Bad Ass Women of the Ancient World

  There is a saying that behind every great man, is an even greater woman, this phrase fits perfectly for the mother of Alexander the Great, Olympias. Olympias, I believed is overlooked and overshadowed by her son Alexander and her ex-husband Philip. Olympias is the  unexpected warrior woman; she only takes the role of the warrior woman after her son is dead. She is the reluctant warrior who becomes warrior queen only to make sure her grandson and his mother Roxana was safe and that Alexander’s son not one of his generals becomes ruler of his empire. According to Jona Lendering, Olympias (c.375-316) who was an Epirote princess married Philip of Macedonia in 357, this was a marriage of political strengthening. This was the year after King Philip had a chariot race during the Olympic Games in which he was victorious and therefore, she received the name Olympias and the same summer she gave birth to her first-born Alexander (Lendering 2000).       . In ancient times people believed that a

         Wow, I cannot believe that there were women commanders in the war between the ancient Greeks and the ancient Persians! Shocker! In the ancient world where women are supposed to be married by the time, they are fifteen and are supposed to be barefoot pregnant , one woman defied society’s norm and took part in the war for ancient Greek independence and her name was Artemisia of Caria. And no, she did not fight on the side of the Greeks. I am not sure that if she wanted to fight with them that the army officials would have let her. Who was this warrior queen of Greek descent that allied with the Persian empire? Artemisia was most probably named after the Greek goddess of hunt Artemis. The name Artemisia is of unknown origins just like the goddess’ name. Artemisia's father was the  satrap  of Halicarnassus,  Lygdamis  I, and her mother whose name is lost to history was from Crete. Lygdamis was of Carian and Greek ethnicity. He was the first satrap under the Persia