Artemisia II of Caria
Artemisia II | |
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Satrap of Caria | |
In office | 353–351 BCE |
Predecessor | Mausolus |
Successor | Idrieus |
Born | c. 395 BCE. |
Died | c. 351 BCE. |
Consort | Mausolus |
House | Hecatomnids |
Father | Hecatomnus |
Mother | unknown |
Religion | Greek polytheism |
Dynasts of Caria ) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Artemisia II of Caria (
Because of Artemisia's grief for her brother-husband, and the extravagant and bizarre forms it took, she became to later ages "a lasting example of chaste widowhood and of the purest and rarest kind of love", in the words of Giovanni Boccaccio.[4] In art, she was usually shown in the process of consuming his ashes, mixed in a drink.
Life
While Artemisias father is known to have been Hekatomnos,the identity of her mother is less clear. There is a possibility that her mother might have been Aba,[5] daughter of Hyssaldomos and a sister of Hekatomnos. This view however is challenged by scholars who believe either that the sibling marriages of the Hecatomnids were purely symbolic in nature and that while Ada was attested as his consort, it is not known if she was the mother of Hekatomnos children.[6]
Artemisia is renowned in history for her extraordinary grief at the death of her husband (and brother)
Artemisia is known for commanding a fleet and played a role in the military-political affairs of the Aegean after the decline in Athenian naval superiority.[2]: 27 The island republic of Rhodes objected to the fact that a woman was ruling Caria. Rhodes sent a fleet against Artemisia without knowing that her deceased husband had built a secret harbour. Artemisia hid ships rowers, and marines and allowed the Rhodians to enter the main harbour. Artemisia and her citizens met the Rhodians at the city walls and invited them into the city. When the Rhodians began exiting their ships, Artemisia sailed her fleet through an outlet in the sea and into the main harbour. She captured empty Rhodian ships, and the Rhodian men who disembarked were killed in the marketplace. Artemisia then put her men on the Rhodian ships and had them sail back to Rhodes. The men were welcomed in the Rhodian harbour and they took over Rhodes.[2]: 28
Other monuments
Another celebrated monument was erected by Artemisia in Rhodes to commemorate her conquest of the island. The Rhodians, after regaining their liberty, made it inaccessible, whence it was called in later times the Abaton (άβατον).[11]
In later art
Artemisia drinking her husband's ashes was a subject in painting from the Renaissance onwards, especially enjoying a vogue in
Artemisia is always shown with a cup or urn, either alone or with a group of attendants offering or helping to mix the drink. The subject is therefore very similar to Sophonisba taking poison, and the Rembrandt, and a Donato Creti in the National Gallery, are examples of works where the intended subject remains uncertain between the two.[13]
Other cultural references
Artemisia received a full and friendly biography in the
Plant genus
According to
Mulieres quoque hanc gloriam adfectavere, in quibus Artemisia uxor Mausoli adoptata herba, quae antea parthenis vocabatur.
[Women too have been ambitious to gain this distinction, among them Artemisia, the wife of Mausolus, who gave her name to a plant which before was called parthenis.]
Representations of Artemisia in art
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Artemisia Prepares to Drink the Ashes of her Husband, Mausolus (c.1630) by Francesco Furini.
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Master Of The Story Of Griselda, Siena, 15th century, one of a series of heroes and heroines who behaved well to the opposite sex.
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Rembrandt, about 1634 CE.
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Gerrit van Honthorst, about 1635 CE, Princeton University Art Museum.
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Erasmus Quellinus II, 1652 CE.
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Arnold Houbraken, before 1719 CE.
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Johann Heinrich Tischbein, 1775 CE, Portrait of Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf, Queen Victoria's grandmother, as Artemesia.
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Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, 1773–1780 CE.
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Statue of Artemisia II inVersailles.
Citations
- ISBN 978-1-4214-1763-9.
- ^ ISBN 0313327076.
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca, xvi. 36, 45; Demosthenes, Speeches, "On the liberty of the Rhodians", 11, 27
- ^ ISBN 9780674011304
- ISBN 978-3-647-53397-1.
- ISBN 978-0-429-78398-2.
- S2CID 170273543.
Hecatomnus had several children, all of whom would rule at some point following his death. After his eldest son Mausolus, his other children were Artemisia, Idrieus, Ada, and Pixodarus. The children of Hecatomnus practiced monogamous sibling marriage, with Mausolus marrying Artemisia and Idrieus marrying Ada.
- ^ Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, iii. 31; Strabo, Geography, xiv. 2; Aulus Gellius, Noctes Atticae, x. 18; Pliny, Natural History, xxv. 36, xxxvi. 4; Valerius Maximus, Facta et dicta memorabilia, iv. 6; Suda, s.v. "Artemisia", "Mausolos"
- ISBN 978-90-474-4049-9.
- ^ Polyaenus. Stratagems. book 8, 53.4.
Artemisia planted soldiers in ambush near Latmus; and herself, with a numerous train of women, eunuchs and musicians, celebrated a sacrifice at the grove of the Mother of the Gods, which was about seven stades distant from the city. When the inhabitants of Latmus came out to see the magnificent procession, the soldiers entered the city and took possession of it. Thus did Artemisia, by flutes and cymbals, possess herself of what she had in vain endeavoured to obtain by force of arms.
- ^ Vitruvius, De architectura, ii. 8
- ISBN 9053566090
- ISBN 1857091779.
- ^ "Artemisia II". Etymology. Encyclopedia Britannica. article 9009683. Retrieved 7 June 2012.
- ^ Comstock, John Lee (1833). An Introduction to the Study of Botany. D.F. Robinson & Company. p. 175.
In which the science is illustrated by examples of native and exotic plants: Designed for the use of schools and private students.
- ^ PMC 4073852. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
- ^ Pliny the Elder. Natural History. Translated by Henderson, Jeffrey. Loeb Classics.
- ^ Lacus Curtius • Pliny the Elder's Natural History. University of Chicago. book 25, pages XXV.xxxvi.73.
References
- Smith, William, ed. (1867). "Artemisia (2)". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Boston, MA. Archived from the original on 2006-05-11.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
- ISBN 9780674011304
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Artemisia II". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
External links
- Artemisia by Jona Lendering