, and Olympias may even have had a hand in the plot to murder her husband after he married a new wife. Some present it as a love story gone bad, some just portray Olympias as a witchy bitch.
But what's the *truth*?
Let's take a look at the real politics behind their marriage versus click-bait sensationalism.
Correction: I accidentally called Aiakos/Aeacus the father of Achilles; he's the grandfather. Peleus, of course, is Achilles father.
Prior YouTube video mentioned: "What Philip Wrought"
youtu.be/pLbjLvP2HgI?si=RMU-Hr0ua-uVDt_X
Ancient sources mentioned:
Plutarch's Life of Alexander 2.2
Satyrus fragment embedded in Athenaeus 13.557b-e
Modern sources mentioned:
William Greenwalt (2008) "Philip II and Olympias on Samothrace: A Clue to Macedonian Politics During the 360s." In MACEDONIAN LEGACIES, Timothy Howe & Jeanne Reames, eds. Regina Books, 79-106.
amazon.com/Macedonian-Legacies-Studies-Ancient-History/dp/1539365654
Borja Antela-Bernárdez (2025) ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN LOVE. L'Erma.
https://en.lerma.it/libro/9788891335609
Elizabeth Carney (2006) OLYMPIAS: MOTHER OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Routledge.
routledge.com/Olympias-Mother-of-Alexander-the-Great/Carney/p/book/9780415333177
____ (2000) WOMEN AND MONARCHY IN MACEDONIA. Univ. of Oklahoma Press.
oupress.com/9780806132129/women-and-monarchy-in-macedonia
J.R. Ellis (1976) PHILIP II AND MACEDONIAN IMPERIALISM. Princeton UP.
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691638478/philip-ii-and-macedonian-imperialism
Edward M. Anson (2020) PHILIP II: THE FATHER OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Bloomsbury.
bloomsbury.com/us/philip-ii-the-father-of-alexander-the-great-9781350103948
In a lot of online pop history and movies, the parents of Alexander the Great are said to have hated each other, fought all the time, and Olympias may even have had a hand in the plot to murder her husband after he married a new wife. Some present it as a love story gone bad, some just portray Olympias as a witchy bitch.
But what's the *truth*?
Let's take a look at the real politics behind their marriage versus click-bait sensationalism.
Correction: I accidentally called Aiakos/Aeacus the father of Achilles; he's the grandfather. Peleus, of course, is Achilles father.
Prior YouTube video mentioned: "What Philip Wrought"
youtu.be/pLbjLvP2HgI?si=RMU-Hr0ua-uVDt_X
Ancient sources mentioned:
Plutarch's Life of Alexander 2.2
Satyrus fragment embedded in Athenaeus 13.557b-e
Modern sources mentioned:
William Greenwalt (2008) "Philip II and Olympias on Samothrace: A Clue to Macedonian Politics During the 360s." In MACEDONIAN LEGACIES, Timothy Howe & Jeanne Reames, eds. Regina Books, 79-106.
amazon.com/Macedonian-Legacies-Studies-Ancient-History/dp/1539365654
Borja Antela-Bernárdez (2025) ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN LOVE. L'Erma.
https://en.lerma.it/libro/9788891335609
Elizabeth Carney (2006) OLYMPIAS: MOTHER OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Routledge.
routledge.com/Olympias-Mother-of-Alexander-the-Great/Carney/p/book/9780415333177
____ (2000) WOMEN AND MONARCHY IN MACEDONIA. Univ. of Oklahoma Press.
oupress.com/9780806132129/women-and-monarchy-in-macedonia
J.R. Ellis (1976) PHILIP II AND MACEDONIAN IMPERIALISM. Princeton UP.
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691638478/philip-ii-and-macedonian-imperialism
Edward M. Anson (2020) PHILIP II: THE FATHER OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Bloomsbury.
bloomsbury.com/us/philip-ii-the-father-of-alexander-the-great-9781350103948
