Philotera

Philotera (Greek: Φιλωτέρα, born 315/309 BC-probably after 282 BC and before 268 BC[1]) was a Greek Macedonian noblewoman and a Greek Egyptian princess of the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Philotera was the daughter of Ptolemy I Soter and Berenice I of Egypt.[2] She had one older sister, Arsinoe II, and a younger brother, the future Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus.[3] From her parents' previous marriages, Philotera had various half-maternal and half-paternal siblings.

Little is known of her life. Philotera died sometime after the accession of Ptolemy II to the Ptolemaic throne and before Arsinoe II died.[4] The fact that Philotera died before her sister did is demonstrated by a hymn written by Callimachus on the death of Arsinoe II.[5]

After Philotera died, Ptolemy II deified her as a goddess. Ptolemy II erected a temple in her honor in Alexandria. Greeks and Egyptians worshiped her along with Arsinoe II, and Ptolemy II created a religious cult in her honor.[6][7] Ptolemy II also founded a port town in the Red Sea called Philotera, which is modern Safaga.[8]

References

Sources

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.