Apollonis (wife of Attalus I)

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Apollonis ( Greek Ἀπολλωνίς Apollōnís ; † probably shortly before 159 BC) was the wife of King Attalus I of Pergamum and mother of his four sons, Eumenes II , Attalos II , Philetairos and Athenaios.

Apollonis came from Kyzikos and came from a middle-class family. Both in literary and in inscriptions, she is admired for her modesty and piety, and praised for her renunciation of ambitious political activities and the upbringing of her sons as the ideal queen. The brotherly harmony among their sons, in which, according to Plutarch, the younger always placed themselves protectively in front of the elders as their king, was a prominent feature of the Attalid royal family, while the other Hellenistic dynasties of their time fought bloodily among themselves.

Apollonis outlived her husband by many years and died in old age, probably towards the end of the reign of Eumenes II († 158 BC); the year of her death can only be vaguely between the years 175 and 159 BC. To be dated. In the first year she was still alive, as she received an Athenian embassy together with her son on the occasion of Antiochus IV's accession to the throne . When Eumenes II. Around 160/159 BC Chr. Consecrated a temple to his mother in Hierapolis , he had her ascent to the gods noted in the attached epigram, which must have happened shortly before. After her death at the latest, she was actually given divine honors by being venerated in Teos as the “pious, descending goddess” (thea Apollonis eusebes apobateria) and participating in the cult of Aphrodite as a partner (Synnaos) . Eumenes II and Attalus II built a temple for their mother in Kyzikos, the reliefs of which represented mythical examples of filial love; Attalus II had a statue erected for her in Pergamon.

The city of Apollonis , founded by Eumenes II, was named after his mother.

literature

  • Wilhelm Dittenberger : Orientis Graeci inscriptiones selectae (OGIS), Volume 1 (1903).
  • H. van Looy: Apollonis pure de Pergame. In: Ancient Society , Vol. 7 (1976), pp. 151-165.
  • Joachim Hopp: Investigations into the history of the last Attalids (= Vestigia. Vol. 25). 1977, pp. 32-33.
  • Christian Kunze: The Farnesian Bull and the Dirkegruppe of Apollonios and Tauriskos (= Yearbook of the German Archaeological Institute: Supplement. Volume 30). de Gruyter, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-11-016162-1 , pp. 76-77.
  • Ulrich Wilcken : Apollonis 4). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II, 1, Stuttgart 1895, Col. 163 f.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Strabon 13, 4, 2.
  2. ↑ Polybios 22, 20. Plutarch , Moralia 480c = De fraterno amore 5.
  3. ^ Inscriptions from Pergamon 1, 160 = OGIS, pp. 405-410, no. 248 ( PHI Greek Inscriptions ).
  4. ↑ Antiquities of Hierapolis 30 = OGIS , pp. 477–478, No. 308 ( PHI Greek Inscriptions ).
  5. ↑ OGIS , pp. 478-480, No. 309 = Louis Robert , Etudes anatoliennes , Paris 1937, pp. 9-20 ( PHI Greek Inscriptions ). Her cult temple in Teos was built on the spot where she first stepped on the city floor during a visit.
  6. ↑ Anthologia Palatina III, No. 1-19. Inscriptions from Pergamon 1, 169 = OGIS , pp. 476-477, no. 307 ( PHI Greek Inscriptions ).
  7. ↑ Strabon 13, 4, 4.
personal data
SURNAME Apollonis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ἀπολλωνίς
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Queen of Pergamon, wife of Attalus I.
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH Kyzikos
DATE OF DEATH before 159 BC Chr.