Death of Philip

Wreathed is the bull
All is done
The one who will smite him is ready

Phytia the Oracle only uttered these words when the King consulted her at Delphi. All thought this was a good omen as the campaign to raid Asia, more precisely Persia had just started. The bull they said is the symbol of the summer capital of the Persian empire, Persepolis. But the good King knew his destiny better...

The King was stabbed by a man named Pausanias (or something like that) in the court at Pella when he was preparing to get married to a young girl, young enough to be his daughter. The author never really mentioned abt the real motive of the murder. But he speculated evry possiblities there was thru Aristotle's character; the most interesting was the one where he spoke of the jealousy of a male lover..hehe, these Greeks can be quite perverted at times.

Philip was a very rational man, a good strategist, a good father, above all a great King but didn't make a good husband. Olympia, the Queen was greatly saddened by this, she grieved often and was terribly raged when the King announced of his plans to get married again for the 8th time. She felt the position as the Chief Queen was threatened; she wasn't a Macedon whereas the new bride was. Furthermore, her son's right as the heir to the throne would be taken away, and this troubled her even more. For all these reasons, I personally think, it was Olympia who schemed the murder plan and thus should be blamed for the death of the King.

By the way, the bull is what Philip's bodyguards and friends used to call him when he was young..:)


Philip: End of an era