The Power of Excess: Royal Incest and the Ptolemaic Dynasty

Authors

  • Sheila L. Ager University of Waterloo

Keywords:

incest, marriage, Ptolemy, Cleopatra, power, excess

Abstract

The Greco-Macedonian dynasty of the Ptolemies, which ruled Egypt from 322 until 30 BCE, established early on a practice of incestuous marriage in the royal house. This custom, which may have had a number of pragmatic functional purposes, was on a more profound level symbolic of royal power. But royal incest, as practised by the Ptolemies, was only one of a larger set of behaviours, all of which were symbolic of power, and all of which were characterized by lavishness, immoderation, excess and the breaching of limits in general.

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Published

2022-06-27

How to Cite

Ager, S. L. (2022). The Power of Excess: Royal Incest and the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Anthropologica, 48(2), 165–186. Retrieved from https://cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/anthropologica/article/view/2410

Issue

Vol. 48 No. 2 (2006): The New Anthropology of Sexuality

Section

Thematic Section:

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