Greek Women Part 19

Another friend of his youth was a lady of n.o.ble birth, by name Ada, whom he dignified with the t.i.tle of "mother," and later established as Queen of Caria. Plutarch tells how, as a friendly attention, she used to send him daily not only all sorts of meats and cakes, but finally went so far as to send him the cleverest cooks and bakers she could find, though, owing to the rigid training of his tutor, he was extremely temperate in eating and drinking and did not avail himself of her indulgence.

Alexander was ever considerate of women, even when these were taken captive in battle, and Plutarch tells an interesting story of his treatment of a n.o.ble lady of Thebes, when he had captured and was about to raze that city:

"Among the other calamities that befell the city, it happened that some Thracian soldiers having broken into the house of a matron of high character and repute, named Timycha, their captain, after he had used violence with her, to satisfy his avarice as well as l.u.s.t, asked her if she knew of any money concealed, to which she readily answered she did, and bade him follow her into a garden, where she showed him a well, into which, she told him, upon the taking of the city she had thrown what she had of the most value. The greedy Thracian presently stooping down to view the place where he thought the treasure lay, she came behind him and pushed him into the well, and then flung great stones in upon him till she had killed him. After which, when the soldiers led her away bound to Alexander, her very mien and gait showed her to be a woman of dignity and of a mind no less elevated. And when the king asked her who she was, 'I am,' she said, the sister of Theagenes who fought the battle of Chaeronea with your father Philip, and fell there in command for the liberty of Greece.' Alexander was so surprised, both at what she had done and what she said, that he could not choose but give her and her children their liberty."

In the evil fortunes of the princesses of Macedon the Persian wives of Alexander shared. Roxana, the daughter of a Bactrian satrap, whose youthfulness and beauty charmed him at a drinking entertainment, was the first of his wives. Later, in celebrating at Susa the union of Europe and Asia by the marriage of his Greek officers to Persian maidens, he himself wedded Statira, the daughter of Darius. "After Alexander's death, Roxana," says Plutarch, "who was now with child, and upon that account much honored by the Macedonians, being jealous of Statira, sent for her by a counterfeit letter, as if Alexander had still been alive; and when she had her in her power, killed her and her sister and threw their babies into a well which they filled up with earth, not without the a.s.sistance of Perdiccas, who in the time immediately following the king's death, under cover of the name of Arrhidaeus, whom he carried about with him as a sort of guard to his person, exercised the chief authority." There is no more tragic story than that of the fate of the young Alexander and his mother. Olympias, the grandmother, warmly espoused the youth's cause, but his existence was a menace to the ambitions of the rival generals. Ca.s.sander finally seized the power in Macedon and obtained possession of Roxana and her son, whom he confined in the fortress of Amphipolis and later caused to be secretly a.s.sa.s.sinated by the governor of the fortress.

After the murder of Roxana and her son, a movement was made to raise to the throne Heracles, son of Darius's daughter, Barsine, he being the sole surviving offspring of Alexander, though a b.a.s.t.a.r.d; but Ca.s.sander, perceiving the danger, conspired for the destruction of the young prince, and the latter was poisoned or strangled by the treacherous Polysperchon. His mother, who lived with him at Pergamum, was also secretly put to death. So perished by violent death all the women of the family of Philip and Alexander, except Thessalonica, who became the wife of Ca.s.sander, the destroyer of her mother and her half-sisters.

On the death of Alexander, his generals began the task of establis.h.i.+ng independent dominions. They were surrounded by a group of princesses who added to the interest and liveliness of the court society of the times.

These generals and their sons, in spite of their bitter rivalries and constant wars, eagerly sought family alliances with each other, such as would in any way increase their prestige. Hence, the princesses who were thus in demand were expected to take a part in the game of politics and diplomacy; and frequent marriages fell to the lot of many of them, as husbands were ofttimes either slain or murdered, and divorces were readily obtained for the slightest reasons of State. The marriage tie seems to have been regarded with but little sanct.i.ty; and no bonds were forbidden because of relations.h.i.+p or of family feuds, Cratesipolis, for instance, was the wife of Alexander, son of the t.i.tular regent Polysperchon; and at Alexander's death, the father married his son's widow. She had a thrilling career, and was famous not only for her warlike qualities, but also for her goodness of heart and kindness to the poor. Her first husband was Tyrant of Sicyon, and at his death she seized the reins of power. The citizens, despising her because she was a woman, revolted; but she met them in battle, herself commanding her troops, and defeated them and crucified the thirty ringleaders of the revolt. Thus she established her power.

Of all the princesses of this stormy period, the one who ranks as the n.o.blest and most virtuous woman of her age was Phila, daughter of Antipater and wife of Demetrius the Besieger, son of Antigonus--the Alcibiades among the princes of the Succession. She shared with her brilliant husband his various vicissitudes of fortune; and she bore uncomplainingly his many infidelities, his disgraces, and his misfortunes. When, after an erratic career of successes and failures, he was made King of Macedon, she no doubt attained the height of her desires. But his ambition soared higher, and he endeavored to organize a movement to reconquer and embrace under his exclusive rule the whole extent of the empire of Alexander. He was unsuccessful; and after seven years of power as King of Macedon, he was expelled from his kingdom and was compelled to flee for his life to the Peloponnesus. The blow was too severe for his n.o.ble-hearted wife, and Phila poisoned herself when she thought his ruin inevitable. She left two children by Demetrius who became prominent in the politics of the times--Antigonus Gonatas, who stood n.o.bly by his father in his misfortunes, and who finally became King of Macedon and was the first of that famous line of kings which became extinct only at the hands of the Romans; and Stratonice, who at the tender age of seventeen was married to the aged Seleucus, King of Syria.

Plutarch tells an interesting story of this princess. Antiochus, son of Seleucus, fell violently ill, and it was difficult for the royal physicians to discover the nature of the malady. Finally, the cleverest of them observed that when Stratonice, the prince's young stepmother, was present, he exhibited all the symptoms mentioned by Sappho in her famous ode,--"his ears rang, sweat poured down his forehead, a trembling seized his body, he became paler than gra.s.s." The physician at once perceived that Antiochus was sick for love of the queen. The wily physician, however, in explaining to Seleucus the nature of the malady, pretended at first that it was his own wife with whom the prince was in love; but, so soon as he fully ascertained the king's mind, he told him that his son was dying for love of his stepmother, the beautiful Stratonice. Without a moment's hesitation, the old king resigned his wife to his son and gave them an independent kingdom as a wedding present.

It is rather a remarkable society of queens and princesses to which the court of Macedon admits us,--the licentious and cruel Eurydice the Elder, mother of Philip; the gloomy and violent Olympias; the brilliant and versatile Cleopatra; the valiant and eloquent Cynane and her warlike and ambitious daughter Eurydice; the rather colorless and ill-fated wives of Alexander the Great; the kind-hearted Cratesipolis; the unselfish and n.o.ble Phila; and her beautiful daughter Stratonice.

The court life of which they formed a part had its brilliant side, with its veneering of Greek culture and much of the etiquette and ceremony of an Oriental monarchy, and they were the objects of all the respect with which high station endows royal women at the hands of courtiers and gallant soldiers. But one is apt to think rather of the storm and turmoil through which they pa.s.sed, of their jealousies and intrigues, of their marriages and alliances, and of the violent deaths which they all, with one or two exceptions, found at last. Yet, the most wicked of them had redeeming qualities; even Olympias, who sent numberless men to death, was devoted to her own children, and fought to the bitter end for the rights of her son's heirs; and Eurydice the Younger, who carried on the losing battle with the aged queen, was ever the zealous wife of her weak husband, Arrhidaeus. Phila stands out, however, amid this remarkable group, as the one against whom nothing can be said and whose virtues were preeminent--the ever-faithful and devoted wife of the most brilliant and most licentious man of his time.

A history of Greek womanhood would not be complete, did it not somewhere in the volume consider the story of two Greek queens noted for their beauty, their wisdom in counsels, and their valor in war, and withal for their devoted love,--the two Artemisias, Queens of Caria. The first flourished during the Persian Wars, in which she took a prominent part; the second, a century later, and her name is closely identified with the names of many members of the h.e.l.lenistic royal families and with the later history of Greek art. Hence we feel justified in appending the account to this chapter discussing the careers of h.e.l.lenistic princesses.

Herodotus delights to praise the first Artemisia's queenliness and wisdom, and the only fault he has to find with her is that she fought on the Persian side. He dwells on her story whenever the occasion offers, and we shall be pardoned for permitting the great story teller to sketch the account of her career:

"Of the rest of the officers [of the Persian fleet] I make no mention, but only of Artemisia, at whom I marvel most that she joined the expedition against h.e.l.las, being a woman, for after her husband died, she, holding the power herself, although she had a son who was a young man, went on the expedition, impelled by high spirit and manly courage, no necessity being laid upon her; and she was the daughter of Lygdamus, and by descent she was of Halicarna.s.sus, on the side of her father, but of Crete by her mother. She was ruler of the men of Halicarna.s.sus, Cos, Nisyrus, and Calynda, furnis.h.i.+ng five s.h.i.+ps, and she furnished s.h.i.+ps which were of all the fleet reputed the best after those of the Sidonians; and of all his allies she set forth the best counsels to the king. Of the States of which I said she was the leader, I declare the people to be all of Dorian race."

After the disaster to the Persian fleet at Artemisium, King Xerxes was in doubt as to his future policy. He knew that the Greeks had gathered a great fleet at Salamis, and, after sacking Athens, his own naval strength was being collected in the Saronic Gulf. The problem was whether to make a naval engagement, and accordingly "Xerxes sent Mardonius and inquired, making trial of each one, whether he should fight a battle by sea. So when Mardonius went round asking them, the others gave their opinions, all to the same effect, advising him to fight a battle by sea, but Artemisia spoke these words: 'Tell the king that I, who have proved myself to be not the worst in the sea fights which have been fought near Euboea, and have displayed deeds not inferior to those of others, speak to him thus: "Master, it is right that I set forth the opinion that I really have and say that which I happen to think best for thy cause; and this I say--spare thy s.h.i.+ps and do not make a sea fight; for their men are as much stronger than thy men by sea, as men are stronger than women. And why must thou needs run the risk of sea battles? If, however, thou hasten to fight forthwith, I fear that damage done to the fleet may ruin the land army also. Moreover, O king, consider also this, that the servants of good men are apt to grow bad, and thou, who art of all men the best, hast bad servants, namely those who are reckoned as allies, Egyptians, Cyprians, and Cilicians, in whom there is no profit."' When she thus spoke, those who were friendly to Artemisia were grieved at her words, supposing that she would suffer some evil from the king; while those who had envy and jealousy of her, because she had been honored above all the allies, were rejoiced at the opposition, supposing that she would now be ruined. When, however, the opinions were reported to Xerxes, he was greatly pleased with the opinion of Artemisia; and whereas even before this he thought her excellent, he commended her now yet more."

Xerxes, however, did not follow the counsel of Artemisia, but was persuaded to attack the fleet of the Greeks. Artemisia entered most valiantly into the sea fight, which very soon began to be disastrous to the Persians.

"When the affairs of the king had come to great confusion, at this crisis the s.h.i.+p of Artemisia was being pursued by an Athenian s.h.i.+p; and as she was not able to escape, for in front of her were other s.h.i.+ps of her own side, while her s.h.i.+p was further advanced toward the enemy, she resolved what she would do. She charged in full career against a s.h.i.+p of her own side manned by Calyndians and in which the King of the Calyndians was embarked. Now though even it be true that she had had some strife with him before while they were still about the h.e.l.lespont, yet I am not able to say whether she did this by intuition or whether the Calyndian s.h.i.+p happened by chance to fall in her way. Having charged against it and sunk it, she enjoyed good fortune and got for herself good in two ways; for first the captain of the Athenian s.h.i.+p, when he saw her charge against a s.h.i.+p manned by barbarians, turned away and went after others, supposing that the s.h.i.+p of Artemisia was either a h.e.l.lenic s.h.i.+p or was deserting from the barbarians and fighting for the h.e.l.lenes.

Secondly, she gained great reputation by this thing with Xerxes, for besides other things which happened fortunately for her, there was this also, that not one of the crew of the Calyndian s.h.i.+p survived to become her accuser. Xerxes is reported to have said: 'My men have become women and my women men.'

"Now if the Athenian captain had known that Artemisia was sailing in this s.h.i.+p, he would not have ceased until either he had taken her or had been taken himself; for orders had been given to the Athenian captains and a prize was offered of ten thousand drachmas for the man who could take her alive; since they thought it intolerable that a woman should make an expedition against Athens."

After the calamitous issue of the battle of Salamis, Xerxes, having learned by hard experience that the insight of such a woman as Artemisia was more to be depended upon than the wisdom of his male advisers, once more sends for Artemisia and takes counsel with her. "When Xerxes was taking counsel with those of the Persians who were called to be his advisers, it seemed good to him to send for Artemisia also to give him counsel, because at the former time she alone had showed herself to have perception of that which ought to be done. So when Artemisia had come, Xerxes removed from him all the rest and spoke to her thus: 'Mardonius bids me stay here and make an attempt on the Peloponnesus, saying that the Persians and the land army are not guilty of any share in my calamity and that they would gladly give me proof of this. He bids me, therefore, either do this, or, if not, he desires himself to choose thirty myriads from the army and to deliver over to me h.e.l.las reduced to subjection; and he bids me withdraw with the rest of the army to my own abode. So now advise me which of these things I shall do.' She spoke these words: 'O king! it seems good to me that thou shouldst retire back and leave Mardonius here, if he desires it, and undertakes to do this.

If Mardonius suffer any disaster, no account will be made; and if the h.e.l.lenes conquer, they gain a victory which is no victory, having destroyed one who is but thy slave. Thou, however, wilt retire, having done that for which thou didst make thy march--that is to say, having delivered Athens to the fire,' With this advice Xerxes was greatly pleased, since she succeeded in saying that very thing which he himself was meaning to do. He commended Artemisia, therefore, and sent her away to conduct his sons to Ephesus, for there were certain sons of his who accompanied him."

This time Xerxes took the advice of Artemisia, and left Mardonius with three hundred thousand men to carry on the campaign, while he himself, with the greater part of his forces which had survived, retired to Persia. Artemisia, having won great glory by her valor and wisdom returned to her own dominions, and we know nothing authentic as to her later life. So queenly a woman, however, could not escape the Greek fondness for manufacturing marvellous stories concerning the great; and Ptolemy Hephaestion, a writer who mingles little fact with much fancy in his works, preserves a tradition that Artemisia came to her end in a most romantic manner. During her later years, she conceived a violent attachment for Darda.n.u.s, a beautiful youth of Abydos. As her pa.s.sion was not returned, she avenged herself by putting out his eyes while he slept. This excited the anger of the G.o.ds, and in obedience to an oracle she, like the traditional Sappho, threw herself down from the Lover's Leap of Leucate.

The second Artemisia is immortalized by her attachment to her husband Mausolus, King of Caria, in memory of whom she built the celebrated and stately tomb, considered to be one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This imposing structure, four hundred and forty feet in circuit, and one hundred and forty feet high, built by the most renowned architects of the time, embellished with sculptures from the hands of Scopas and his a.s.sociates, and rendered gorgeous by the use of the most varied colors, gave the name of _mausoleum_ to all succeeding sepulchres built on a colossal scale. No expense was spared by the devoted queen to make it expressive of her love for her husband and brother; for this species of marriage, so common later in Egypt, was sanctioned by the customs of the country.

She furthermore invited the most noted writers of the day to attend a literary contest, and offered the richest prizes to the one who should excel in composing a panegyric to her husband's virtue. Notwithstanding the interest she took in these memorials to her departed lord, she continued to be a prey to the deepest affliction. The story is told that she visited the place where her husband's ashes were deposited, and, mixing them with water, drank them off, for the purpose of becoming, as she said, the living tomb of her husband. In spite of her poignant grief, she did not neglect the duties of her elevated position, but conquered the island of Rhodes, whose inhabitants she treated with great severity. Her love of art was shown in the two statues she had set up in the city, one representing the city of Rhodes, habited like a slave, the other of herself branding the city with a hot iron. Though interested in making Halicarna.s.sus a centre of art and culture, and extending and strengthening her dominions, she could not overcome her desolation of heart, and is said to have died of grief two years after the loss of her husband.

XV

THE ALEXANDRIAN WOMAN

The Forty-five Years' War came to a close in B.C. 277. It had been entered into by those generals of Alexander the Great who succeeded to his dominions, and its close witnessed three dynasties firmly established and a number of minor princ.i.p.alities governed by various petty rulers. The main divisions of the h.e.l.lenistic world at this time were the kingdoms of Macedonia, under the successors of Antigonus Gonatas; of Syria, under the Seleucidae; and of Egypt, under the Ptolemies; while the chief second-rate powers were Pergamum and Rhodes.

These States continued to be the great centres of h.e.l.lenism until they were one by one overthrown by the mightier power of Rome, which in its turn continued and perpetuated the Greek spirit, so that it has become an element in the culture and civilization of modern times.

The most striking feature of social life in the h.e.l.lenistic Age was its cosmopolitan character, reminding one of the European culture of to-day.

We know almost nothing of the life of the peoples of the different nationalities, but the history of the times deals largely with the courts of the rulers, and with the wars and commercial rivalries of contending powers. As we have frequently noticed in previous chapters, the status of woman under the old monarchical governments was an elevated and influential one. Kings must have their courts, and court life always presupposes a queen, with her attendant ladies; and in the story of the h.e.l.lenistic periods of the world's history, one of the most striking features is the number of royal women who enter upon the stage of action and play a prominent part for the weal or woe of mankind.

We have already considered the character of the Macedonian woman--bold, fearless, ambitious, ready to resort to cruelty and to intrigue in the carrying-out of her ends. Macedonian character partook of the rugged, hardy nature of the land, and the women of the country cared more for outdoor sports and scenes of war than for the enervating luxuries of the East and the letters of Egypt.

The kingdom of Syria, with its luxurious capital at Antioch, under the dynasty of the Seleucidae, was perhaps, as a whole, more h.e.l.lenistic in culture than either Egypt or Macedon, and united more generally the refinement of Greece with the luxury and splendor of the Orient.

Unfortunately, we know but little of this important kingdom, except as to its wars and politics. Though Antiochus, the real founder of the dynasty, was a patron of letters and maintained learned men at his court, no literature of importance arose to tell us of its patrons; and, excepting the story already told of his romantic marriage with Stratonice, we know nothing of Antiochus's private life and but few incidents in the lives of his successors. We know that the population of Syria was manifold in nationality, in politics, and in manners, and that the Greek cities, which were so profusely established, developed a high degree of culture and created a general diffusion of knowledge. Juvenal, in describing the Greek influence on Rome, speaks of the Syrian river Orontes as flowing into the Tiber, and, doubtless, the Greek of the Orient was the type most largely represented in the mixed population of Rome. Antioch became a formidable rival of Alexandria as a social and commercial centre, and extended Greek influence over a far wider area than did the Egyptian city. But when we seek to know something of the social life of this important branch of h.e.l.lenism, of the details of private life and of the condition of women, we have absolutely no source of information. Outside of the history of the royal family, there is unbroken silence as to the more intimate story of Syria.

In this concluding chapter, therefore, we shall confine our attention to Alexandria and the court of the Ptolemies, whither the centre of gravity of the Greek world trended after the fall of Greek independence and the decline of Athens. Its great founder seems to have shown prophetic insight in his selection of the spot on which to build the city that should bear his name, and the supremacy of that city was a.s.sured when Alexander by his conquests opened up the Orient to Greek commerce; but the greatest good fortune of Alexandria lay in obtaining a ruler of the ability and insight and energy of Ptolemy Soter.

Ptolemy, the son of Lagus and Arsinoe, had grown up with Alexander as one of his playfellows, and later became one of his most trusted, though not most prominent, generals. There is a story that, before her marriage, Arsinoe was a mistress of Philip, and that Ptolemy was in truth the half-brother of Alexander; but there is no testimony to substantiate the tradition, unless it be found in Ptolemy's likeness to Philip in intrigue and governing power.

During the stormy years following the death of Alexander, Ptolemy, alone of the generals, seems to have preserved his mental balance; and instead of entering into the struggles of his rivals for world-empire, he preferred to acquire as his secure dominion the province of Egypt, so easily defensible, and separated from the contestable ground of opposing nations.

The policy of the first Ptolemy moulded the history of Egypt and the destinies of h.e.l.lenism. He surrounded himself with Greeks, so that they became the dominant faction in the government and determined the tone of court society. He gave religious freedom and large liberty in other respects to the Egyptians, so that they became supporters of the dynasty. By the foundation of the Museum, or University, of Alexandria, he made his capital the literary centre of the new era and attracted to his court learned men from all parts of the world. Greek became the language of the court, and Greek culture and manners there prevailed.

Mahaffy graphically describes the brilliant court life of Alexandria under Soter and his successors:

"So it came to pa.s.s that Ptolemy Soter gathered into his capital every kind of splendor.... He established the most brilliant palace and court, with festivals which were the wonder of the world. He gathered all that he could command of learning and literary fame, and the city was adequate to the largeness and splendor of its external appearance. We have it described in later times as astonis.h.i.+ng the beholder not only with its vastness, but also with the splendor of its colonnades, which lined the streets for miles and kept the ways cool for pa.s.sengers; with the din and bustle of the thoroughfares, of which the princ.i.p.al were horse and carriage ways, contrary to the usual Greek practice; with the number and richness of its public buildings, and with the holiday and happy airs of its vast population, who rested not day and night, but had their streets so well lighted that Achilles Tatius says the sun did not set, but was distributed to illumine the gay night. The palace and other royal buildings and parks were walled off like the palace at Pekin, and had their own port and seash.o.r.e, but all the rest of the town had water near it and s.h.i.+p traffic in all directions. Every costume and language must have been met in its streets and quays. It had its fas.h.i.+onable suburbs too, and its bathing resorts to the east, Canopus, Eleusis, and Nicopolis; to the west, its Necropolis. But of all this splendor no eye-witness has left us in detail what we are reduced to infer by conjecture."

The dynasty of the Ptolemies, so ably founded by Ptolemy Soter and ending with the reign of the great Cleopatra, presents a series of monarchs renowned for their culture, their luxury, their lasciviousness, and their cruelty; and by the side of the kings may be found a series of queens unrivalled in history for their cleverness, their wickedness, or their beauty. Woman's place in this dynasty was a most influential one, and she possessed all the freedom and power that could well fall to her lot; she knew nothing whatever of the restrictions common in old Greek life or in the life of the Orient. This was no doubt partly due to the fact that the Macedonian spirit prevailed, partly that the status of woman among the Egyptians themselves had its influence on the conquerors. Papyri found in recent years demonstrate the legal independence and freedom of women among the ancient Egyptians. A married woman could make contracts and hold property in her own name and perform all legal acts, without reference to her husband. Monogamy was the rule, though in addition to the "dear wife" or "the lady of the house" there were frequently subordinate wives. So supreme was the position of woman that there were instances in which the husband settled all his property on his wife, upon condition that she support him for the rest of his days and give him a decent burial. There was such a contrast between the Egyptian and the old Greek conception of woman that the Greek ofttimes jeered at the Egyptian submission to feminine domination. In Alexandria under the Ptolemies, accordingly, owing to Macedonian respect for woman and the old Egyptian idea of feminine worth and capacity, the gentler s.e.x experienced conditions altogether different from those in ancient Athens and enjoyed a freedom similar to that of modern times.

Ptolemy Soter, like his successors, was very fond of women, and recognized fully the influence to be gained by political marriage.

Alexander, at the famous wedding feast, married his general to the daughter of one of the n.o.blest of the Persians, but we hear nothing further of this union. His first political marriage was with Eurydice, daughter of Antipater, the old regent, and some years later he married Berenice, the grandniece of Antipater. He did not divorce Eurydice, but openly adopted the practice of polygamy, which was sanctioned in both Macedon and Egypt. The two wives seem to have lived together amicably, but Berenice was the favorite. She was a woman of amiable but strong character, and she maintained unbroken ascendency over her husband. So skilful was her diplomacy that her son Magas, the fruit of a former marriage, was appointed King of Cyrene, while her son Ptolemy was made her husband's successor on the throne of Egypt, to the exclusion of Eurydice's much older son, Ceraunus.

Ptolemy Philadelphus, son of Berenice, succeeded to the throne of Egypt in B.C. 285, and for forty years was the most famous monarch in the world. His court was renowned for its splendor and magnificence, and may be aptly compared to the courts of Haroun al Raschid and Lorenzo de'

Medici, and here too woman played her part. Philadelphus's first wife was Arsinoe I., daughter of Lysimachus, King of Thrace, who bore him several children. It is not known definitely why Philadelphus divorced her, but there is a story that she was detected plotting against his life, which resulted in her divorce and banishment. The second wife was likewise named Arsinoe, Ptolemy's own full sister. This match proved to be a very happy one. Arsinoe had had an eventful career. Daughter of Ptolemy and Berenice, she first became the wife of King Lysimachus of Thrace, and at his untimely death she married Ptolemy Ceraunus, her half-brother, the banished son of Eurydice. She and her husband caused the murder of Agathocles, the rightful heir of Lysimachus, and Ceraunus later murdered the children of Arsinoe by Lysimachus. After such an experience in crime and misfortune, at the death of her second husband she retired for a season,--a widow of middle age,--and then emerged to become the consort of her brother Philadelphus. Arsinoe herself first a.s.sumed the t.i.tle Philadelphus, "loving her brother," by which the king came to be known in later generations. As she was childless and was not likely to have any heirs of her own, Arsinoe adopted her predecessor's children; and being her husband's sister, she did not disturb him in the many amours which consumed so large a part of his time.

Arsinoe was a woman of brilliant intellectual gifts, and the union between her and Philadelphus seems to have been of the intellectual and spiritual kind. She proved to be an able helper in all the affairs of government; she a.s.sisted him in the financial administration and particularly in foreign affairs; she encouraged him in his endeavor to make Alexandria the centre of letters and art, and her name is coupled with his in all the great events of this period. The two were deified, and statues were erected to them as G.o.ds Adelphi. The marriage between brother and sister was quite in accord with Egyptian notions, and in the public records, for ages past, the queen had been called _sister_ of the king, whether she was really so or not. The marriage was compared by court poets with that of Zeus and Hera; and the couple were frequently lauded by them for their many achievements and the splendor of their court.

The reign of Philadelphus and Arsinoe was the brilliant epoch of Alexandrian literature, and we may well pause at this point to see what glimpses the poets of Alexandria give us into the feminine life of the day. Theocritus, the famous pastoral poet, lays the scene of his fifteenth idyl in Alexandria, and presents one of the most charming bits of feminine life that literature affords us. The feast of Adonis, described in an earlier chapter, was about to be celebrated at the palace of King Ptolemy, and two ladies of Alexandria had agreed to go together to see the image of Adonis which Queen Arsinoe "had decorated with great magnificence, and to hear a celebrated prima donna sing the Adonis song." The household details, the toilettes, the complaints of the two cronies about their husbands, the admiration of a new dress and its cost, the rough treatment of an unknown servant; then the crowd in the streets, the terrors of the pa.s.sing cavalry, the squeeze at the entrance, the saucy rejoinder to a stranger who protests against their incessant jabber--these and many other comic and picturesque details have made this poem the best known among the so-called _Idyls_, and indicate that the everyday life of woman in Ptolemaic Alexandria was much the same as her life to-day. Gorgo, one of the ladies, goes by appointment to the house of her friend Praxinoe, where the dialogue begins:

GORGO.--Is Praxinoe at home?

PRAXINOE.--Dear Gorgo, how long it is since you have been here! She _is_ at home. The wonder is that you have got here at last! Eunoe, see that she has a chair. Throw a cus.h.i.+on on it, too.

GORGO.--It does most charmingly as it is.

PRAXINOE.--Do sit down.