Demetrius the Fair

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For the similarly named Macedonian ruler, see Demetrius II of Macedon.

Demetrius the Fair or surnamed The Handsome (Greek: Δημήτριος ο Καλός, around 285 BC-249 BC or 250 BC), also known in modern ancient historical sources as Demetrius of Cyrene, was a Greek Macedonian Prince and Greek Cyrenaean King.

Contents

[edit] Family

Demetrius is a man of Greek Macedonian descent. He was surnamed The Fair, because he was an attractive man. He was born and raised in Macedonia. Demetrius was named after his father and was the youngest child, from the children of King Demetrius I of Macedon and his mother was Ptolemais. Ptolemais married Demetrius I as his fifth wife around 287 BC/286 BC in Miletus. Demetrius I married Ptolemais as his fifth wife, while this was Ptolemais’ first marriage. When his parents married, his father was king. Demetrius was the only child born into the marriage as in 283 BC his father had died. From his father’s previous marriages, Demetrius had various paternal half siblings which included king Antigonus II Gonatas, princess and later queen of the Seleucid Empire Stratonice of Syria.

Demetrius’ maternal grandparents were the first Greek Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter and noblewoman Eurydice. Among his maternal aunts were Greek Egyptian queen Arsinoe II of Egypt and among his maternal uncles were the Greek Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus and Macedonian King Ptolemy Keraunos (Keraunos was Ptolemais’ full blooded brother). Among his maternal cousins were the third Greek Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy III Euergetes. His paternal grandparents were Macedonian king Antigonus I Monophthalmus and noblewoman Stratonice, while his paternal uncle was the general Philip.

[edit] Cyrenaica

Not much is known about him until 249 BC. Greek Cyrenaean king Magas of Cyrene died in 249 BC or 250 BC. His widow, was the powerful Greek monarch Apama. Apama was Demetrius’ niece, who was a daughter of his paternal half sister Stratonice of Syria from her marriage to Greek king of the Seleucid Empire Antiochus I Soter.

Apama summoned Demetrius from Macedonia. She offered Demetrius, her daughter with Magas (and only child) princess Berenice II in marriage to him. Demetrius in return, would become King of Cyrenaica and protect Cyrenaica from the Ptolemaic dynasty. Demetrius agreed to Apama’s request and married Berenice. When he married Berenice and became king, there was no opposition in his rise to the throne. When Demetrius became king, he became so ambitious it reached to the point of recklessness.

Sometime after his marriage took place to Berenice, Demetrius and Apama became lovers. Berenice became jealous of her husband. Berenice out of revenge, had argued with her mother and Demetrius and stabbed Demetrius which he died in Apama’s arms. The poem Coma Berenices by Greek poet Callimachus (lost, but known in a Latin translation or paraphrase by Catullus), apparently refers to her killing of Demetrius: "Let me remind you how stout-hearted you were even as a young girl: have you forgotten the brave deed by which you gained a royal marriage?"

[edit] Marriages and Children

  • First marriage to a Greek noblewoman from Larissa called Olympias who the daughter of a Greek nobleman called Polycletus or Polyclitus of Larissa. Olympias married Demetrius at an unknown dated in the 3rd century BC. She most probably died before 249 BC.

Their children:

    • Antigonus III Doson - later Greek Macedonian King
    • Echecrates - unfortunately, not much is known on this nobleman. Apart from a fact that Echecrates had a son and named his son after his brother. This Antigonus revealed to his paternal second cousin Greek King Philip V of Macedon a few months before Philip’s death in 179 BC, false accusations of Philip’s son prince Perseus of Macedon against Antigonus’ son, noblemen Demetrius, in which Philip ordered and put Demetrius to death. Philip indignant of Perseus’ conduct, Philip appointed Antigonus as his successor. When Philip died in 179 BC and Antigonus became king, Perseus managed to obtain the throne off Antigonus and caused Antigonus to be killed.
  • Second marriage to his great niece, Greek Cyrenaean princess and future Greek queen of Egypt Berenice II. They married either in 249 BC or 250 BC. Berenice killed Demetrius, out of jealousy and revenge because Demetrius and her mother became lovers.

[edit] See also

[edit] Sources:

Demetrius the Fair
Died: 249 BC
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Magas		 King of Cyrene
250 BC–249 BC		 Vacant
Republic, under Ptolemaic rule from 246 BC
Title next held by
Ptolemy VIII Physcon