The Philippeion () in the Altis of Olympia was an Ionic circular memorial in limestone and marble, a tholos, which contained chryselephantine (ivory and gold) statues of

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

's family: himself,

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

Olympias Olympias (; c. 375–316 BC) was a Ancient Greeks, Greek princess of the Molossians, the eldest daughter of king Neoptolemus I of Epirus, the sister of Alexander I of Epirus, the fourth wife of Philip of Macedon, Philip II, the king of Macedonia ...

, Amyntas III and Eurydice I. It was made by the Athenian sculptor Leochares in celebration of Philip's victory at the battle of Chaeronea (338 BC). It was the only structure inside the Altis dedicated to a human. The temple consisted of an outer

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

of Ionic order with 18 columns. Inside it had nine engaged columns of the lavishly designed

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...

.Phillipeion
Greek Ministry for Culture and Sports It had a diameter of 15 metres. The naos contained two windows, much like Hera II at Paestum. It had a carved marble roof which was decorated with a bronze poppy head on top. The importance of the chryselephantine material used is that it was also the material used for the statue of Zeus at Olympia (comparing the Macedonian royal family to the gods). The fact that Alexander is represented here is also important, as Philip had seven wives, therefore after his death there very well could have been claims to the throne by people other than Alexander. By putting Alexander in the statue it makes it clear who the successor should be. It is however disputed whether or not Philip constructed this monument or whether Alexander had it constructed later, in which case the motives would be different.

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References

Philippeion
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External links

4th-century BC establishments in Greece Buildings and structures completed in the 4th century BC Ancient Olympia Ancient Greek buildings and structures Culture of Macedonia (ancient kingdom) Alexander the Great in art Philip II of Macedon Statue of Zeus at Olympia Monuments and memorials in Greece {{Greece-struct-stub