In Episode 5 of the podcast, we talked about Alexander the Great’s ‘divine’ conception. Malcolm mentioned artistic portrayals of his conception and here they are!

As the story goes, Olympias slept with the Graeco-Egyptian god Zeus-Ammon who appeared to her in the form of a snake or dragon.

In the first image below, we see Olympias and Zeus-Ammon in bed together. On the left is Philip peering through a hole in the door. The image has its source in Plutarch’s Life of Alexander Chapters 2-3 where Philip’s love for his wife is described as having cooled after he saw her in bed with a snake (Zeus-Ammon). The Delphic Oracle then informs Philip that because he looked through the door, he will lose the eye with which he saw the god and his wife.

In the image below Olympias is represented as being in bed with another human being. That person’s true identity, however, is indicated by the dragon flying above them.

However, the human could also be the last native Egyptian king, Nectanebo II (360-343 BCE) who, according to the Alexander Romance seduced Olympias while pretending to be Zeus-Ammon.

Below, Olympias lies in bed with Zeus-Ammon on top of her sheets. Unlike in the other images, the god here is half dragon-half goat. In ancient Egyptian religion, Ammon is portrayed with goat horns. Alexander would go on to be portrayed in this way as well.