Demetrius the Fair

Demetrius the Fair
Basileus
King of Cyrene
Reign	250–249 BC
Predecessor	MagasandBerenice II
Successor	Berenice IIand a republican government
Co-regent	Berenice II
Born	c.285 BC Macedon
Died	249 BC Cyrene
Spouse	Olympias,Berenice II
Issue	Antigonus III Echecrates
House	Antigonid dynasty, Ptolemaic dynasty(by marriage)
Father	Demetrius of Macedon

Demetrius the Fairorthe Handsome(Greek:Δημήτριος ὁ Καλός,c. 285 BC–249 BC), known in modern ancient historical sources asDemetrius of Cyrene,was aHellenisticking ofCyrene,who succeededMagas I.

Family

Demetrius was ofMacedonianancestry. He was surnamedThe Fair,because he was considered gorgeous by many of his contemporaries. He was born and raised in Macedonia. Demetrius was named after his father and was the youngest of the children of KingDemetrius I of Macedonand his wife, Ptolemais. Demetrius I married Ptolemais as his fifth wife around 287 BC/286 BC inMiletus,while this was Ptolemais’ first marriage. Demetrius was the only child born into the marriage, as his father died shortly thereafter, in 283 BC. From his father's previous marriages, Demetrius had various paternal half siblings, who included kingAntigonus II Gonatas,as well asStratonice of Syria,princess and later Queen of theSeleucid Empire.

Demetrius’ maternal grandfather was the first Greek-Egyptian pharaohPtolemy I Soter.Among his maternal aunts were QueenArsinoe IIof Egypt and among his maternal uncles were PharaohPtolemy II Philadelphusand Macedonian KingPtolemy Keraunos(Keraunos was Ptolemais’ full blooded brother). PharaohPtolemy III Euergeteswas a maternal cousin. His paternal grandparents were Macedonian kingAntigonus I MonophthalmusandStratonice,while his paternal uncle was the generalPhilip.

Cyrenaica

Berenice IIwas the daughter ofMagas of Cyreneand became the wife of Demetrius, thus giving him the throne ofCyrenaica.

Not much is known about him until 249 BC. Greek Cyrenaean kingMagas of Cyrenedied in 249 BC or 250 BC. His widow was the powerful Greek monarchApama II.She was Demetrius' niece through his paternal half sisterStratonice of Syriaand her husbandAntiochus I Soterof theSeleucid Empire.

Apama summoned Demetrius from Macedonia. She offered her daughter with Magas (her only child)Berenice IIin marriage to Demetrius. Demetrius in return would become King ofCyrenaicaand protect Cyrenaica from thePtolemaic 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, but he became ambitious to the point of recklessness.

Sometime after his marriage to Berenice, Demetrius and Apama became lovers. Jealous of her husband's affair with her mother, Berenice argued with both of them and consented to the assassination of Demetrius, who died in Apama's arms. The poemComa Berenicesby Greek poetCallimachus(lost, but known in a Latin translation or paraphrase byCatullus), apparently refers to her coup against 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?"

First marriage and children

Demetrius's first marriage was to an Olympias, a Greek noblewoman fromLarissa,the daughter of a nobleman, Polycletus or Polyclitus of Larissa. She probably died before 249 BC. Their children wereAntigonus III Doson,the later Macedonian King, andEchecrates,a nobleman about whom not much is known apart from the fact that he hada sonwhom he named after his brother Antigonus. A few months before his paternal second cousin KingPhilip V of Macedon’s death, Echecrates' son Antigonus revealed to Philip that Philip's son, the princePerseus of Macedon,had made false accusations against his brother, Philip's other son, Demetrius, whom Philip had then had put to death. Philip, indignant at Perseus’ conduct appointed Antigonus as his successor. When Philip died in 179 BC and Antigonus became king, Perseus ousted Antigonus and had him executed.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Demetrius the Fair
16.Machatas of Elimeia 8.Philip of Elimeia 4.Antigonus I Monophthalmus,BasileusofMacedon 2.Demetrius I of Macedon 10. Corrhaeus 5.Stratonice 1.Demetrius the Fair, King of Cyrene 12.Lagus of Eordaea 6.Ptolemy I Soter,Pharaoh of Egypt 13.Arsinoe of Macedon 3. Ptolemais of Egypt 14.Antipater 7.Eurydice of Egypt

See also

• Cyrene
• Cyrenaica
• List of Kings of Cyrene

Sources

• "smith-bio/0198".ancientlibrary.Archived fromthe originalon 2007-10-30.Retrieved2017-09-28.
• "Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, page 965 (v. 1)".Archived fromthe originalon 2006-11-25.Retrieved2017-09-28.
• "smith-bio/1110".ancientlibrary.Retrieved2017-09-28.
• "smith-bio/2356".ancientlibrary.Archived fromthe originalon 2007-10-21.Retrieved2017-09-28.
• "Antigonus III Doson".virtualreligion.net.Retrieved2017-09-28.
• "Berenice II".Archived fromthe originalon 2008-02-18.Retrieved2017-09-28.
• "Ptolemais".Archived fromthe originalon 2007-02-22.Retrieved2017-09-28.
• "tyndale.cam.ac.uk/Egypt/ptolemies/apama-arsinoe.htm#Arsinoe_Cyrene".tyndale.cam.ac.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 2007-03-30.Retrieved2017-09-28.