- Source
- Diodorus Siculus. Diodori Bibliotheca Historica. Vols. 4-5 (partial). Bekker, Immanuel; Dindorf, Ludwig; Fischer, Curt Theodor; editors. Leipzig: Teubner, 1903-1906.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
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- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:19.51.1-19.51.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Cassander attempts to have Olympias condemned and killed through a rigged trial, but when she demands a public defense, he sends assassins to murder her. Thus, Olympias, a queen of unmatched prestige connected to the greatest figures of her age, meets a tragic end.
ὁ δὲ Κάσανδρος ὁρῶν περὶ τὸν Ἀριστόνουν ὑπάρχον ἀξίωμα διὰ τὴν παρʼ Ἀλεξάνδρου προαγωγὴν καὶ σπεύδων ἐκ ποδῶν ποιεῖν1 τοὺς δυναμένους νεωτερίζειν ἐπανεῖλε τὸν ἄνδρα διὰ τῶν Κρατεύα συγγενῶν. προετρέψατο δὲ καὶ τοὺς οἰκείους τῶν ἀνῃρημένων ὑπʼ Ὀλυμπιάδος ἐν κοινῇ τῶν Μακεδόνων ἐκκλησίᾳ κατηγορεῖν τῆς προειρημένης γυναικός.
But Cassander, seeing that Aristonous possessed great prestige because of his promotion by Alexander, and being eager to put out of the way those capable of making a revolution, did away with the man through the relatives of Crateuas. He also urged the kinsmen of those who had been slain by Olympias to accuse the aforementioned woman in a general assembly of the Macedonians.
ὧν ποιησάντων τὸ προσταχθὲν καὶ τῆς μὲν Ὀλυμπιάδος οὔτε παρούσης οὔτε ἐχούσης τοὺς ἀπολογησομένους οἱ μὲν Μακεδόνες κατεγίνωσκον αὐτῆς θάνατον, ὁ δὲ Κάσανδρος πέμψας τινὰς τῶν φίλων πρὸς τὴν Ὀλυμπιάδα συνεβούλευε λάθρᾳ φυγεῖν, ἐπαγγελλόμενος αὐτῇ ναῦν παρασκευάσειν καὶ διακομιεῖν εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας.
When they had done what was commanded, and since Olympias was neither present nor had anyone to speak in her defense, the Macedonians condemned her to death; but Cassander, sending some of his friends to Olympias, advised her to escape secretly, promising to prepare a ship for her and to convey her to Athens.
τοῦτο δʼ ἔπραττεν οὐ τῆς σωτηρίας προνοούμενος, ἀλλʼ ἵνα καθʼ αὑτῆς φυγὴν καταγνοῦσα2 καὶ διαφθαρεῖσα κατὰ τὸν πλοῦν δόξῃ δικαίᾳ περιπεπτωκέναι τιμωρίᾳ· εὐλαβεῖτο γὰρ ἅμα καὶ τὸ περὶ αὐτὴν ἀξίωμα καὶ τὸ τῶν Μακεδόνων εὐμετάβολον.
He did this not because he was taking thought for her safety, but in order that, by condemning herself through flight and being destroyed during the voyage, she might seem to have met with a deserved punishment; for he was cautious both of her prestige and of the fickle nature of the Macedonians.
τῆς δὲ Ὀλυμπιάδος οὐ φαμένης φεύξεσθαι, τοὐναντίον δʼ ἑτοίμης οὔσης ἐν πᾶσι Μακεδόσι κριθῆναι ὁ Κάσανδρος φοβηθεὶς μήποτε τὸ πλῆθος ἀκοῦον τῆς βασιλίσσης ἀπολογουμένης καὶ τῶν Ἀλεξάνδρου καὶ Φιλίππου πρὸς ἅπαν ἔθνος εὐεργεσιῶν ἀναμιμνησκόμενον μετανοήσῃ, διακοσίους τῶν στρατιωτῶν τοὺς ἐπιτηδειοτάτους ἀπέστειλε πρὸς αὐτήν, προστάξας ἀνελεῖν τὴν ταχίστην.
But since Olympias declared she would not flee, but on the contrary was ready to be judged before all the Macedonians, Cassander, fearing lest the multitude, hearing the queen defending herself and remembering the benefits of Alexander and Philip to the entire nation, should change their minds, sent two hundred of his most suitable soldiers to her, ordering them to kill her as quickly as possible.
οὗτοι μὲν οὖν παρεισπεσόντες εἰς τὴν βασιλικὴν οἰκίαν, ὡς ἴδον τὴν Ὀλυμπιάδα, καταιδεσθέντες τὸ περὶ αὐτὴν ἀξίωμα πάλιν ἀπεχώρησαν ἄπρακτοι· οἱ δὲ τῶν ἀνῃρημένων συγγενεῖς, Κασάνδρῳ τε χαρίζεσθαι βουλόμενοι καὶ τοῖς τετελευτηκόσιν ἀμῦναι, κατέσφαξαν τὴν βασίλισσαν, οὐδεμίαν ἀγεννῆ καὶ γυναικείαν προεμένην ἀξίωσιν.3 Ὀλυμπιὰς μὲν οὖν, μέγιστον τῶν καθʼ αὑτὴν ἐσχηκυῖα ἀξίωμα καὶ γεγενημένη θυγάτηρ μὲν Νεοπτολέμου τοῦ βασιλέως τῶν Ἠπειρωτῶν, ἀδελφὴ δὲ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ στρατεύσαντος εἰς Ἰταλίαν, ἔτι δὲ γυνὴ μὲν Φιλίππου τοῦ πλεῖστον ἰσχύσαντος τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὴν Εὐρώπην δυναστευσάντων, μήτηρ δὲ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ πλεῖστα καὶ κάλλιστα κατεργασαμένου τοιαύτης καταστροφῆς ἔτυχε.
Now these men, having rushed into the royal palace, as soon as they saw Olympias, were awed by her dignity and went back again without having accomplished their purpose; but the relatives of those who had been slain, wishing both to gratify Cassander and to avenge their dead, slaughtered the queen, who uttered no ignoble or womanish plea. Olympias, then, who had possessed the greatest dignity of any woman of her time, and who had been the daughter of Neoptolemus, king of the Epirotes, the sister of Alexander who made the expedition into Italy, and furthermore the wife of Philip, who had been the most powerful of those who ruled in Europe before him, and the mother of Alexander, who achieved the greatest and most glorious deeds, met with such an end.
- 19.51.1ἐκ ποδῶν ποιεῖν
A Greek idiomatic expression meaning literally "to make out of the feet," generally used in the sense of "to remove from one's way" or "to dispatch/get rid of." The infinitive ποιεῖν depends on the preceding participle σπεύδων ("being eager").
- 19.51.3καθʼ αὑτῆς φυγὴν καταγνοῦσα
The verb καταγινώσκω ("to condemn, pronounce sentence") is used here with the accusative φυγὴν ("flight") and the genitive of the reflexive pronoun καθʼ αὑτῆς ("against herself"), meaning "having condemned herself to flight" or "having acknowledged her own guilt by fleeing."
- 19.51.5οὐδεμίαν ἀγεννῆ καὶ γυναικείαν προεμένην ἀξίωσιν
The middle voice aorist participle προεμένην (from προΐημι, "to let go, utter") is paired with ἀξίωσιν (here meaning "dignified posture, claim, or plea"). Together they mean "without letting go of her dignity or uttering any ignoble, womanish plea."