Neoptolemus I of Epirus: King of the Molossian Dynasty and Ancestor of Alexander the Great

Introduction

Neoptolemus I of Epirus was a Greek king of the Molossian dynasty, son of Alcetas I, active in the late fourth century BC. Modern accounts commonly date his rule to c. 370–357 BC, while some ancient–and–modern treatments place his death about 360 BC.

On Alcetas’s death Neoptolemus and his brother Arybbas resolved a succession dispute by dividing the kingdom and ruling concurrently; sources report that this arrangement produced no further recorded friction and continued until Neoptolemus’s death. The earliest epigraphical evidence for the Molossian League is dated to 370 BC and is associated with his reign.

Neoptolemus was the father of Troas, Alexander I of Epirus, and Olympias; through Olympias he was the maternal grandfather of Alexander the Great and, in later descent, an ancestor of Pyrrhus of Epirus. His name and dynastic tradition linked him to the mythic Neoptolemus, son of Achilles and Deidamia; the name itself means “new war.”

His rule ended with his death around the end of the 360s BC, after which Arybbas assumed sole kingship. Neoptolemus’s tenure is noted chiefly for the dynastic accommodation with Arybbas and for appearing in the earliest inscriptions of Molossian political organization.