Helenos (politician)

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Helenos ( Greek  Ἕλενος ) was a governor on Cyprus of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty in the 2nd century BC. He came from Cyrene and was either the son of Apollonios or Apollodoros .

Helenos evidently entered the service of Ptolemy VIII when he was from 163 to 145 BC. Had officiated as king in Cyrene, and finally followed this to Alexandria . During the civil war against Cleopatra II , Helenus must have come to Cyprus in the wake of Ptolemy VIII, where the king had temporarily withdrawn. There he was then assigned to the governor Theodoros , on whose staff he worked his way up to the position of a second man in Cyprus. Among other things, he dedicated a statue to the governor and another for his son.

In 118 BC Theodoros was recalled from Cyprus to Alexandria and Helenos took over the governorship (strategos) and high priesthood of the island for the first time . During this time the eldest son of the king Ptolemy IX resided here . , in honor of which he immediately had a statue erected. 116 BC Ptolemy IX took over. personally held the governorship, but moved to Alexandria that same year after the death of his father to take power as king there. In his place the younger brother of the king Ptolemy X was sent to Cyprus, who was supposed to take over the governorship there. De facto, however, this was held by Helenos, who also advanced to become the teacher (tropheús) of the young Ptolemy X. He was named as such in the dedicatory inscriptions of five statues dedicated to him. When Ptolemy X settled on Cyprus in 114 BC. When Helenos was proclaimed king, Helenos could officially take over the office of governor again.

When Ptolemy X. in 107 BC Went to Alexandria to meet his brother Ptolemaios IX. in co-reign with her mother Cleopatra III. To displace, Helenos followed him willingly and was now entrusted with the supreme command ( nauarchos ) over the fleet. As a reward for his services he was of Cleopatra III. appointed for life as the first priest of her newly established cult of the “benevolent and mother-loving goddess”. But as early as 106 BC He was replaced in this dignity by Theodoros, his former predecessor in Cyprus.

That Helenos 106 BC Chr. Died is considered unlikely. This year Cleopatra III. and Ptolemy X. quarreled, whereupon the mother had taken sole rule in Alexandria. As a confidante of the son, Helenos must now have appeared unbearable to the queen for her priesthood and has consequently been replaced by one of her own.

literature

  • Willy Peremans, Edmond Van't Dack, Leon Mooren, W. Swinnen: Prosopographia Ptolemaica VI: La cour, les relations internationales et les possessions extérieures, la vie culturelle (Nos 14479-17250). (= Studia Hellenistica. Vol. 21). 1968, no.15041.
  • Terence B. Mitford : Helenos, Governor of Cyprus. In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies . Volume 79, 1959, pp. 94-131.
  • Terence B. Mitford: The Hellenistic Inscriptions of Old Paphos. In: The Annual of the British School at Athens. Volume 56, 1961, pp. 1-41.
  • Ludwig Koenen : Cleopatra III. as a priestess of the Alexander cult (P. Colon. inv. nr. 5063) , In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik . Volume 5, 1970, pp. 61-84.
  • Edmond van't Dack: Apollodôros et Helenos . In: Sacris erudiri. Volume 31, 1989/90, pp. 429-441.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Mitford (1959), pp. 96-97, No. 1 and 2, and (1961), p. 32, No. 85 and 86 .
  2. ↑ Mitford (1959), pp. 98-99, no. 4, and (1961), p. 33, no. 88 .
  3. ↑ Helenos himself got a statue donated by the priests of Aphrodite of Paphos. See Mitford (1959), pp. 97-98, No. 3, and (1961), pp. 32-33, No. 87 .
  4. ↑ Mitford (1959), pp. 99-100, No. 5 = SEG 18, 575 = Jean Pouilloux , Paul Roesch, Jean Marcillet-Jaubert: Salamine de Chypre XIII. Testimonia Salaminia, 2. Corpus epigraphique. Paris 1987, no.82 . A statue donated by the Polis Salamis.
  5. ↑ Mitford (1959), pp. 100-101, No. 6 = SEG 18, 576 = Jean Pouilloux, Paul Roesch, Jean Marcillet-Jaubert: Salamine de Chypre XIII. Testimonia Salaminia, 2. Corpus epigraphique. Paris 1987, 83 . A statue donated by the Dionysian artists of Cyprus.
  6. ↑ Mitford (1959), p. 101, no. 7, and (1961), p. 34, no. 91 . A statue donated by the Cilician koinon (regiment) in Cyprus.
  7. ↑ Mitford (1959), pp. 101-102, no. 8, and (1961), p. 34, no. 92 . A statue donated by the priests of Aphrodite of Paphos.
  8. ↑ Mitford (1959), pp. 102-103, No. 9 = SEG 18, 577 = Jean Pouilloux, Paul Roesch, Jean Marcillet-Jaubert: Salamine de Chypre XIII. Testimonia Salaminia, 2. Corpus epigraphique. Paris 1987, no.81 . A statue donated by an unknown person.
  9. ↑ For the priests of the cult of Cleopatra III. see Koenen.
personal data
SURNAME Helenos
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek strategist
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 2nd century BC BC or 1st century BC Chr.