A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

OLYMPIAS. OLYMPIODORUS. 23
mother of Alexander, still carried much weight said to have denied the rites of sepulture to her
with the Macedonians, and her alliance was now remains. (Diod. xix. 35, 36, 49-51; Justin.
eagerly courted by the new regent Polysperchon, xiv. 6; Paus. ix. 7. ~ 2; Polyaen. iv. 11. ~ 3
who stood in need of her support against Cas- Aelian. tI. N. xii. 6; Euseb. Arm. p. 155.) Of
sander; and he sent her an honourable embassy, her character it is unnecessary to speak, after the
imploring her to return to Macedonia, and under- events above related: she was certainly not withtake the charge of the young prince Alexander, out something of the grandeur and loftiness of
the son of Roxana. She, however, followed the spirit which distinguished her son, but her unadvice of Eumenes, that she should remain in governable passions led her to acts of sanguinary
Epeirus until the fortune of the war was decided, cruelty that must for ever disgrace her name. Her
and contented herself with interposing the weight life was made the subject of a separate biography
of her name and authority in favour of Poly- by Amyntianus, a writer in the reign of M. Auresperchon in Greece, and of Eumenes in Asia. lius. (Phot. Bibl. p. 97, a.)
(Diod. xviii. 49, 57, 58, 62, 65.) For a time, 2. Daughter of Pyrrhus I. king of Epeirus, and
indeed, fortune appeared to be unfavourable: the wife of her own brother Alexander II. After his
disasters of Polysperchon in Greece, and the death she assumed the regency of the kingdom on
alliance concluded by Eurydice with Cassander, behalf of her two sons, Pyrrhus and Ptolemy; and
gave a decided preponderance to the opposite in order to strengthen herself against the Aetolians
party. But in B. c. 317, Olympias determined to gave her daughter Phthia in marriage to Demetrius
take a more vigorous part in the contest, and took II. king of Macedonia. By this alliance she sethe field in person, together with Polysperchon, at cured herself in the possession of the sovereignty,
the head of an army furnished by the king of which she continued to administer till her sons
Epeirus. Eurydice met them with equal daring; were grown up to manhood, when she resigned it
but when the mother of Alexander appeared on into the hands of Pyrrhus. But the deaths of
the field, surrounded by a train in bacchanalian that prince and his brother Ptolemy followed in
style, the Macedonians at once declared in her quick succession, and Olympias herself died of
favour, and Eurydice, abandoned by her own grief for her double loss. (Justin. xxviii. 3.) Such
troops, fled to Amphipolis, where she soon after is Justin's statement: according to another account
fell into the hands of her implacable rival, and Olympias had poisoned a Leucadian damsel named
was put to death, together with her unfortunate Tigris, to whom her son Pyrrhus was attached,
husband, the puppet king Arrhidaeus [EURYDICE]. and was herself poisoned by him in revenge.
Not content with this unnecessary act of cruelty, (Athen. xiii. p. 589, f; Helladius, ap. Phot. p.
Olympias followed up her vengeance by the execu- 530, a.)
tion of Nicanor, the brother of Cassander, as well 3. Daughter of Polycletus of Larissa, was the
as of an hundred of his leading partisans among wife of Demetrius, surnamed the Handsome, by
the Macedonian nobles, and even wreaked her whom she became the mother of Antigonus Doson,
fury upon the lifeless remains of his brother Iollas. afterwards king of Macedonia. (Euseb. Arm. p.
(Diod. xix. 11; Justin. xiv. 5; Athen. xiii. p. 560,f.; 161.) [E. H. B.]
Paus. i. 11. ~4; Plut. Alex. 77; Ael. V. H.xiii. 35.) OLY'MPIAS, a female painter, of whom Pliny
But her sanguinary triumph was of short duration: knew nothing more than that she instructed Autoher cruelties alienated the minds of the Macedo- bulus. (H. N. xxxv. 11. s. 40. ~ 43.) [P. S.]
nians, and Cassander, who was at that time in the OLY'MPICUS ('OXv1nrlKds), sometimes called
Peloponnese, hastened to raise the siege of Tegea, Olysnpiacuzs, but probably incorrectly, a physician of
in which he was engaged, and turn-his arms against Miletus, who belonged to the sect of the MethoMacedonia. Olympias on his approach threw her- dici, though he did not embrace all their doctrines.
self (together with Roxana and the young Alex- (Galen, Inttrod. c. 4, vol. xiv. p. 684.) He was the
ander) into Pydna, where she trusted to be able to tutor of Apollonius of Cyprus (Galen, De liethd.
hold out until Polysperchon or Aeacides should Alfed. i. 7, vol. x. p. 54), and therefore lived in the
come to her relief; but Cassander succeeded in first century after Christ. Galen does not appear
cutting off all succours from without, and kept the to have thought very highly of him, as he calls him
city closely blockaded both by sea and land " a frivolous (MApcl6s) person" (ibid. p. 53), and
throughout the winter. At length in the spring of criticizes severely his definition of the words VyEilcaS
316, after suffering the utmost extremities of fa- and ra'Oor. (Ibid. pp. 54, &c. 67, &c.) [W. A. G.J
mine, Olympias was compelled by the increasing OLY'MPION ('OXuavriw'v), an ambassador sent
discontent of the garrison to surrender to Cassan- by Gentius, the Illyrian king, to Perseus, in B..C.
der, stipulating only that her life should be spared. 168. (Polyb. xxix. 2, 3; Liv. xliv. 23.) [GEN.
But notwithstanding this promise, the conqueror TIUS; PERSEUS.]
caused her to be arraigned before the assembly of OLYMPIODO'RUS ('OAvywrL&opos), histhe Macedonians for' her late executions, and con- torical. 1. An Athenian, the son of Lampon.
demned to death without being allowed a hearing. He commanded a body of 300 picked Athenian
Olympias in vain protested against the sentence, troops at the battle of Plataeae. When the
and demanded to be heard in her'own defence. Megarians were being hard pressed by the Persian
Cassander feared the effect which her personal ap- cavalry before the general engagement, this body
pearance might produce, and despatched a body of of Athenians undertook to relieve them, a service
soldiers to put her to death. Even these men, from which all the other Greeks shrank. (Herod.
awed by her daring and majestic carriage, hesi- ix. 21; Plut. Aristid. p. 327, a.).
tated to fulfil their orders, but the friends of the 2. An Athenian, against whom a law-suit was
Macedonians whom she had so lately put to death, brought by his brother-in-law, Callistratus, rerushed in and despatched her with many wounds. specting an inheritance left by a man named Conon.
She met her fate with a fortitude and dignity Demosthenes wrote the speech KaT&'OAvukrroworthlNy of the mother of Alexlander, Cassander is &8opov for Callistratus on this occasion. The parc4