#barsine

Tiger Moth (Barsine rubricostata), family Erebidae, Sabah, Borneo

thank you anonnie! sorry for the long wait on this one, I hope going into colour will compensate a little bit

I wasn't sure if you meant Barsine widow of Memnon or Barsine-Stateira II as in Alexander's second wife. this is my take on Barsine widow of Memnon/Alexander's mistress.

she's a really interesting person and it's honestly a shame that we know so little about her, but here are some of my thoughts behind the design

This question might seem odd, but it occurred to me.

When a king took a mistress for political reasons, was it expected that he would be in her company regularly?

In Alexander's case, I suppose his affair with Stateira (Darius's wife) wasn't public, which is why no source directly tells us it happened, but there were suspicions. So I'm not talking much about her; I'm referring more to Barsine.

The relationship between Barsine and Alexander was public, and we're told (except for Justin, who says Alexander "fell in love") that it was for political reasons.

So, in Barsine's case, would Alexander have spent time with her regularly? Would he have had sex with her regularly? Or would he have spent time with her not necessarily in sexual encounters?

But also, would the rest of the people, those outside of Alexander's circle, have expected him to spend time with Barsine regularly?

If a king has a mistress not for political reasons, but rather out of attraction, it's obvious he would spend time with her regularly because he likes the woman in question, an example that comes to mind is Demetrius and Lamia, but if it's a mistress chosen for political reasons, I suppose it's different.

Returning to Alexander and Barsine, I suppose the people around them did think they had regular sexual encounters because of the birth of Heracles. Regardless of whether Heracles was Alexander's son or not, according to the sources, that's what people at the time thought/believed.

And if not all the encounters between Alexander and Barsine were sexual, there were surely meetings where they discussed some political matter. But leaving politics aside, could there have been times when they simply spent time together without it being sexual or talking about politics?

I think a lot would depend on the individual situation, but for Barsine in particular, I'm relatively sure Alexander would have spent time with her outside of bed, given that she was a high-ranking Persian woman with a Greek mother (so she was fluent in the language), and daughter of a satrap. In fact, I suspect he picked her precisely because she would be able to advise him well, not just because he may have known her when they were both a lot younger. :-)

If you're interested in Barsine, you really want to run down this particular chapter in the recent book I edited with Graham. It's an excellent piece, although I realize the cost of the book is quite prohibitive. But you should be able to get a copy via interlibrary loan.

Hephaestion: The what.

Craterus: What.

It cam up in context of Alexander the great an the Persians.

So in books an so you'll always find the wording like "She was his lover" in this case Barsine was the lover of Alexander. Yk I always think of lover as a normal relationship. They did not marry they just had an "affair". But this is totally not the case. He straight up raped her. He used her as an object of showcasing that he had just conqored the land and now he can do as he pleases (women and children included). That realization really struck me. Alexander suddenly wasn't so great anymore.

The Professor also added that for her dying would've been a better option than beeing his lover. And I 100%% get that.

Christmas is over so it's time for a new historical lady. Barsine, when she first arrived in Macedon and when she left. Alexander the Great's first real girlfriend.