Campaspe (; Greek: Καμπάσπη, ''Kampaspē''), or Pancaste (; Greek: Πανκάστη, ''Pankastē''; also ''Pakate''), was a supposed mistress of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

and a prominent citizen of

Larissa Larissa (; , , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 148,562 in the city proper, according to the 2021 census. It is also the capital of the Larissa ...

in Thessaly. No Campaspe appears in the five major sources for the life of Alexander and the story may be apocryphal. The biographer

Robin Lane Fox Robin James Lane Fox, (born 5 October 1946) is an English classicist, ancient historian, and gardening writer known for his works on Alexander the Great. Lane Fox is an Emeritus Fellow of New College, Oxford and Reader in Ancient History, ...

traces her legend back to the Roman authors Pliny (Natural History),

Lucian of Samosata Lucian of Samosata (Λουκιανὸς ὁ Σαμοσατεύς, 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syria (region), Syrian satire, satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with whi ...

and Aelian's ''Varia Historia''. Aelian surmised that she initiated the young Alexander in love. According to tradition, she was painted by

Apelles Apelles of Kos (; ; fl. 4th century BC) was a renowned Painting, painter of ancient Greece. Pliny the Elder, to whom much of modern scholars' knowledge of this artist is owed (''Natural History (Pliny), Naturalis Historia'' 35.36.79–97 and '' ...

, who had the reputation in antiquity for being the greatest of painters. The episode occasioned an apocryphal exchange that was reported in ''

Pliny's Natural History The ''Natural History'' () is a Latin work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the ''Natural History'' compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. Despite the work' ...

'': "Seeing the beauty of the nude portrait, Alexander saw that the artist appreciated Campaspe (and loved her) more than he. And so Alexander kept the portrait, but presented Campaspe to Apelles." Fox describes this bequest as "the most generous gift of any patron and one which would remain a model for patronage and painters on through the Renaissance." Apelles also used Campaspe as a model for his most celebrated painting of Aphrodite "rising out of the sea", the iconic

Venus Anadyomene ''Venus Anadyomene'' (, "Venus, Rising from the Sea") is one of the iconic representations of the goddess Venus (mythology), Venus (Aphrodite), made famous in a much-admired painting by Apelles, now lost, but described in Natural History (encycl ...

, "wringing her hair, and the falling drops of water formed a transparent silver veil around her form".

Legacy

Campaspe became a generic poetical

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

for a man's mistress; the English University wit and poet

John Lyly John Lyly (; also spelled ''Lilly'', ''Lylie'', ''Lylly''; born c. 1553/54 – buried 30 November 1606)Hunter, G. K. (2004)"Lyly, John (1554–1606)". ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 23 January 2 ...

(1553–1606), who produced his comedy ''

Campaspe Campaspe (; Greek: Καμπάσπη, ''Kampaspē''), or Pancaste (; Greek: Πανκάστη, ''Pankastē''; also ''Pakate''), was a supposed mistress of Alexander the Great and a prominent citizen of Larissa in Thessaly. No Campaspe appears in ...

'' in 1584, also wrote: The Spanish playwright

Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pedro Calderón de la Barca y Barreda González de Henao Ruiz de Blasco y Riaño (17 January 160025 May 1681) (, ; ) was a Spanish dramatist, poet, and writer. He is known as one of the most distinguished Spanish Baroque literature, poets and ...

wrote his own play on the Campaspe story, ''Darlo todo y no dar nada'' (1651). In 1819, the painting '' Générosité d'Alexandre'', by Jérôme-Martin Langlois depicted the scene where Alexander the Great gifted Campaspe to Apelles. The

Campaspe River The Campaspe River, an inland intermittent river of the northcentral catchment, part of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Wimmera regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The ...

in Victoria, Australia, the

in Queensland, Australia and the

Shire of Campaspe The Shire of Campaspe is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the northern part of the state. It covers an area of and in August 2021 had a population of 38,735. It includes the towns of Girgarre, Echuca, Kyabram, Roc ...

are named after her. In E. R. Eddison's books of

Zimiamvia The Zimiamvian Trilogy is a series of fantasy novels by English author E. R. Eddison. #'' The Mezentian Gate'' (1958) #'' A Fish Dinner in Memison'' (1941) #'' Mistress of Mistresses'' (1935) Some chapters in each of the novels take place on Ear ...

, Campaspe is a water nymph who changes from human shape to a water-rat and back again. She is one of the attendants of Antiope, who represents

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

References

Sources

Pothos.org: Alexander's lovers

Harry Thurston Peck, ''Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'', 1898
"Campaspe"

John Lyly: ''A Moste Excellent Comedie of Alexander, Campaspe, and Diogenes'' 1584

External links

* {{Authority control 4th-century BC Greek women Ancient Larissaeans Ancient Thessalian women Artists' models of ancient Greece Courtiers of Alexander the Great Mistresses of Alexander the Great