Agariste (mother of Pericles)
Agariste | |
|---|---|
| Αγαρίστη | |
| Spouse(s) | Xanthippus |
| Children | Pericles, Ariphron |
| Parent(s) |
|
| Family | Alcmaeonidae |
Agariste (c. 520-510 BCE - ?)[1] was the mother of the Athenian statesman Pericles.
Agariste was the daughter of Hippocrates, a member of the Alcmaeonidae family, a wealthy, powerful, a notorious family in Ancient Greece. She was named for her grandmother, Agariste of Sicyon.[1] Around 500 BCE, she married Xanthippus, a politician and military leader who would later command the Athenian fleets in victory at the Battle of Mycale. Their first child was a boy, Ariphron. They had a daughter, whose name is not preserved, and another son, Pericles.[2]
According to Herodotus (6.131), a few days before Pericles' birth, she had a dream where she gave birth to a lion, which the ancient Greeks believed foretold the prominence of Pericles.[2] Thomas Harrison notes that this story "is widely understood to refer to the Athenian empire of the period of Pericles’ dominance.[3]
References
- ^ a b Lightman, Marjorie (2008). A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women. Internet Archive. New York : Facts On File. ISBN 978-0-8160-6710-7.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) - ^ a b Martin, Thomas R. (2016). Pericles: a biography in context (First published ed.). New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-11645-9.
- ^ Harrison, Thomas (2024-03-22). "Agariste of Sicyon and the contest for Greece". Syllogos - Herodotus Journal: 1–41 Pages. doi:10.48638/SYLGS.2024.1.104108.