Plutarch was of the view that he became disabled by means of an attempt on his life by Philip II's wife, Queen Olympias, who wanted to eliminate a possible rival to her son, Alexander, through the employment of pharmaka (drugs/spells); however, most modern authorities doubt the truth of this claim.
Plutarkhos berpandangan bahwa ia menjadi cacat karena upaya pembunuhan oleh istri Filipus II, Ratu Olimpias, yang ingin menghilangkan kemungkinan saingannya terhadap putranya, Aleksander, melalui penggunaan pharmaka (obat/jampi-jampi); namun kebanyakan penguasa modern meragukan kebenaran pernyataan ini.