Tryphaena was a Ptolemaic

Ptolemaic dynasty

The Ptolemaic dynasty, was a Macedonian Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC...

 princess. She married the Seleucid king Antiochus VIII Grypus

Antiochus VIII Grypus

Antiochus VIII Epiphanes/Callinicus/Philometor, nicknamed Grypus , was crowned as ruler of the Greek Seleucid kingdom in 125 BC. He was the son of Demetrius II Nicator and Cleopatra Thea.-Biography:...

 and was queen of Syria

Seleucid Empire

The Seleucid Empire was a Greek-Macedonian state that was created out of the eastern conquests of Alexander the Great. At the height of its power, it included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan.The Seleucid Empire was a major centre...

 (124-111 BC).

Life

It is often assumed that Tryphaena also bore the name Cleopatra, but this has not been attested. She was the oldest daughter of the Egyptian king Ptolemy VIII Physcon

Ptolemy VIII Physcon

Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II , nicknamed , Phúskōn, Physcon for his obesity, was a king of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. His complicated career started in 170 BC, when Antiochus IV Epiphanes invaded Egypt, captured his brother Ptolemy VI Philometor and let him continue as a puppet monarch...

 and his niece and wife Cleopatra III

Cleopatra III of Egypt

Cleopatra III was a queen of Egypt 142–101 BC.Cleopatra III was also known as Cleopatra Euergetis while associated with her husband Ptolemy VIII or her son Ptolemy X. She is attested as Cleopatra Philometor Soteira while associated with her eldest son Ptolemy IX...

. Therefore she was the sister of Ptolemy IX Lathyros

Ptolemy IX Lathyros

Ptolemy IX Soter II or Lathyros was king of Egypt three times, from 116 BC to 110 BC, 109 BC to 107 BC and 88 BC to 81 BC, with intervening periods ruled by his brother, Ptolemy X Alexander....

, Ptolemy X Alexander I

Ptolemy X Alexander I

Ptolemy X Alexander I was King of Egypt from 110 BC to 109 BC and 107 BC till 88 BC.He was the son of Ptolemy VIII Physcon and Cleopatra III. In 110 BC he became King with his mother as co-regent, after his mother had deposed his brother Ptolemy IX Lathyros. However, in 109 BC he was deposed by...

, Cleopatra IV

Cleopatra IV of Egypt

Cleopatra IV was Queen of Egypt briefly from 116-115 BC, jointly with her husband Ptolemy IX Lathyros. She later became queen consort of Syria as the wife of Antiochus IX Cyzicenus.-Biography:...

 and Cleopatra Selene I.

In 124 BC Ptolemy VIII no longer supported his pretender for the Seleucid throne, Alexander II Zabinas

Alexander II Zabinas

Alexander II Zabinas , ruler of the Greek Seleucid kingdom, was a counter-king who emerged in the chaos following the Seleucidian loss of Mesopotamia to the Parthians. Zabinas was a false Seleucid who claimed to be an adoptive son of Antiochus VII Sidetes, but in fact seems to have been the son of...

, but Antiochus VIII Grypus, the son of Demetrius II Nicator

Demetrius II Nicator

For the similarly named Macedonian ruler, see Demetrius II of Macedon. For the Macedonian prince, see Demetrius the Fair.Demetrius II , called Nicator , was one of the sons of Demetrius I Soter, brother of Antiochus VII Sidetes and his mother could have been Laodice V...

 and Cleopatra Thea

Cleopatra Thea

Cleopatra Thea surnamed Eueteria was the ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. She ruled Syria from 125 BC after the death of Demetrius II Nicator...

. So Ptolemy VIII married his daughter Tryphaena to Antiochus VIII and also sent him reinforcements. The couple had five sons: Seleucus VI Epiphanes

Seleucus VI Epiphanes

Seleucus VI Epiphanes Nikator, ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid kingdom, was the oldest son of Antiochus VIII Grypus and his wife Tryphaena. In 96 BC, Seleucus defeated his half-uncle Antiochus IX Cyzicenus in revenge for his father's death...

, the twin Antiochus XI Epiphanes

Antiochus XI Epiphanes

Antiochus XI Epiphanes or Philadelphus, ruler of the Greek Seleucid kingdom, was a son of Antiochus VIII Grypus and his wife Tryphaena. Antiochus XI was a brother of Seleucus VI Epiphanes and a minor participant in the civil wars which clouded the last years of the once glorious Seleucids, now...

 and Philip I Philadelphus

Philip I Philadelphus

Philip I Philadelphus , a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid kingdom, was the fourth son of Antiochus VIII Grypus and his wife Tryphaena. Philip I took the diadem in 95 BC together with his older brother Antiochus XI Ephiphanes, after the eldest son Seleucus VI Epiphanes was killed by their cousin...

, Demetrius III Eucaerus

Demetrius III Eucaerus

Demetrius III , called Eucaerus and Philopator, was a ruler of the Seleucid kingdom, the son of Antiochus VIII Grypus and his wife Tryphaena.By the assistance of Ptolemy IX Lathyros, king of Egypt, he recovered part of his father's Syrian dominions ca 95 BC, and...

, and Antiochus XII Dionysus

Antiochus XII Dionysus

Antiochus XII Dionysos , a ruler of the Greek Seleucid kingdom who reigned 87–84 BC, was the fifth son of Antiochus VIII Grypus and Tryphaena to take up the diadem...

. Tryphaena also bore her husband a daughter called Laodice

Laodice VII Thea

Laodice VII Thea Philadelphus , was a Greek–Syrian princess of the Seleucid Empire and future queen of Commagene. She was the daughter of Greek–Syrian King Antiochus VIII Grypus and Greek Ptolemaic Princess Cleopatra Tryphaena a daughter of Ptolemy VIII Physcon.Laodice married Mithridates I...

, who became the wife of Mithridates I Callinicus

Mithridates I Callinicus

Mithridates I Callinicus was a king of Orontid Armenian descent who lived between 2nd century BC and 1st century BC. Mithridates was a prince, the son and successor of King of Commagene, Sames II Theosebes Dikaios. Before his succession in 109 BC, he married the Syrian Greek Princess Laodice VII...

.

In 112 BC Antiochus VIII defeated his stepbrother and rival Antiochus IX Cyzicenus

Antiochus IX Cyzicenus

Antiochus IX Eusebes, ruler of the Greek Seleucid kingdom, was the son of Antiochus VII Sidetes and Cleopatra Thea. Upon the death of his father in Parthia and his uncle Demetrius II Nicator's return to power , his mother sent him to Cyzicus on the Bosporus, thus giving him his nickname...

, and took Antioch

Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...

, where Cleopatra IV, the wife of Antiochus IX, stayed. Tryphaena hated her sister Cleopatra IV, who had taken refuge in the temple of Apollo

Apollo

Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...

, and wanted her to be killed. She accused Cleopatra IV to have interfered foreign armies in the dispute between the Seleucid stepbrothers and to have again married outside Egypt against the will of her mother. Antiochus VIII asked his wife in vain to spare her sister. He said that his ancestors had never dealt so violently with women. He added that the temple, where Cleopatra IV had taken refuge, was sacred, and that he had to respect the gods, with whose help he had won. But Tryphaena was not to be persuaded by her husband and ordered several soldiers to execute her sister. They penetrated into the temple and killed Cleopatra IV. Before dying Cleopatra IV cursed her murderers and left her revenge to the discretion of the dishonoured gods. A year later (111 BC) Tryphaena was taken prisoner by Antiochus IX after he had beaten his stepbrother in another battle. Antiochus IX had her executed and sacrificed her in this way to the manes of his wife.

External links

• Tryphaena by Chris Bennett