King Seleucus I, Antiochus, and Stratonice

Abstract

In 294/3 king Seleucus I Nicator gave his wife Stratonice, daughter of Demetrius Poliorcetes, in marriage to his son Antiochus and decided that the couple would be his co-rulers in the eastern part of his empire. The events leading up to this curious decision are well-known; the story about the passionate love of the young Antiochus for his father's wife, his stepmother, the romantic d?nouement of the impending family-tragedy by the wise physician Erasistratus and the sensible father himself belong to the highlights of Hellenistic historiography. For the account of these events we are indebted to Plutarch and Appian, though the lovestory can be found also in several other writers1). There is no reason to reject the story in the way Beloch did: in itself it is not at all improbable. One could even ask, in view of the many manages de raison in the Hellenistic monarchies, whether such a story would have been remembered at all, if this passionate love had not been a fact. On the other hand, we were told by Rohde (in his Griechische Roman) that the tale contains some typically romantic loci that recur also at other times and in other writings2). The original author, then, may have embellished the story in order to fascinate his readers or to enhance the glory of Seleucus himself. It is somewhat difficult to believe that the love-affair and the decision of