The Ptolemaic cult of Theoi Adelphoi: a general analysis

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Gods Adelphi: Arsinoe II and Ptolemy II

During the Ptolemaic period the Greek civilization, normally few eclectic, assimilated many characteristics from the Egyptians and this constituted one of the most singular aspects in this era. The dynastic incest, coming directly from Pharaonic Egypt where this act was applied very soon, is one between the most signficant we could find. It was introduced by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, which marrying his own sister Arsinoe II, gave light to the cult of Theoi Adelphoi. In this case the dynastic cult in the royal couple was sacralized by their incestuous union. Assimilation of descendants coming from Macedonia as a general in the role of Egyptian Pharaoh may be labelled as one of the most relevant phenomena in the kingdom of Ptolemies. Their progressive Pharaonization, the one of their queens and their families may be seen generally as a general fusion by a foreigner dominination with the native population. The big role covered by Arsinoe II as queen and sister as i said, gave light to the Ptolemai dynastic cult made by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, which deifying his own sister and wife obtained an immediate success among the Greeks and the same Egyptians. The deification of Arsinoe was mainly a political act and this new cult was immediately acquired by the Greeks of the capital and the rest of the country.

Arsinoe II statuette

The queen was officially put in the dynastic cult of Alexander and his successors, with an own priestess, both in Alexandria and Ptolemais in the south. This was also object of public cult through own temples or Arsinoeia.
The foundation in Cape Zephyrion by the admiral Callicrates in a temple of the queen as Aphrodite for example, captured the sensivity of Greek poets and an epigram by Poseidippus in his honor and this epigram is collected in the papers of Ptolemy. Naturally may have been the popularity of this public cult together with the adoption by a still living Arsinoe II of the title of queen goddess, one of the Theoi Adelphoi that helped to reconcile the Greeks of Egypt with an unusual and sometimes unacceptable brother-sister marriage. The first mention of Adelphi's gods cult associated with the one of Alexander and in the same time the last example of the essence of Arsinoe's caryatid may be found in Papiry Hibeh I,99..

This document dated 279 BC is a receipt for the payment of a rent in which, extremely important, is the part telling Alexandrou kaˆ qeîn 'Adelfîn. The comparison between this document and another one conserved in Papiry Hibeh I,110 shows that the association among the gods of Adelphi had place between the thirteenth and fifteenth year of Philadelphus and the caryatid for the first time appeared in a papyrus in the nineteenth year
In another document belonging to the same serie aka Papiry Hibeh II,199, a fragment of sacerdotal annals appears clear that the cult of Philadelphus and his sister Arsinoe was formed in an Alexandrian institute not after the 272 BC circa, for sure when Arsinoe was still living. In the rest of Egypt her statue of the cult was erected near the local gods as the ram of Mendes, the god crocodile Souchos or the mummiform Ptah of Memphis. This marriage between consanguineous, considered of Persian or Macedonian derivation just by a minority of scholars, constituted a precedent not only for the entire Ptolemaic dinasty but also for the common people and the epithet Philadelphos, taken for the first time by the queen Arsinoe at her death in 270 BC, passed to the husband brother Ptolemy. Going on with examination of Ptolemaic dinasty, is interesting noticing how the practice of incest was present in every vicissitude about throne succession to legitimize the power and granting a sort of feminine dominium about dynastic issues. Naturally the increasing prevalence of dynastic incest will be put in his real context aka the one of a always more relevant role of the woman in the Hellenistic period. Another factor giving more frequency about these kind of marriages was the increasing Egyptization of the Ptolemaic dinasty. The Egyptian element in the Ptolemaic monarchy grew up and this one could be enough for normalizing the dynastic marriage of endogamic typology. The relatively high status of the queen in the monarchies both Pharaonic and Ptolemaic as well, reinforced this tendency and even the cult of Isis could have constituted an important factor.

Ptolemy VIII crowned

First we can notice Ptolemy IV Philopater, who got married with her sister Arsinoe III in 217 BC. This marriage was celebrated in a period of national crisis, when Antioch III was close to invade Egypt. Ptolemy VI Philometor, first born of Ptolemy V and Cleopatra I, got married with his older sister Cleopatra II in 176 BC. In this period t he power was in the hands of the courtesans, especially the eunuch Euleus and the libertus Leneus. For putting Egypt in a more solid defensive position towards Syria and for increasing own authority on royal family, those two courtesans didnt hesitate to join their two younger brothers in a marriage. Also by marrying Cleopatra II with the youngest brother to protect her against other marriages with suitors reclaiming the sovereignty on Egypt. Infact an endogamic marriage withing a royal house always tends consolidating the dinasty and emphasizing the one and the only divine nature of the royal familiy, not only in relation with the common people but also towards the other ruling dinasties. Another one case of incest regards one of the most debated rulers of Ptolemaic era aka Ptolemy VIII. Ptolemy VIII Evergete II Physcon got married first his sister Cleopatra II in 145 BC, then her daughter Cleopatra III in 141 BC.. this situation determined the first case of endogamic poligamy in the entire Ptolemaic dinastY. About the first marriage nothing was more obscene, according to ancient sources about the first wedding night... having Ptolemy self proclaimed his persona as the supreme ruler of Alexandria he sealed an agreement with his sister, which accepted to become his queen to give an impression of legitimacy and continuity of the power. The part of agreement about Cleopatra II provided that her son Ptolemy VII to be spared, maybe for a calculation about an eventual co-regency with the uncle. About this, the historian Justin 38,8,4 tells us that once the marriage was celebrated, whilst the invited people were sitting at the banquet, Ptolemy VIII himself killed the nephew in front of the general embarassement, and after this move he went towards the thalamus of his own sister showing her the still fresh blood of her son in the hands. Not paying attention to her double incest, again the queen Cleopatra II after giving life to a male heir, changed her own royal title aka Philometor (derived from Ptolemy VI) in Euergete. At this point Ptolemy VIII got married with his niece Cleopatra III around 141 BC. The acquisition of royal honors by Cleopatra III culminated with her official identification as queen wife. Now both mother and daughter could be legally be recognized as queens of Egypt. Going on with the examination of Ptolemaic incest we find Ptolemy X Alexander I who got married with her niece Cleopatra Berenice III in 101 BC and this case represents an ulterior example where an incestuous dynastic marriage is not involving brother and sister but uncle and niece. Ptolemy XII Auletes got married with his sister Cleopatra V Tryphaena in 79 BC but in this period, the political activity of the dinasty and the effective control of power was slipping more than ever in the Roman handd and so as consequence, endogamic royal marriages became for them a quick way for increasing their influence on last Ptolemaics. Ptolemy XIII is protagonist of a well known story.. he was co-regent of hius wige and older sister Cleopatra VII but he tried depriving her of the power. Last of a dinasty in full decline, he drowned in the Nile river after being defeated by Iulius Caesar and Mithridates of Pergamyus during the Bellum Alexandrinum

Cleopatra VII

Now is important understanding what the common people knew about those incestuous practices, if this tendency has been influenced or not. First of all we can say that during the Roman era thanks to the census, those practises were non existant i mean endogamic marriages during the Roman period. In the documents of Hellenistic Egypt the recoursing of identical names in the same household suggests strongely that marriages between consanguineous were common. However rarely is possible finding a 100% accurate proof about endogamic marriages in this period. Luckily together with few testimony we have a document written during the hellenistic era in which is certified a brother sister marriage is still survived.. it's the papyri Tebt III, 766...

The document dated 136 BC, is a payment requirement of the apòmoira about a vineyard. Euterpius, sister and wife of Dionysus, is also daughter of a Dionysus as well. There are nor reasons for believing her husband hadnt the name of her common father. Together with those direct testimony, the Greek authors mentioned an Egyptian use and costume about brother sister marriages. Diodorus Siculus 1,27,1 says that Egyptians were usual getting married with their sisters and Pausanias 1,7,1 says the marriage between Ptolemy II and Arsinoe II was a common Egyptian practice. We know that Ptolemy II punished severely the poet Sotades because he mocked in an obscene way the marriage of Ptolemy as disapproval for an endogamic marriage. Considering the popularity of Arsinoe and her cult and the general success of the incest during all the dinasty, is probably wrong to overestimate an excessive disapproval by the Hellenic element of the population. Another important thing to be considered is that in the first times Greeks in Egypt were an isolated community and the instinctive fear of losing own ethnic personality may have forced this community in choosing endogamic marriages.

REFERENCES:

• Ptolemaic Dynastic Incest and Incests in graeco-roman Egypt: some aspects
• Archeogate Iura
• E.D. Carney, The Reappearance of Royal Sibling Marriage in Ptolemaic Egypt
• P.M. Fraser, Ptolemaic Alexandria, I
• S. Bussi, Mariages endogames in Egypt
  
• P.W. Pestman, The Archive of the Theban Choachytes
• E. Lelli, Arsinoe II in Callimaco e nelle testimonianze letterarie alessandrine: Teocrito, Posidippo, Sotade e altro