ABSTRACT
Olympias was born the daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Molossia, a region of Epirus. Although almost no material directly dealing with Olympias’ childhood and life before her betrothal and marriage survives, information about her family and her country is available, enough to indicate how her background continued to influence her throughout her eventful life. Her identity as a Molossian and as a member of the Aeacid (descendants of Aeacus) dynasty endured; her son embraced that same identity to a remarkable degree, considering the patriarchal and patrilineal nature of Macedonian society and the Hellenic world in general.
