is the mother of alexander the great in the tomb at amphipolis.doc

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Is the Mother of Alexander the Great in the

Tomb at Amphipolis? Part 2

Culture Archaeology

Columns

Opinion

by guest- Sep 24, 2014

ByAndrew Chugg*

I wrote my initial articleon this question on the morning o September !th "a #ay beore the

announcement o the #isco$ery o the caryati#s% an# I #rew a number o inerences rom the

e$i#ence then a$ailable&

1% Sphin'es #ecorate# the thrones oun# in the tombs o two mi# to late 4th century (C

queens o )ace#on, one o whom was Ale'an#er*s gran#mother +ury#ice I
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2% ree. mythology recogni/e# era the wie o eus as the mistress o the sphin'& the 4th

century (C )ace#onian .ings i#entiie# themsel$es with eus, so it woul# ma.e sense or

their principal queens to ha$e i#entiie# themsel$es with era

% 3he emale sphin'es at Amphipolis ha$e their closest parallel in a pair o emale sphin'es

oun# by )ariette at the Serapeum at Saqqara, which were #ate# to the reign o the irsttolemy by 5auer 6 icar#, mainly on the basis o an associate# inscription& the Serapeum at

Saqqara is also a strong can#i#ate or the site o the irst tomb o Ale'an#er the reat

4% 3here are strong parallels between the a7a#es o the tombs o hilip II an# Ale'an#er I8 at

Aegae an# the reconstructe# a7a#e o the lion monument that stoo# atop the moun# at

Amphipolis

9% 3he pa$ing in the tomb at Amphipolis closely matches pa$ing in the 4th century (C palace

at Aegae

!% 3he :-petal #ouble rosettes in the Amphipolis tomb ha$e an e'cellent match on the e#geban#s o the gol# larna' o hilip II

;% 3he e$i#ence thereore a$ors an important queen being entombe# at Amphipolis&

Olympias, Ale'an#er*s mother, an# ections to the

can#i#acy o Olympias


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=igure 1 3he let-han#

caryati# in the $estibule o the tomb at Amphipolis
http://greece.greekreporter.com/files/F1.jpg


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Caryati#s, meaning in general pillars orme# rom sculptures o emale igures, are e'tremely

common in ree. an#


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?e$ertheless, the general similarities are stri.ing, when we remember that this same throne

also ha# sphin'es "now stolen%, which were one o the parallels to the Amphipolis sphin'es

that I mentione# in my pre$ious article It is har# not to see conirmation o a connection

between a ourth century (C queen o )ace#on an# the Amphipolis tomb in the caryati#s o

+ury#ice*s throne

=igure 4 Caryati#s in the throne o the gran#mother o Ale'an#er the reat @ perhaps

speciically lo#ones, Bionysiac re$ellers or priestesses

In#ee#, the $ery act that the caryati#s constitute a secon# pair o emale guar#ians or the

Amphipolis tomb shoul# surely be recognise# as hinting at a emale occupant or the tomb

hereas mo#ern sensibilities may incline us to eschew se'ual stereotypes, it woul# be the

height o oolishness to pro>ect such mo#ern $iews bac. onto 4th century (C )ace#on, or

which our sources are e'tremely clear that .ings ha# a#olescent boys as their ser$ants,

whereas queens ha# women an# a#olescent girls

It is possible to be more speciic lutarch in the secon# chapter o his 5ie o Ale'an#er gi$es

a colourul account o Olympias an# her women e writes that these women participate# in

Orphic rites an# Bionysiac orgies with the queen an# were calle# lo#ones "possibly

DspinnersE or Dcac.lersE% or )imallones "Dmen imitatorsE%

olyaenus 41, in a story about Argaeus, an early .ing o )ace#on, writes that the lo#ones

were priestesses o Bionysus, who became calle# )imallones ater )ace#onian $irgins

carrying the wan#s o Bionysus were mista.en or men in a battle lutarch also tells us that

Olympias .ept serpents that woul# oten rear their hea#s out o the Dmystical winnowing

bas.etsE o her lo#ones to terriy the men

3he wor# FGHJ that lutarch uses or these bas.ets #escribes the type o bas.et that is

carrie# on the hea#s o the Amphipolis caryati#s 3hereore, on the assumption that the

Amphipolis tomb is that o Olympias, the e'planation or the caryati#s woul# be that they

represent those lo#ones that share# in Orphic rites with the queen whose tomb they guar#

Ostensibly, the lion rom the monument that once stoo# atop the tomb moun# at Amphipolis

as shown in =igure 9 is a problem or the i#entiication o the tomb as that o Olympias Some

ha$e argue# that it might be a lioness as no penis has yet been oun# belonging to it (ut this

is #iicult, because it has a $ery #einite mane, an attribute e'clusi$e to male lions owe$er,

the secon# chapter o lutarch*s Ale'an#er answers this point too, or he tells the story o how

hilip, Ale'an#er*s ather, #reamt that he put a seal bearing the #e$ice o a lion on the womb

o Olympias whilst she was pregnant with Ale'an#er
http://greece.greekreporter.com/files/F4.jpg


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were ille# by the scholars who originally reconstructe# their te'ts an# such as to allu#e to the

e'istence o an un#isco$ere# tomb o Olympias at y#na

I ear howe$er that this paper may say more about the ingenuity o its author in the art o

te'tual reconstruction than about the true location o the tomb o the mother o Ale'an#er the

reatIt is unli.ely that Olympias #ie# at y#na, because she #ie# at least wee.s ater she

surren#ere# to Cassan#er at y#na an# Cassan#er seems to ha$e been nearby when she

#ie# It is har# to belie$e that Cassan#er remaine# lur.ing at y#na or all those wee.s, whilst

Amphipolis remaine# the ocus o re$olt against his rule

?either my pre$ious article nor this ollow-up in any way pro$es that the lion tomb o

Amphipolis is that o Olympias ?e$ertheless, I belie$e I ha$e shown why Olympias remains

the lea#ing can#i#ate with

is the mother of alexander the great in the tomb at amphipolis.doc

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