Eurydice (wife of Antipater II of Macedon)

Eurydice (Greek: Εὐρυδίκη, born c. 312 BC or earlier[1]-after 287 BC) was a Greek Princess who was of Macedonian and Thessalian descent.

She was the first daughter and second child born to the diadochus who was King of Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedonia, Lysimachus from his first wife the Queen consort, Nicaea of Macedon.[2][3] Eurydice had one older brother called Agathocles and a younger sister called Arsinoe.[4][5] Her paternal grandfather was Agathocles of Pella[6] a nobleman who was a contemporary to King Philip II of Macedon who reigned 359 BC-336 BC, while her maternal grandfather was the powerful Regent Antipater.[7]

Eurydice was named in honor of her maternal aunt Eurydice of Egypt, another daughter of Antipater,[8] who was one of the wives of the Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter. The name Eurydice, is a dynastic name of the Argead dynasty (see Eurydice-Historical women). The name also reveals her relations to the Argead dynasty as her maternal grandfather and her maternal great-uncle Cassander were distant collateral relatives to the Argead dynasty.[9]

At an unknown date, Lysimachus renamed the city Smyrna to Eurydiceia in honor of Eurydice, an innovation that did not last long.[10] Lysimachus issued coinage depicting Eurydice on the obverse as a veiled woman, although Eurydice never owned nor had any control of the city.[11] Little is known on her life prior to marrying.

Lysimachus gave Eurydice to marry her maternal cousin Antipater,[12] the son of the rulers of Macedonia, Cassander and Thessalonike.[13] Eurydice’s marriage to Antipater, thereby extended into the next generation the historical link between Thrace and Macedonia.[14] In her life, Eurydice was a participant in the never ending conflict over control over Macedonia in the generations after the death of Alexander the Great.[15]

Antipater was co-King of Macedonia from 297 BC-294 BC[16] and through marriage, she became a Queen consort. On the death of her maternal uncle, Thessalonike divided the kingdom into two: one part to be ruled by Antipater’s oldest brother Alexander V and his wife Lysandra and the other part to be ruled by Antipater and Eurydice.[17] Alexander V wanted the whole kingdom to rule for himself and had his mother killed.[18]

Alexander V appealed to Demetrius I Poliorcetes for help. When Demetrius I arrived with his troops he had Alexander V murdered and drove out Antipater and Eurydice out of Macedonia.[19] Demetrius I then made himself master of Macedonia. Eurydice and Antipater returned to her father and his wife Arsinoe II. Lysimachus made peace with Demetrius I, which resulted in Antipater quarrelling with Lysimachus about his Macedonian inheritance and Lysimachus had put Antipater to death.[20] Eurydice siding with her cousin-husband was put into prison by her father and probably died there.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Ptolemaic Genealogy: Arsinoe I, Footnote 3
  2. ↑ Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, p.569
  3. ↑ Heckel, Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire, p.175
  4. ↑ Bengtson, Griechische Geschichte von den Anfängen bis in die römische Kaiserzeit, p.569
  5. ↑ Heckel, Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire, p.175
  6. ↑ Lysimachus’ article at Livius.org
  7. ↑ Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women, p.233
  8. ↑ Heckel, Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great: prosopography of Alexander’s empire, p.122
  9. ↑ Ptolemaic Dynasty-Affiliated Lines: The Antipatrids Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ↑ Chamoux, Hellenistic civilization, p.252
  11. ↑ Lund, Lysimachus: A Study in Early Hellenistic Kingship, p.194
  12. ↑ Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women, p.128
  13. ↑ Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women, p.128
  14. ↑ Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women, p.128
  15. ↑ Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women, p.128
  16. ↑ Ptolemaic Genealogy: Arsinoe I, Footnote 3
  17. ↑ Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women, p.128
  18. ↑ Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women, p.128
  19. ↑ Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women, p.p.128-9
  20. ↑ Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women, p.129
  21. ↑ Lightman, A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women, p.129

Sources

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