Eurydice II of Macedon Eurydice , Greek : Eυρυδικη " Eurydike " ( died 317 BC ) was the daughter of Amyntas IV , son of Perdiccas III , king of Macedonia , and Cynane , daughter of Philip II and his first wife Audata . She was a significant person in the immediate aftermath of the death of Alexander the Great and the First and Second Wars of the Diadochi . Biography . Early life . Eurydice ' s birth name appears to have been Adea ; the sources are silent on when it was changed to Eurydice . She was brought up by her mother Cynane , and seems to have been trained by her mother in masculine and martial exercises . She accompanied her mother on her daring expedition to Asia ; and when Cynane was put to death by Alcetas , the discontent expressed by the troops , and the respect with which they looked on Eurydice as one of the surviving members of the royal house , induced the imperial regent , Perdiccas , not only to spare her life , but to give her in marriage to King Philip Arrhidaeus , Alexander the Great ' s half - brother and successor to the throne of Macedon . Sources hint that this was an unequal marriage , because the king was disabled mentally . Furthermore , although Philip Arrhidaeus was king of Macedon , this did not make him the imperial successor to Alexander ; Alexander had won his empire by law of conquest , and the Asian portion of the empire ( more than nine - tenths of the whole ) was not part of the people of Macedon . Queen of Macedon . The sources are again silent as to Eurydice during the life of Perdiccas ; but after his death , in 321 BC Eurydice bid for power : she demanded that the new regents of Macedon , Peithon and Arrhidaeus , grant her a share of the regency . Eurydice ' s ties to the Macedonian army , and her status as king ' s wife , helped her gain influence and succeeded briefly in becoming a sort of de facto regent . She took an active part in the proceedings at the Treaty of Triparadisus in 321 BC . It was at this point , however , that a new adversary , Alexander the Great ' s general Antipater , returned to the king ' s court and laid claim to the vacant regency . In an attempt to forestall this and retain command over the Macedonian army , Eurydice spoke in public to the assembled soldiery . It was a serious violation of the androcentric taboos of the time for a female to speak in public , let alone for one to announce herself publicly to be the antagonist of a male leader such as Antipater . Ancient historians report that Eurydice ' s speech had been written for her by her secretary Asclepiodorus . At any rate Eurydice ' s speech failed ; the Macedonian army decided in favor of Antipater , and the general was appointed regent and guardian of the king . Eurydice , once again relatively powerless , accompanied her husband and Antipater to Macedonia . But the death of Antipater in 319 BC , the more feeble character of Polyperchon , who succeeded him as regent , and the failure of his enterprises in Greece , and above all , the favourable disposition he evinced towards Olympias , determined her again to take an active part : she concluded an alliance with Cassander , and , as he was wholly occupied with the affairs of Greece , she herself assembled an army and took the field in person . Polyperchon advanced against her from Epirus , accompanied by Aeacides , the king of that country , and Olympias , as well as by Roxana and her infant son . But the presence of Olympias was alone sufficient to decide the contest : the Macedonian troops refused to fight against the mother of Alexander the Great , and went over to her side . Eurydice fled from the field of battle to Amphipolis , but was seized and made prisoner . Prisoner - of - war , and execution . She was at first confined , together with her husband , in a narrow dungeon , and scantily supplied with food ; but soon Olympias , becoming alarmed at the compassion excited among the Macedonians , determined to get rid of her rival , and sent the young queen in her prison a sword , a rope , and a cup of hemlock , with orders to choose her mode of death . The spirit of Eurydice remained unbroken to the last ; she still breathed defiance to Olympias , and prayed that she might soon be requited with the like gifts ; then , having paid as well as she could the last duties to her husband , she put an end to her own life by hanging , without giving way to a tear or word of lamentation . Her body was afterwards removed by Cassander , and interred , together with that of her husband , with royal pomp at Aegae .