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Deidamia or Deidameia (, ) or Laodamia (, ) (died 233 BC ) was the Queen regnant of Epirus in 234 – 233 BC. She was the daughter of Pyrrhus II of Epirus, king of
Epirus Epirus () is a Region#Geographical regions, geographical and historical region, historical region in southeastern Europe, now shared between Greece and Albania. It lies between the Pindus Mountains and the Ionian Sea, stretching from the Bay ...
. After the death of her father and that of her uncle
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
, she was the last surviving representative of the royal Aeacid dynasty in Epirus. She had a sister, Nereis, who married Gelo of Syracuse. During a rebellion in Epirus, her sister sent her 800
Gaulish Gaulish is an extinct Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, ...
mercenaries A mercenary is a private individual who joins an War, armed conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any other official military. Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rath ...
. Part of the Molossians supported her, and with the aid of the mercenaries she briefly took
Ambracia Ambracia (; , occasionally , ''Ampracia'') was a city of ancient Greece on the site of modern Arta. It was founded by the Corinthians in 625 BC and was situated about from the Ambracian Gulf, on a bend of the navigable river Arachthos (or ...
. When the Epirots sued for peace as suppliants, she granted it only on condition that they acknowledged her hereditary rights, and the honours of her ancestors. But some of the Epirots plotted against her and bribed Nestor, one of Alexander's guards, to murder her. Nestor returned without accomplishing his purpose and she fled for refuge in the temple of
Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...
Hegemone (), but was murdered on the altar in the sanctuary by Milon (), a man already responsible of killing his own mother Philotera ()Polyaenus, Strategems, 8.52
/ref> who shortly after this crime committed suicide. According to Polyaenus, she said to Milon before he murdered her: "Slaughter, thou matricide, on slaughter raise" (). The date of this event cannot be accurately fixed, but it occurred during the reign of Demetrius II in
Macedon Macedonia ( ; , ), also called Macedon ( ), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, which later became the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by the royal ...
ia (239–229 BC).


References

* Smith, William (editor); ''
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' is a biographical dictionary of classical antiquity, edited by William Smith (lexicographer), William Smith and originally published in London by John Taylor (English publisher), Tayl ...
'', ,
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, (1867)


Notes

---- {{DEFAULTSORT:Deidamia 02 Of Epirus 3rd-century BC Greek people 3rd-century BC Greek women 3rd-century BC queens regnant 233 BC deaths Kings of Epirus Year of birth unknown Women in ancient Greek warfare Ancient Greek queens regnant