Agathoclea1, said to have been a mistress of Ptolemy II2. She is not otherwise known.
[1] PP VI 14713. Gr: Agaqokleia. Ý
[2] Memoirs of Ptolemy VIII, quoted in Athenaeus 13.576e-f. Alone of the mistresses of Ptolemy II given in this list, Athenaeus gives no details about her except her name.
P. Maas, JEA 31 (1946) 74 plausibly suggests she is a mistake for Agathoclea, the well-known mistress of Ptolemy IV. On the other hand, D. Ogden, Polygamy, Prostitutes and Death 248(3) and in P. McKechnie & P. Guillaume, Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his Word, 353 at 357, favours her separate existence, arguing that "Physcon ought to have known what he was talking about". He suggests (p. 384) that she may have been from the same family as the later Agathoclea. This may well be so: there are other indications that the latter came from an aristocratic family of some standing for several generations. Ý
Update Notes:
10 Feb 2002: Added individual trees
19 Feb 2002: Split into separate entry
11 Mar 2005: Added Greek transcription
9 Jan 2011: Note Ogden's comments on the
implications of Agathoclea being a genuine mistress of Ptolemy II
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