A consice history of the Molossian royal house of Epirus. The Molossians were a Greek tribe of ancient Epirus. They claimed to be descendents of Molossus, one of the three sons of Neoptolemus, son of Achilles and Hector's wife Andromache. According to Greek mythology, following the sack of Troy, Neoptolemus and his armies settled in Epirus where they joined the local Dorian Greek population and displaced the barbarian tribes to the North. Molossus inherited the kingdom of Epirus after the death of Helenus, son of Priam and Hecuba of Troy, who had married his erstwhile sister-in-law Andromache after Neoptolemus' death. Olympias, the mother of Alexander the Great, was a Molossian princess. The most famous member of the Molossian dynasty was Pyrrhus a cousin of Alexander. The Molossians were also known for their vicious hounds which were used by shepherds to guard their flocks. ΕΛΛΑΣ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ ΗΠΕΙΡΟΣ ΜΑΚΕΔΟΝΙΑ ΜΟΛΟΣΣΟΙ ΧΑΟΝΕΣ ΠΥΡΡΟΣ ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΣ ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΔΑ ΑΧΙΛΛΕΑΣ ΝΕΟΠΤΟΛΕΜΟΣ ΑΝΔΡΟΜΑΧΗ ΑΠΕΙΡΩΤΑΝ HELLAS GREECE EPIRUS MACEDONIA NEOPTOLEMUS ANDROMACHE ACHILLES PYRRHUS OLYMPIAS PHILIP ALEXANDER THE GREAT MOLOSSIANS CHAONIANS DODONA PELASGIAN TROY HELENUS PRIAM ROMANS THESPROTIANS CAMBRIDGE ANCIENT HISTORY

• published: 03 Dec 2010
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