Bilistiche (Greek: Βιλιστίχη;[1] bornc. 280 BC) orBelistiche was aHellenisticcourtesan ofPtolemy II Philadelphus and winner of the 264 BCOlympic Games intethrippon andsynoris.
It is generally accepted that the name Bilistiche is aMacedonian dialectal form of aGreek name.[2] The first element presumably relates to φιλ-, ‘love’; (thephi turns intobeta in the Macedonian dialect, cf. Pherenice -> Berenice). The most probable full etymological account of her name accordingly construes it as thesuperlative stem φιλιστ- followed by theproductive suffix -ίχα, found in a number of other female names, particularly inBoeotia (Doricha, Deinicha, Hippicha, etc.).[2]
According toPausanias, Bilistiche was a woman from the coast ofMacedonia;[3] according toAthenaeus, she was anArgive (said to descend from the line ofAtreus);[4] according toPlutarch, a foreign slave bought from the marketplace.[5] If one were to accept Plutarch's information, one might suppose that, as a (former) slave of such origin she was given Macedonian citizenship for her services, although this is considered unlikely.[2]
Olivier Masson dismissed Plutarch's information as fiction concluding that Plutarch had drawn her from the existing entourage of the Macedonian nobility,[6] as does Daniel Ogden, who notes that Plutarch's information probably originated fromSotades' workOn Bilistiche whose contents are unknown, but may have been a polemic against her.[2]
Bilistiche was born around 280 BC. Her father was named Philon (cf. Athenian architectPhilon) and was presumably an admiral ofPtolemy II Philadelphus.[2] She won thetethrippon andsynoris horse races in the 264 BC Olympic Games,[3] and subsequently she became a mistress ofPtolemy II. They had a son together named Ptolemy Andromachou.[7]
Her date of death is unknown. After her death, it is known that Ptolemy II deified her as Aphrodite Bilistiche.[8] Fragmentary papyri fromAnkyronpolis dated to 239/8 BC indicate that later in life she was a money lender.[9] According toClement of Alexandria, she was buried under the shrine ofSarapis inAlexandria.[10]