Aglais1, daughter of Megacles2, a trumpet-player known for her large appetite3, possibly a mistress of Ptolemy II4. She is not otherwise known.
[1] Not in PP. Gr: AglaiV. Ý
[2] Athenaeus 10.415a,b. He is not otherwise known. Ý
[3] Athenaeus 10.415a,b. Ý
[4] Athenaeus 10.415a,b says that she led the procession at the "first great procession in Alexandria", presumably the first Ptolemaieia. This proves she was a contemporary of Ptolemy II and she is sometimes supposed to have been his mistress. However she is not specifically called a mistress of Ptolemy II, and the possibility is considered doubtful by modern writers, e.g. D. Ogden, Polygamy, Prostitutes and Death 260, 267, who notes that the trumpet was an instrument appropriate for symposia, in contrast to the type of instruments favoured by documented courtesans.
Of course, the trumpet may not have been her sole musical speciality; and, conversely, Ogden's innuendoes -- that a woman with expertise in sympotic instruments was probably a courtesan, and that any high-class Alexandrian courtesan mentioned in the literature was probably a royal mistress -- both seem more salacious that the evidence requires in many individual instances. Either way, I see no particular reason to believe Aglais was Ptolemy II's mistress. Ý
Update Notes:
10 Feb 2002: Added individual trees
19 Feb 2002: Split into separate entry
18 April 2002: Added paternity, Ptolemaieia association.
11 Mar 2005: Added Greek transcription
10 Jan 2011: Note Ogden's
conjecture that a trumpet player was probably nota royal mistress.
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