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

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

and a prominent citizen of

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) 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 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

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, Un ...

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

Lucian of Samosata Lucian of Samosata, '; la, Lucianus Samosatensis ( 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridiculed superstiti ...

and

Aelian Aelian or Aelianus may refer to: * Aelianus Tacticus, Greek military writer of the 2nd century, who lived in Rome * Casperius Aelianus, Praetorian Prefect, executed by Trajan * Claudius Aelianus, Roman writer, teacher and historian of the 3rd centu ...

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

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

, 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'' ( la, Naturalis historia) is a 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. ...

'': "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 (from Greek, "Venus Rising From the Sea") is one of the iconic representations of the goddess Venus (Aphrodite), made famous in a much-admired painting by Apelles, now lost, but described in Pliny's ''Natural History'', with t ...

, "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 exactly 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 all ...

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

John Lyly John Lyly (; c. 1553 or 1554 – November 1606; also spelled ''Lilly'', ''Lylie'', ''Lylly'') was an English writer, dramatist of the University Wits, courtier, and parliamentarian. He was best known during his lifetime for his two books '' Eu ...

(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, writer and knight of the Order of Santiago. He is known as one of the most distinguished Baroque w ...

wrote his own play on the Campaspe story, ''Darlo todo y no dar nada'' (1651). 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 he ...

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 June 2018 had a population of 37,592. It includes the towns of Girgarre, Echuca, Kyabram, Roches ...

are named after her.

References

Sources

Pothos.org: Alexander's loversHarry Thurston Peck, ''Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities'', 1898
"Campaspe"
John Lyly: ''A Moste Excellent Comedie of Alexander, Campaspe, and Diogenes'' 1584
{{Authority control 4th-century BC Greek women Ancient Larissaeans Courtiers of Alexander the Great Mistresses of Alexander the Great Ancient Thessalian women Ancient Thessalians Courtesans of antiquity Greek female prostitutes