Bilistiche
Bilistiche (Greek: Βιλιστίχη;[1] born c. 280 BC) or Belistiche was a Hellenistic courtesan of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and winner of the 264 BC Olympic Games in tethrippon and synoris.
Name
[edit | edit source]It is generally accepted that the name Bilistiche is a Macedonian dialectal form of a Greek name.[2] The first element presumably relates to φιλ-, ‘love’; (the phi turns into beta in the Macedonian dialect, cf. Pherenice -> Berenice). The most probable full etymological account of her name accordingly construes it as the superlative stem φιλιστ- followed by the productive suffix -ίχα, found in a number of other female names, particularly in Boeotia (Doricha, Deinicha, Hippicha, etc.).[2]
Origin
[edit | edit source]According to Pausanias, Bilistiche was a woman from the coast of Macedonia;[3] according to Athenaeus, she was an Argive (said to descend from the line of Atreus);[4] according to Plutarch, a foreign slave bought from the marketplace.[5] If one were to accept Plutarch's information, one might suppose that, as a (former) slave of such origin she was given Macedonian citizenship for her services, although this is considered unlikely.[2]
Olivier Masson dismissed Plutarch's information as fiction concluding that Plutarch had drawn her from the existing entourage of the Macedonian nobility,[6] as does Daniel Ogden, who notes that Plutarch's information probably originated from Sotades' work On Bilistiche whose contents are unknown, but may have been a polemic against her.[2]
Biography
[edit | edit source]Bilistiche was born around 280 BC. Her father was named Philon (cf. Athenian architect Philon) and was presumably an admiral of Ptolemy II Philadelphus.[2] She won the tethrippon and synoris horse races in the 264 BC Olympic Games,[3] and subsequently she became a mistress of Ptolemy II. They had a son together named Ptolemy Andromachou.[7]
Death
[edit | edit source]Her date of death is unknown. After her death, it is known that Ptolemy II deified her as Aphrodite Bilistiche.[8] Fragmentary papyri from Ankyronpolis dated to 239/8 BC indicate that later in life she was a money lender.[9] According to Clement of Alexandria, she was buried under the shrine of Sarapis in Alexandria.[10]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Belistiche in Pausanias; Belestiche in Plutarch; Blistichis in Clement (Protrepticus 4.42); Philistaikhus in Eusebius (Chronikon); Bilistiche in pCairZen 2.59289.
- ^ a b c d e Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ a b Pausanias. Description of Greece, 5.8.11. "Later they added a pair of foals and a ridden foal: they say Belistiche, a woman from the coast of Macedonia, won with the pair, and Tlepolemos the Lykian was proclaimed for the ridden foal, Tlepolemos at the hundred and thirty-first Olympics and Belistiche two games before."
- ^ Athenaeus. Deipnosophists, 13.596e.
- ^ Plutarch. Moralia, 753e.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Ptolemy Andromachou by Chris Bennett
- ^ Pomeroy 1990, pp. 53–55; Golden 2008, pp. 18–19.
- ^ The Hibeh Papyri II 261-262
- ^ Clement of Alexandria. Protrepticus, 4.48.2-3.
Sources
[edit | edit source]- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- Chris Bennett - Bilistiche
- Kosmetatou, Elizabeth. "Bilistiche and the Quasi-Institutional Status of Ptolemaic Royal Mistress". Archiv für Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete. Volume 50, Issue 1, Pages 18–36, ISSN (Online) 1867-1551, ISSN (Print) 0066-6459, 2004. Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- Hellenistic-era people
- Ptolemaic courtiers
- Ancient Argives
- Ancient Macedonian women
- Ancient Olympic competitors
- Ancient Macedonian athletes
- Ancient Greek chariot racers
- 3rd-century BC Macedonians
- Hetairai
- Greek female prostitutes
- Deified women
- Sportswomen in antiquity
- 3rd-century BC Greek women
- Ancient Greek slaves and freedmen
- Mistresses of Egyptian royalty