Editing Olympias (section)

==Origin==
Olympias was the eldest daughter of [[Neoptolemus I of Epirus|Neoptolemus I]], king of the [[Molossians]], an [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] tribe in [[Epirus (ancient state)|Epirus]],<ref name=britannica>{{cite encyclopedia|author=Encyclopædia Britannica staff|section=Epirus|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/190156/Epirus|title=Epirus|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]], Inc.|year=2013|access-date=24 December 2023}}</ref> and sister of [[Alexander I of Epirus]]. She also had a sister named Troas, who married their paternal uncle [[Arybbas of Epirus|Arrybas of Epirus]].

Her family belonged to the [[Aeacidae]], a well-respected family of [[Epirus]], which claimed descent from [[Neoptolemus]], son of [[Achilles]]. They took their name from the mythical king [[Aeacus]], who ruled in the island of [[Aegina]] in the [[Saronic Gulf]].<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Aeacides |chapter-url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/acl3129.0001.001/37?page=root;rgn=full+text;size=100;view=image |editor-last1=Smith |editor-first1=William |editor-link1=William Smith (lexicographer) |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology |title-link=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology |page=22 |volume=1 |location=Boston |publisher=Little, Brown, and Company |year=1867}}</ref> The Aeacidae were perhaps the only Epirotes who were universally recognised as Greek.<ref name=britannica /> Although unknown, some scholars have theorized that Olympias' mother may have been a [[Chaonians|Chaonian]] princess, based on the rumour that Olympias used to say that she was also a descendant of the Trojan prince, [[Helenus of Troy|Helenus]] son of [[Priam]] (the last king of Troy) and [[Andromache]], wife of [[Hector]].<ref>[[Theopompus]], ''[[Fragmente der griechischen Historiker]]'' (FGrH) 115 F355</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Carney |first=Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xxmAAgAAQBAJ&dq=olympias+father&pg=PT26 |title=Olympias: Mother of Alexander the Great |date=2006-09-27 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-31818-6 |language=en}}</ref>

Apparently, she was originally named Polyxena, as [[Plutarch]] mentions in his work ''[[Moralia]]'', and changed her name to Myrtale prior to her marriage to [[Philip II of Macedon]] as part of her initiation into an unknown mystery cult.<ref name="Carney">{{cite web |url=https://cj.camws.org/Dixon%20on%20Carney.pdf |title=Review of Elizabeth Carney's ''Olympias, Mother of Alexander the Great'' by Michael D. Dixon |publisher=Classical Journal |access-date=2022-07-05 }}</ref> The name ''Olympias'' was the third of four names by which she was known. She probably took it as a recognition of Philip's victory in the [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic Games]] of 356 BC, the news of which coincided with Alexander's birth (Plut. Alexander 3.8).<ref>{{harvnb|Heckel|2006|p=181}}</ref> She was finally named Stratonice, which was probably an epithet attached to Olympias following her victory over [[Eurydice II of Macedon|Eurydice]] in 317 BC.<ref name=Carney/>