Antigone ( Greek: Ἀντιγόνη, born before 317 BC [1]–295 BC) [2] was a Macedonian Greek noblewoman. Through her mother's second marriage she was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty and through her marriage to Pyrrhus she was queen of Epirus.
Antigone was the daughter and the second child of Berenice, a noblewoman from Eordeaea, [3] and her first husband Philip. [3] She had an elder brother called Magas and a younger sister called Theoxena. [3] Berenice's mother was the niece of the powerful regent Antipater [4] and was related to members of the Argead dynasty. [5]
Antigone's father, Philip, was the son of Amyntas by a mother whose name is unknown. [6] Based on Plutarch (Pyrrhus 4.4), her father was previously married and had children, including daughters. [7] He served as a military officer in the service of the Macedonian King Alexander the Great and commanded one of the Phalanx divisions in Alexander's wars. [8]
About 318 BC, Antigone's father died of natural causes. After Philip's death, Antigone's mother took her and her siblings to Egypt where they were a part of the entourage of her mother's cousin Eurydice. Eurydice was then the wife of Ptolemy I Soter, the first ruler and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
By 317 BC, Ptolemy I had fallen in love with Berenice and divorced Eurydice to marry her. Through her mother's marriage to Ptolemy I, Antigone was a stepdaughter to Ptolemy I and lived in her stepfather's court. Her mother bore Ptolemy I three children: two daughters, Arsinoe II, Philotera and the future Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus. [3]
In 300 BC or 299 BC, Pyrrhus of Epirus was sent as a hostage to Egypt by Demetrius I of Macedon as part of a short-lived rapprochement between Demetrius I and Ptolemy I. [9] In 299 BC/298 BC, Ptolemy I arranged for Pyrrhus to marry Antigone. [10] [11]
Pyrrhus obtained a fleet of ships and funding from Ptolemy I and set sail with Antigone for his kingdom in Epirus. [12] Pyrrhus came into an agreement with his relative Neoptolemus II of Epirus, who had usurped the kingdom, to jointly rule Epirus. [12]
Antigone bore Pyrrhus two children: a daughter called Olympias and a son called Ptolemy. [13] Antigone possibly died in childbirth, as she seems to have died the same year as her son was born. [14]
As a posthumous honour to his first wife, Pyrrhus founded a colony called Antigonia, which he named after her.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain:
Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Antigone".
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
Antigone ( Greek: Ἀντιγόνη, born before 317 BC [1]–295 BC) [2] was a Macedonian Greek noblewoman. Through her mother's second marriage she was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty and through her marriage to Pyrrhus she was queen of Epirus.
Antigone was the daughter and the second child of Berenice, a noblewoman from Eordeaea, [3] and her first husband Philip. [3] She had an elder brother called Magas and a younger sister called Theoxena. [3] Berenice's mother was the niece of the powerful regent Antipater [4] and was related to members of the Argead dynasty. [5]
Antigone's father, Philip, was the son of Amyntas by a mother whose name is unknown. [6] Based on Plutarch (Pyrrhus 4.4), her father was previously married and had children, including daughters. [7] He served as a military officer in the service of the Macedonian King Alexander the Great and commanded one of the Phalanx divisions in Alexander's wars. [8]
About 318 BC, Antigone's father died of natural causes. After Philip's death, Antigone's mother took her and her siblings to Egypt where they were a part of the entourage of her mother's cousin Eurydice. Eurydice was then the wife of Ptolemy I Soter, the first ruler and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
By 317 BC, Ptolemy I had fallen in love with Berenice and divorced Eurydice to marry her. Through her mother's marriage to Ptolemy I, Antigone was a stepdaughter to Ptolemy I and lived in her stepfather's court. Her mother bore Ptolemy I three children: two daughters, Arsinoe II, Philotera and the future Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus. [3]
In 300 BC or 299 BC, Pyrrhus of Epirus was sent as a hostage to Egypt by Demetrius I of Macedon as part of a short-lived rapprochement between Demetrius I and Ptolemy I. [9] In 299 BC/298 BC, Ptolemy I arranged for Pyrrhus to marry Antigone. [10] [11]
Pyrrhus obtained a fleet of ships and funding from Ptolemy I and set sail with Antigone for his kingdom in Epirus. [12] Pyrrhus came into an agreement with his relative Neoptolemus II of Epirus, who had usurped the kingdom, to jointly rule Epirus. [12]
Antigone bore Pyrrhus two children: a daughter called Olympias and a son called Ptolemy. [13] Antigone possibly died in childbirth, as she seems to have died the same year as her son was born. [14]
As a posthumous honour to his first wife, Pyrrhus founded a colony called Antigonia, which he named after her.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain:
Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Antigone".
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.