This drawing, by the British artist Edward Francis Burney (c. 1760–1848), re-creates the ancient tale of King Antiochus I Soter (r. 281 to 261 BCE) and Queen Stratonice of the Seleucid Empire. Theirs is a love story, albeit an awkward one. At the time of the scene in question, Antiochus was not yet king, and Stratonice was the stepmother of the young man. She was married to Antiochus’ father, King Seleucus I Nicator (r. 305-281 BCE), who married her after Antiochus’ mother was no longer in the picture. Unbeknownst to King Seleucus, the woman he chose to marry was also a woman that his son, Antiochus, was madly in love with. Therefore, when Stratonice became Seleucus’ wife, it caused Antiochus to fall into deep and melancholic depression. During the worst of the oppressive gloom, Antiochus became bedridden and his state of mind and body deteriorated to such an extent that King Seleucus called in a physician to examine the ailing young man. Fortunately for the royal family, the physician, named Erasistratus, quickly discovered the cause of the prince’s illness. As the story goes, it was a classic case of lovesickness. In the scene above, Erasistratus is seen in the act of proving his hypothesis, and his discovery would lead to both a divorce and a marriage. The ancient Greek-Roman biographer, Plutarch (c. 50-120), narrated the tale of what allegedly occurred in that room:
“[Erasistratus] perceived quite easily that he was in love, and wishing to discover who was the object of his passion (a matter not so easy to decide), he would spend day after day in the young man’s chamber, and if any of the beauties of the court came in, male or female, he would study the countenance of Antiochus, and watch those parts and movements of his person which nature has made to sympathize most with the inclinations of the soul. Accordingly, when any one else came in, Antiochus showed no change; but whenever Stratonicé came to see him, as she often did, either alone, or with Seleucus, lo, those tell-tale signs of which Sappho sings were all there in him, — stammering speech, fiery flushes, darkened vision, sudden sweats, irregular palpitations of the heart, and finally, as his soul was taken by storm, helplessness, stupor, and pallor” (Plutarch, Parallel Lives, Life of Demetrius, chapter 38).
Edward Francis Burney re-creates this scene in his drawing. In it, the physician, Erasistratus, can be seen checking Antiochus’ pulse as Stratonice stands nearby. After this awkward incident, King Seleucus amicably divorced himself from Stratonice in 294 BCE, and let her become the wife of Antiochus. Whether or not this is how their relationship truly began, the historical figures of Antiochus and Stratonice indeed married and had at least five children together.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- Plutarch’s Life of Alexander in The Age of Alexander: Ten Greek Lives by Plutarch, translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert and Timothy E. Duff. London: Penguin Classics, 1973, 2011.
- http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Demetrius*.html
- https://www.livius.org/articles/person/antiochus-i-soter/
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Seleucus-I-Nicator#ref31357
- https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antiochus-I-Soter
- https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/340963
