tour 2 of 14
Cleopatra of Egypt: from history to myth
Marble portrait of Alexander the Great
Forefather of the
Ptolemaic
dynasty
Cleopatra
was the last sovereign of the Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled Egypt
for around 300 years. After Alexander's death in 323 BC,
Ptolemy, one of Alexander's Macedonian generals, was given
Egypt in the division of his empire. From the time Ptolemy I Soter
('Saviour') declared himself king in 305/304 BC,
Alexander was worshipped as a god and as the forefather of the
Ptolemaic dynasty. This portrait of the great leader was acquired
in Alexandria, the city that Alexander had founded after he
conquered Egypt in 332 BC, and the eventual site of his (still
undiscovered)
tomb.
Alexander was always
shown clean-shaven, whereas all previous portraits of Greek
statesmen or rulers had beards. This royal fashion lasted for
almost five hundred years and almost all of the Hellenistic Greek
kings and Roman emperors until Hadrian (AD 117-38) were portrayed
beardless. Alexander was the first king to wear the royal diadem, a
band of cloth tied around the hair that was to become the symbol of
Hellenistic Greek
kingship.
Earlier portraits
of Alexander, in heroic style, look more mature than the portraits
made after his death, such as this example. These show a more
youthful, though perhaps more god-like character. He has longer
hair, a more dynamic tilt of the head and an upward
gaze.