Bonus episode! We covered Alexander the Great's half-sister Thessalonica- the mother of Philip IV, Antipater II and Alexander V- way back in the early episodes of the podcast. After all, we've witnessed quite a bit of family scheming (which I'll come back to with a new perspective today). However, today's topic is going to take her story beyond her death in 295 BCE. In fact, her memory would live on in the form of a mermaid reported to ask sailors a question in the Aegean. Spoiler alert: you don't want to give her the wrong answer...

Sources for this episode: 1) Gerakiti, E., Daily Art Magazine (2020), Alexander the Great and His Mermaid Sister in Folklore (online) [Accessed 19/04/2021]. 2) Justinus, Epitome of Pompeius Trogus' Philippic Histories (books 16-20). Translated by Rev. J. S. Watson (1853). Available at: Attalus [Accessed 31/05/2021]. 3) Mitakidou, S., Manna, A. L. and Kanatsouli, M. (2002), Folktales from Greece: A Treasury of Delights. Greenwood Village: Libraries Unlimited. (eBook) [Accessed May-June 2021]. 4) Plutarch, (1920) the Parallel Lives (The Life of Pyrrhus 6) in: the Loeb Classical Library edition (Vol. IX). Proofread by Robert Thayer. Available at the University of Chicago [Accessed 31/05/2021]. 5) Author unknown, Royal Museums Greenwich (date unknown), What is a mermaid? (online) [Accessed 19/04/2021]. 6) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Aegean Sea (online) [Accessed 18/04/2021]. 7) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Aegeus (online) [Accessed 18/04/2021]. 8) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Antipater II of Macedon (online) [Accessed 18/04/2021]. 9) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Battle of the Crocus Fields (online) [Accessed 31/05/2021]. 10) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Nicesipolis (online) [Accessed 31/05/2021]. 11) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Philip IV of Macedon (online) [Accessed 18/04/2021]. 12) Author unknown, Wikipedia (date unknown), Thessalonike of Macedon (online) [Accessed 18/04/2021].