Hippe1, a courtesan, drinking partner probably of Ptolemy IV, and mistress of Theodotus, Master of Provender2, possibly a mistress of Ptolemy IV3.
[1] PP VI 14725. Gr: Ipph Ý
[2] Machon, in Athenaeus 13.583a-b. Nothing else is known about her. The original source for the story, Machon, was the subject of an epitaph by the epigrammist Dioscurides, who lived in the early 2nd century BC; Athenaeus also tells us that Machon was the master of Aristophanes of Byzantium, who lived c. 200 BC. Thus Machon was most probably a contemporary of Ptolemy IV. But it is not obvious that the story is about a contemporary of Machon's. Theodotus may or may not be the same man as Theodotus the Aetolian, the likely killer of the king's brother Magas; if he is then the story dates to early in Ptolemy's reign. The reasoning for associating this anecdote with Ptolemy IV rather than, say, Ptolemy II seems somewhat tenuous to me, and PP regards the latter as an alternate possibility. Ý
[3] Even if is it agreed she is a contemporary of Ptolemy IV, the king's drinking partner is not necessarily also his lover, even if she is not only female but a courtesan. Ý
Update Notes:
10 Feb 2002: Added individual trees
21 Feb 2002: Split into separate entry
11 Mar 2005: Added Greek transcription
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