The previous assumption that The Ring was the wedding ring of Concubine Arsinoe is wrong. This Ring is the ring of a Queen not a concubine.........Step back gang......It was the Ring of Alexander The Great's mother. Olympias.I kind of always had the feeling it ad something to do with Alexander but I wasn't sure, until the old signs and wonders stuff kicked in. With her we find the source of the trouble. Or at least the focal point of the trouble. Ancient times was not all fun and games. Much blood flowed in wars and attempts to stay alive if one was a royal. As you can see in the bio below that it was a fight to just stay in power if one ruled. Olympias was no different. And in the end lost the battle............Or so it seemed.
Let's take this lifetime bit by bit. Most of the trouble seemed to be when her husband more than just a philanderer but was a polygamist too. He took and other, younger wife, named Eurydice...nee Cleopatra. She changed her name when they married. Good thing because Oympias had a daughter called Cleopatra too. After Alexander was murdered, Oympias had to eliminate the competition for Alexander's son to rule. The competition was Eurydice and her children. In the end Oympias accorded Eurydice the choice of the way to die. And Eurydice chose hanging. But Eurydice took the thing one step further and used her own girdle, belt to hang herself and pronounced a curse on the head of Olympias for doing what she had to do to protect her own from a malignant soul. This one act would reverberated though the ages and re manifest it's self among those who have set themselves as the modern royals.....Called actors. We have had a sudden resurgence of hanging as a means of death. Even just the depiction, given the right situation can end up tragically, such as in the case of Heath Ledger. But then Heath was doing a movie with Christopher Plummer who was in Alexander as Aristotle, Alexander's teacher. Then recently an Alexander hung himself for real, after his mother died. There was many signs leading the way, but until one see's it in retrospect one doesn't see the path that leads to illumination.
Above is Angelina Joli, she played Oympias in Oliver Stone's Alexander 2004. Below is another image of the lady As you can see she was quite attractive. And Angelina was a good choice for the roll.
Not included in this bio is what Cassander, son of Antipater did after she was executed. He denied her a burial, one site said he dumped her body into the Aegean, off of Pydna. One could say he did her a favor by acting this way. Burial and burial rites are used not only so the spirit can pass over easily, but it's a binding method also. When he denied this ritual he left her spirit free to easily come back, via reincarnation, to tend to those who killed her son, Alexander. In most cases spirits can only come back in their own spirit groups, freed of this constraint Oylmpias came back within the family that was the least responsible for her son's death......The Ptolemies. Returning, almost immediately, the same year, 316 BC, as first born of Ptolemy I. Became her chosen vehicle to destroy the enemy from within. The enemies was those who by their hand killed her when the executioners refused to do the deed and the ones, Cassander and his minion who did in her son and his family. This was Arsinoe II. Because this incarnation was the closest, memories were the clearest. Though earlier in her life as Arsinoe, was very turbulent, she had settled in with her brother to create the Egypt the world knows and loves.....BUT after that, all hell broke loose in the Dynasty of Murderous Imbeciles that the Ptolomies had degenerated into.....Right down to the Last Pharaoh, Cleopatra....who died by the kiss of a snake.
Why did the Ptolomies turn into such a sad bunch? One only has to look to the curse of Eurydice on Olympias. Because Oympias came back into the Ptolomy line Eurydices wrath landed on them and culimnated in returning herself as Cleopatra VII. Her twisted soul destroying herself and everything the Ptolomies built.
One could easily see, that like the stupid selfish Eurydice that, Cleopatra hooked up with anyone who could give her power. And bred kids to keep them around. Could it be that Cleo and Mark Anthony was Philip and Eurydice? If there is anything to reincarnation, you can see them repeating the deeds of their past sins.
I believe also Arsinoe's father had known shortly after her birth that she was Olympias reborn. There was some sign, perhaps the birth mark of a serpent even and the look in her eyes.....Or even the gathering of serpents. Her brother Ptolemy II knew also, and in reverence to her on her death paid much homage to her.
I imagined that it was a young Arsinoe/Olympias that found her 'special' ring washed up on the beach. The Ring of Dionysus, that her son had made for her after his trek from Egypt. This served as a power point though Olympias' various lifetimes....and some how always found it's way home.
The below biographies has a few innacuracies, but for the most part is correct. I'm sure it's difficult to keep up with who was who since they kept using the same names over and over, which leads to much confusion.
Olympias---
Macedonian Queen (ca. 375–316 B.C.)
Macedonia—the land to the north of Greece— played a formative role in the history of Western civilization in the fourth century B.C. The Macedonian king Philip I consolidated his rule over his kingdom and built a dynasty that soon strengthened Macedonia’s political position. As was customary, such dynastic ties were bound by marriage, which linked the Macedonian royal house with the royal houses of its neighbors, and kings took many wives to forge as many ties as possible. By 357 B.C., Philip I had already arranged several marriages for his son and heir Philip II, but in that year he took Philip II to Samothrace, a sacred island where he would be initiated into religious mysteries. While there Philip II met and fell in love with a very young woman who would become his next wife. It was an excellent political match, and a marriage was soon arranged between Philip II and Olympias, the daughter of a king of Epirus (in modern Albania). Olympias would become a strong queen who shaped the destiny of Macedonia—particularly through her famous son, Alexander the Great.
Olympias and Philip had two children in quick succession: Alexander, born in 356 B.C., and Cleopatra, born two years later. According to the sources, both Philip and Olympias had wild and violent natures, and the marriage was marked by much passion. Olympias reputedly always hated the presence of Philip’s other wives and children in the household, however, and the stormy relationship in time deteriorated into violence. One source claims she slowly poisoned one of Philip’s sons to weaken his intellect so that he was left an imbecile.
The historian Plutarch wrote that Olympias introduced wild religious ritual into Macedonia, particularly among women who worshiped Dionysus, the god of wine. Reputedly, Olympias had the power of snake charming, and she taught the women to include live snakes in their religious procession. Their husbands did not like this practice, and Plutarch claims that even Philip grew to dislike his marriage bed because Olympias frequently slept with her pet snakes. It is impossible to know how accurate Plutarch’s tales were, for he loved to repeat a good story, whether it was true or not.
The queen had a close relationship with her children, caring for their education and upbringing. She made sure Cleopatra, too, was trained to rule, for she had hopes for both her children to take power. She was particularly close to Alexander, and throughout his life they exchanged letters. It was over her ambitions for her son that she and her husband had their final battle. After twenty years of marriage, Philip decided to marry yet another wife—a Macedonian noblewoman also named Cleopatra. Olympias found this offensive enough, but at the wedding, Cleopatra’s father offered a toast hoping for a legitimate heir to be born of the union—suggesting that Olympias’s children, since they were not Macedonian, should not rule. Alexander was furious, and so was his mother. Alexander took Olympias back to her native land, where she seems to have conspired against Philip.
Philip was murdered in 336 B.C. at the wedding of his daughter. Reputedly, Olympias had planned the murder, but that was never proven, for the assassin was killed. She does seem to have been responsible for killing Philip’s last wife, Cleopatra, and their recently born infant. She refused to let Alexander face any competition for the throne of Macedonia, and she enjoyed a good deal of power as his mother. Olympias returned to Macedonia, and for the next five years she presided over the court while her son was away at the wars that would create a new Hellenistic world. Olympias’s strength of will earned her many enemies, however. The regent, Antipater, wrote to Alexander complaining of the stubbornness, violence, and interference of the queen, but Alexander never renounced his mother. The sources claim that he told one of his followers that Antipater was unaware that one of his mother’s tears would wash out the complaints of a thousand letters. The queen so alienated Antipater, however, that on his deathbed he warned the Macedonians never to let a woman rule over them.
In 331 B.C., Olympias had made so many enemies in Macedonia that she moved to Epirus, where her daughter, Cleopatra, was queen. She planned to wait there until her son returned from the wars, when she could return with him to Macedonia. Alexander’s death in 323 B.C. changed that, but the indomitable woman did not give up her ambitions to rule. First, she tried to arrange a marriage between Cleopatra and a Macedonian who could rule as king. Powerful nobles led by Antipater foiled these plans, however. When Antipater died in 319 B.C., Olympias had one more opportunity to seize power. Some Macedonian nobles invited Olympias back to act as regent for Alexander’s young son, Alexander. But another strong woman interfered—Eurydice, Philip II’s granddaughter by his first wife.
The young Eurydice had been as determined as Olympias to place her husband on the throne of Macedonia, and the death of Antipater seemed to provide that opportunity. As the armies gathered, the two women appeared in front of their forces to fight for the throne. Olympias, who was almost sixty years old at this time, was dressed as a priestess of Dionysus, and Eurydice wore Macedonian armor. When the Macedonian soldiers saw the proud Olympias, looking so much like their beloved Alexander, they came to her side, and the battle was won without a blow. Eurydice and her husband were captured and turned over to Olympias, who showed them no mercy. She had Eurydice’s husband, Philip, killed; then she sent Eurydice a dagger, a rope, and a bowl of hemlock poison, telling her to choose her own death. Eurydice cursed her, then took off her own girdle and hanged herself without a trace of fear. The brave Eurydice was only twenty years old.
As Olympias tried to kill more of her enemies, she lost the support of the Macedonians, who perhaps remembered Antipater’s dying warning against following a queen. She was captured and imprisoned. Her captors sent some relatives of those she had killed, and these men stabbed her. She died bravely without begging for any mercy. Her daughter, Cleopatra, was also murdered by men who feared her potential for political power. Olympias’s greatest contribution was her son, who changed the course of history by spreading Greek culture to the east with his conquests and who paved the way for the rise of the great Hellenistic kingdoms. Olympias also may have provided a model of a powerful queen who took it upon herself to be actively involved in the politics of the day. The women of the Hellenistic world would exert more freedom than any other women of the ancient world.
Olympias
Born: c. 375 BC
Died: 316 BC
Location of death: Pydna
Cause of death: unspecified
Gender: Female
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Royalty
Nationality: Ancient Greece
Executive summary: Wife of Philip II of Macedon
Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus, wife of Philip II of Macedon, and mother of Alexander the Great. Her father claimed descent from Pyrrhus, son of Achilles. It is said that Philip fell in love with her in Samothrace, where they were both being initiated into the mysteries (Plutarch, Alexander, 2). The marriage took place in 359 BC, shortly after Philip's accession, and Alexander was born in 356. The fickleness of Philip and the jealous temper of Olympias led to a growing estrangement, which became complete when Philip married a new wife, Cleopatra, in 337. Alexander, who sided with his mother, withdrew, along with her, into Epirus, from where they both returned in the following year, after the assassination of Philip, which Olympias is said to have countenanced. During the absence of Alexander, with whom she regularly corresponded on public as well as domestic affairs, she had great influence, and by her arrogance and ambition caused such trouble to the regent Antipater that on Alexander's death (323) she found it prudent to withdraw into Epirus. Here she remained until 317, when, allying herself with Polyperchon, by whom her old enemy had been succeeded in 319, she took the field with an Epirote army; the opposing troops at once declared in her favor, and for a short period Olympias was mistress of Macedonia. Cassander, Antipater's son, hastened from Peloponnesus, and, after an obstinate siege, compelled the surrender of Pydna, where she had taken refuge. One of the terms of the capitulation had been that her life should be spared; but in spite of this she was brought to trial for the numerous and cruel executions of which she had been guilty during her short lease of power. Condemned without a hearing, she was put to death (316) by the friends of those whom she had slain, and Cassander is said to have denied her remains the rites of burial.
Father: Neoptolemus (King of Epirus)
Husband: Philip II of Macedonia (m. 359 BC)
Son: Alexander the Great (conqueror, b. 356 BC)
Olympias
Born: c. 375 BCDied: 316 BC
Location of death: Pydna
Cause of death: unspecified
Gender: Female
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Royalty
Nationality: Ancient Greece
Executive summary: Wife of Philip II of Macedon
Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemus, king of Epirus, wife of Philip II of Macedon, and mother of Alexander the Great. Her father claimed descent from Pyrrhus, son of Achilles. It is said that Philip fell in love with her in Samothrace, where they were both being initiated into the mysteries (Plutarch, Alexander, 2). The marriage took place in 359 BC, shortly after Philip's accession, and Alexander was born in 356. The fickleness of Philip and the jealous temper of Olympias led to a growing estrangement, which became complete when Philip married a new wife, Cleopatra, in 337. Alexander, who sided with his mother, withdrew, along with her, into Epirus, from where they both returned in the following year, after the assassination of Philip, which Olympias is said to have countenanced. During the absence of Alexander, with whom she regularly corresponded on public as well as domestic affairs, she had great influence, and by her arrogance and ambition caused such trouble to the regent Antipater that on Alexander's death (323) she found it prudent to withdraw into Epirus. Here she remained until 317, when, allying herself with Polyperchon, by whom her old enemy had been succeeded in 319, she took the field with an Epirote army; the opposing troops at once declared in her favor, and for a short period Olympias was mistress of Macedonia. Cassander, Antipater's son, hastened from Peloponnesus, and, after an obstinate siege, compelled the surrender of Pydna, where she had taken refuge. One of the terms of the capitulation had been that her life should be spared; but in spite of this she was brought to trial for the numerous and cruel executions of which she had been guilty during her short lease of power. Condemned without a hearing, she was put to death (316) by the friends of those whom she had slain, and Cassander is said to have denied her remains the rites of burial.
Father: Neoptolemus (King of Epirus)
Husband: Philip II of Macedonia (m. 359 BC)
Son: Alexander the Great (conqueror, b. 356 BC)
Burglars on Wednesday broke into the Ashdod Museum where hundreds of artifacts recovered from the black-market were on show and snatched several valuable items, including a silver ring belonging to Alexander the Great.
