Why was Europe a threat to Alexander?

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adisciplus
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Why was Europe a threat to Alexander?

Post by adisciplus »

After Pausanias’ death, Olympias killed Cleopatra’s daughter Europe. Cleopatra was Attalus' niece and as a women, not a direct threat to Alexander. A young daughter was likewise not a threat (e.g., Alexander did not harass his sister Cynane in the contest for the throne).

Why was it so important for Olympias (or Alexander) to rid the stage of only one of Philip's widows and his youngest daughter?
derek
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Re: Why was Europe a threat to Alexander?

Post by derek »

As women weren’t a threat, the way I interpreted that was that Alexander wasn’t involved in their murder. It was purely revenge by Olympias on the woman who’d displaced her as queen.

However, it’s thought that Cleopatra may have had a son, Caranus, and if so he’d have to be killed. The family group would most likely have been together, and they just got included in his murder. As babies didn’t count in those days, only the mother and daughter have been remembered by history.

Derek
adisciplus
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Re: Why was Europe a threat to Alexander?

Post by adisciplus »

Certainly the mother of both the living king and widow of the dead one, would trump the standing of a widow of the dead king. Even if there had been 1-2 babies, it was often useful to keep the male child alive, giving the family two rights to the throne (regent, in addition to their own standing) ala Philip and Amyntas.

A male member of the family group actually survived, and served with Alexander in Asia, if you accept Hegelochus, son of Hippostratus, as the nephew of Cleopatra/Eurydice. Also note Olympia is blamed for directly killing only the female child Europe, not the male child Karanos / Caranus and not Cleopatra herself.
Semiramis
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Re: Why was Europe a threat to Alexander?

Post by Semiramis »

I'm not sure that I agree with the assumption that as a woman, Cleopatra/Euridike was not a threat to Alexander. In Greek democracy or the Roman empire this would be very close to the truth. But Macedonian monarchy may have been a different kettle of fish. Carney in 'Women and Monarchy in Macedonia' makes a good case that exclusion of women from the political sphere may not have been the case in Macedonia. If you were a royal woman of course. ;)

Simply looking at how much of a player Olympius was in Macedonian politics gives us a clue. The Greek and Roman authors who have described her role have often found it disturbing and unnatural that she was participating in the "men's sphere". Usually they put her motivations down to emotions such as rage or petty jealousy. Compare that to the descriptions of men committing political murders (and there are a few in Macedonian history). They are usually put into context. I find that many modern historians have accepted this narrative of Olympias as a wrathful woman, rather than a rational politician, without question.

I think it's possible that a full-blooded Macedonian wife of Phillip from the powerful family of Attalus' (as opposed to the foreign Olympias) and the two full-blooded Macedonian children of this woman (as opposed to the half-Macedonian Alexander) could make mischief for Alexander while he was away.

As for why only the murders of males are attributed to Alexander - perhaps accession murders of women would have been hard to accept for a Greek and Roman audience whose presupposition would exclude any female role in politics? If one can deflect the blame, it keeps our freshly minted youthful king heroic for a little while longer. Tyre and Gaza would come later, when "foreign modes" were influencing his thinking. ;) The system of Macedonian royal polygamy ties the status of the mother to that of her son. This almost makes certain that Olympias and Alexander would know of each others' important actions during the delicate period after Phillip's death.
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