Thaïs
Encyclopedia
Thaïs was a famous Greek hetaera
who lived during the time of Alexander the Great and accompanied him on his campaigns. She is most famous for instigating the burning of Persepolis
. At the time, Thaïs was the lover of Ptolemy I Soter
, one of Alexander's generals. It has been suggested that she may also have been Alexander's lover, on the basis of Athenaeus
's statement that Alexander liked to "keep Thais with him", but this may simply mean he enjoyed her company. She is said to have been very witty and entertaining. Athenaeus also says that after Alexander's death Ptolemy married Thaïs, who bore him three children.
, Alexander burned down the palace of Persepolis after a drinking party. Thaïs was present at the party and gave a speech which convinced Alexander to burn the palace. Cleitarchus
claims that the destruction was a whim; Plutarch
and Diodorus recount that it was intended as retribution for Xerxes' burning of the temple of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens in 480 BC
(the destroyed temple was replaced by the Parthenon
of Athens
)
People in the palace were given enough time to leave the building; there is no record of loss of life.
It has been argued that Thaïs was at this time Alexander's lover. T.D. Ogden argues that Ptolemy took her over at some later point, though other writers believe she was always Ptolemy's companion.
Whatever the legal status of their relationship, Thaïs was never portrayed as Ptolemy's queen, nor were her children treated as heirs to his throne. Ptolemy had other wives, first Eurydice of Egypt
and later Berenice I of Egypt
, who became his principal consort and mother of his heir.
Thaïs's daughter Eirene married Eunostos king of Soli, Cyprus
. Lagus is known from a reference to his victory in a chariot race in the Lycaea, an Arcadian festival, in 308/307. Leontiscus appears to have been in Cyprus with his sister, as he recorded there as a prisoner taken by Demetrius Poliorcetes in 307 or 306 after his invasion of the island. He was later sent home to Ptolemy.
The date of Thaïs's death is unknown.
sees on his journey through Hell
(Inferno
, XVIII,133-136). She is located in the circle of the flatterers, plunged in a trench of excrement, having been consigned there, we are told by Virgil
, for having uttered to her lover that she was "marvellously" fond of him. Dante's Thaïs may or may not be intended to represent the historical courtesan, but the quoted lines refer to a character in Terence
's play, Eunuchus
, the female protagonist of which is a courtesan named Thaïs after the historical figure. Dante probably took the words from Cicero
's essay De Amicitia, which refers to the passage in Terence.
Athenaeus's book The Deipnosophists attributes a number of witticisms to Thaïs. She "said once to a boastful lover of hers, who had borrowed some goblets from a great many people, and said that he meant to break them up, and make others of them, 'You will destroy what belongs to each private person'." One of her lovers "smelt like a goat". When asked her who she was visiting she said "To dwell with Aegeus
, great Pandion's son."
's play Doctor Faustus
for the amusement of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
Thaïs appears as Alexander's mistress in John Dryden
's poem Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music
(1697), which begins with a description of Alexander enthroned with "the lovely Thais by his side" who sat "like a blooming eastern bride". The poem's account of the feast ends by comparing Thaïs to Helen of Troy: "Thaïs led the way/To light him to his prey/And like another Helen, fired another Troy." The poem was later set to music as an oratorio, also called Alexander's Feast
, by George Frederick Handel.
Thaïs is a supporting character in two novels by Mary Renault
about Alexander the Great: Fire from Heaven and The Persian Boy, as well as in Renault's biography of Alexander, "The Nature of Alexander." Thaïs is the heroine of a 1972 novel by the Russian author Ivan Efremov, Thais of Athens
. It chronicles her life from meeting Alexander the Great through to her time as queen of Memphis
in Egypt.
Other literary figures named Thaïs are references to Thaïs of Alexandria
, a Christian saint of a later period.
Hetaera
In ancient Greece, hetaerae were courtesans, that is to say, highly educated, sophisticated companions...
who lived during the time of Alexander the Great and accompanied him on his campaigns. She is most famous for instigating the burning of Persepolis
Persepolis
Perspolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire . Persepolis is situated northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. In contemporary Persian, the site is known as Takht-e Jamshid...
. At the time, Thaïs was the lover of Ptolemy I Soter
Ptolemy I Soter
Ptolemy I Soter I , also known as Ptolemy Lagides, c. 367 BC – c. 283 BC, was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, who became ruler of Egypt and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty...
, one of Alexander's generals. It has been suggested that she may also have been Alexander's lover, on the basis of Athenaeus
Athenaeus
Athenaeus , of Naucratis in Egypt, Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourished about the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd century AD...
's statement that Alexander liked to "keep Thais with him", but this may simply mean he enjoyed her company. She is said to have been very witty and entertaining. Athenaeus also says that after Alexander's death Ptolemy married Thaïs, who bore him three children.
Burning of Persepolis
Thaïs apparently came from Athens, and accompanied Alexander throughout his campaign in Asia minor. She came to the attention of history when, in 330 BC330 BC
Year 330 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crassus and Venno...
, Alexander burned down the palace of Persepolis after a drinking party. Thaïs was present at the party and gave a speech which convinced Alexander to burn the palace. Cleitarchus
Cleitarchus
Cleitarchus or Clitarchus , one of the historians of Alexander the Great, son of the historian Dinon of Colophon, was possibly a native of Egypt, or at least spent a considerable time at the court of Ptolemy Lagus.Quintilian Cleitarchus or Clitarchus , one of the historians of Alexander the Great,...
claims that the destruction was a whim; Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
and Diodorus recount that it was intended as retribution for Xerxes' burning of the temple of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens in 480 BC
480 BC
Year 480 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vibulanus and Cincinnatus...
(the destroyed temple was replaced by the Parthenon
Parthenon
The Parthenon is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their virgin patron. Its construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although...
of Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
)
When the king [Alexander] had caught fire at their words, all leaped up from their couches and passed the word along to form a victory procession in honour of Dionysus. Promptly many torches were gathered. Female musicians were present at the banquet, so the king led them all out for the comus to the sound of voices and flutes and pipes, Thaïs the courtesan leading the whole performance. She was the first, after the king, to hurl her blazing torch into the palace. As the others all did the same, immediately the entire palace area was consumed, so great was the conflagration. It was remarkable that the impious act of Xerxes, king of the Persians, against the acropolis at Athens should have been repaid in kind after many years by one woman, a citizen of the land which had suffered it, and in sport. -Diodorus of Sicily (XVII.72)
People in the palace were given enough time to leave the building; there is no record of loss of life.
It has been argued that Thaïs was at this time Alexander's lover. T.D. Ogden argues that Ptolemy took her over at some later point, though other writers believe she was always Ptolemy's companion.
Later life
Thaïs's subsequent career is uncertain. According to Athenaeus, she married her lover Ptolemy, who became king of Egypt, after Alexander's death. Even if they were not actually married, their relationship seems to have acquired "quasi-legal status". She gave Ptolemy three children, two boys and a girl: Lagus, Leontiscus and Eirene.Whatever the legal status of their relationship, Thaïs was never portrayed as Ptolemy's queen, nor were her children treated as heirs to his throne. Ptolemy had other wives, first Eurydice of Egypt
Eurydice of Egypt
Eurydice was daughter of Antipater and wife of Ptolemy, the son of Lagus. The period of her marriage is not mentioned by any ancient writer, but it is probable that it took place shortly after the partition of Triparadisus, and the appointment of Antipater to the regency, 321 BC. She was the...
and later Berenice I of Egypt
Berenice I of Egypt
Berenice I was a Greek Macedonian noblewoman and through her marriage to Ptolemy I Soter, became the first Queen of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt.-Family:...
, who became his principal consort and mother of his heir.
Thaïs's daughter Eirene married Eunostos king of Soli, Cyprus
Soli, Cyprus
thumb|right|250px|Map showing the 10 ancient city Kingdoms of CyprusSoli or Soloi is an ancient Greek city in the island of Cyprus, located south-west of Morphou and on the coast in the gulf of Morphou and dates back to about the 6th century BC...
. Lagus is known from a reference to his victory in a chariot race in the Lycaea, an Arcadian festival, in 308/307. Leontiscus appears to have been in Cyprus with his sister, as he recorded there as a prisoner taken by Demetrius Poliorcetes in 307 or 306 after his invasion of the island. He was later sent home to Ptolemy.
The date of Thaïs's death is unknown.
Appearances in literature
Her larger-than-life persona has resulted in characters named Thaïs appearing in several literary works, the most famous of which are listed below. In the post-classical period she is commonly portrayed in literature and art as Alexander's rather than Ptolemy's lover.Classical
In Divine Comedy, a character called Thaïs is one of just a few women whom Dante AlighieriDante Alighieri
Durante degli Alighieri, mononymously referred to as Dante , was an Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina commedia ...
sees on his journey through Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
(Inferno
Inferno (Dante)
Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. It is an allegory telling of the journey of Dante through what is largely the medieval concept of Hell, guided by the Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as...
, XVIII,133-136). She is located in the circle of the flatterers, plunged in a trench of excrement, having been consigned there, we are told by Virgil
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
, for having uttered to her lover that she was "marvellously" fond of him. Dante's Thaïs may or may not be intended to represent the historical courtesan, but the quoted lines refer to a character in Terence
Terence
Publius Terentius Afer , better known in English as Terence, was a playwright of the Roman Republic, of North African descent. His comedies were performed for the first time around 170–160 BC. Terentius Lucanus, a Roman senator, brought Terence to Rome as a slave, educated him and later on,...
's play, Eunuchus
Eunuchus
Eunuchus is a comedy written by the Roman playwright Terence featuring a complex plot of familial misunderstanding.-Prologue:...
, the female protagonist of which is a courtesan named Thaïs after the historical figure. Dante probably took the words from Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
's essay De Amicitia, which refers to the passage in Terence.
Athenaeus's book The Deipnosophists attributes a number of witticisms to Thaïs. She "said once to a boastful lover of hers, who had borrowed some goblets from a great many people, and said that he meant to break them up, and make others of them, 'You will destroy what belongs to each private person'." One of her lovers "smelt like a goat". When asked her who she was visiting she said "To dwell with Aegeus
Aegeus
In Greek mythology, Aegeus , also Aigeus, Aegeas or Aigeas , was an archaic figure in the founding myth of Athens. The "goat-man" who gave his name to the Aegean Sea was, next to Poseidon, the father of Theseus, the founder of Athenian institutions and one of the kings of Athens.-His reign:Upon the...
, great Pandion's son."
Post-Classical
Thaïs and Alexander the Great are conjured by Faustus in Christopher MarloweChristopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
's play Doctor Faustus
Doctor Faustus
Doctor Faustus could refer to:*The character of Faust*Dr. Johann Georg Faust , widely considered to be an inspiration for the character of Faust....
for the amusement of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.
Thaïs appears as Alexander's mistress in John Dryden
John Dryden
John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
's poem Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music
Alexander's Feast (Dryden)
Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music is an ode by John Dryden. It was written to celebrate Saint Cecilia's Day. Jeremiah Clarke set the original ode to music, however the score is now lost....
(1697), which begins with a description of Alexander enthroned with "the lovely Thais by his side" who sat "like a blooming eastern bride". The poem's account of the feast ends by comparing Thaïs to Helen of Troy: "Thaïs led the way/To light him to his prey/And like another Helen, fired another Troy." The poem was later set to music as an oratorio, also called Alexander's Feast
Alexander's Feast (Handel)
Alexander's Feast is an ode with music by George Frideric Handel set to a libretto by Newburgh Hamilton. Hamilton adapted his libretto from John Dryden's ode Alexander's Feast, or the Power of Music which had been written to celebrate Saint Cecilia's Day...
, by George Frederick Handel.
Thaïs is a supporting character in two novels by Mary Renault
Mary Renault
Mary Renault born Eileen Mary Challans, was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece...
about Alexander the Great: Fire from Heaven and The Persian Boy, as well as in Renault's biography of Alexander, "The Nature of Alexander." Thaïs is the heroine of a 1972 novel by the Russian author Ivan Efremov, Thais of Athens
Thais of Athens
Tais of Athens is a historical novel by Ivan Efremov written in 1972. It tells the story of the famous hetaera Thaïs, who was one of Alexander the Great's contemporaries and companions on his conquest of the oikoumene or the known world...
. It chronicles her life from meeting Alexander the Great through to her time as queen of Memphis
Memphis, Egypt
Memphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Helwan, south of Cairo.According to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes around 3000 BC. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an...
in Egypt.
Other literary figures named Thaïs are references to Thaïs of Alexandria
Thaïs (saint)
St. Thaïs of Roman Alexandria and of the Egyptian desert was a repentant courtesan.-Accounts of her Life:St. Thaïs reportedly lived during the fourth century in Roman Egypt. She is included in literature on the lives of the saints in the Greek church...
, a Christian saint of a later period.