Pythionics

Pythionike was a famous, probably from Athens originating hetaera the second half of v 4th century. BC Probably 329 BC Harpalus , the administrator of Babylon appointed by Alexander the Great , brought them to the old Mesopotamian metropolis. Here he held out Pythionike at the expense of the state treasury. After she died (before 324 BC), Harpalus had her consecrated as Aphrodite Pythionike . In her honor, magnificent tombs were erected both in Babylon and on the road from Athens to Eleusis . These aroused displeasure and indignation mainly because of their price (allegedly more than 200 talents in total ) and their size, which put the tombs of great Athenians such as Miltiades , Pericles and Kimon in the shade. Pythionike was often ridiculed by the poets of Greek comedy .

swell

• Athenaios 8,339; 13,594d-595c
• Plutarch , Phokion 22,1-2
• Diodorus 17,108.5
• Pausanias 1,37,6
• Theopompos (at Athenaios 1.c.)

literature

• Ernst Badian : Pythionics . In: The New Pauly . Volume 10, column 667.