Campaspe (born c. 360 BC)
Mistress of: Alexander the Great.
Tenure: c . 340 BC
Royal Bastards: None.
Fall From Power: She was "given" to another man.
Alexander III of Macedon, more commonly known as Alexander the Great, was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon (as his name should imply). Spending most of his short life on military campaigns throughout Asia and Africa, Alexander created one of the largest empires by the age of thirty. Such a prominent person has been evaluated and re-evaluated many times throughout history; his personal relationships and his sexuality have also been the subject of controversy for years.
Alexander had close, possibly intimate relationships with men, including his bodyguard; he was also married three times, sired at least two children, and was known to have many female companions. Campaspe (or Pancaste) is believed to have been Alexander’s mistress while they were both young, she likely being the first woman with whom he was intimate. Campaspe is believed to have been a prominent citizen in Larisa, the largest city in the Thessaly region of Greece. One source claims that Campaspe was the one to seduce young Alexander, though the relationship was apparently strong.
According to Pliny the Elder, a Roman author, Campaspe served as the model for Aphrodite in Apelles’ painting Aphrodite Anadyomene. Apelles is considered a great artist (though none of his work survives) who painted Alexander and his father several time. The story goes that while sketching Campaspe, who was in the nude, of course, Apelles fell in love. Pliny recounts that upon “seeing the beauty of the nude portrait, Alexander saw that the artist appreciated Campaspe (and loved her) more than he. And so Alexander kept the portrait, but presented Campaspe to Apelles.” Whether or not Campaspe was a real person is difficult to determine, since she does not appear in any of the five major sources we have about the life of Alexander. Her name was immortalized as a generic poetic synonym for “mistress” while the story has since served as a muse for many numerous artists.
”The Generosity of Alexander” by Jerome-Martin Langlois, 1819 (image).
John J. Popovic. Apelles, the greatest painter of Antiquity. Source Quotes.
Cartledge, Paul. Alexander the Great: The Hunt for a New Past. Woodstock, NY; New York: The Overlook Press (2004). ISBN 1-58567-565-2.
