Apame (concubine)

Apame was first mentioned in 1 Esdras 4:29

Yet I have seen him with Apame, the king's concubine, the daughter of the illustrious Bartacus; she would sit at the king's right hand[1]

The preceding quotation is part of the Darius Contest interpolation.[2]: 20  Versions of the story, which include Apame are found in Josephus[3] and John Gower's Confessio Amantis.[4][5] Alcuin Blamire describes the "Darius Contest" as important in "the discourse of anti-misogyny."[6] The ""Darius contest" includes three versions which omit Apame.

Scholars differ as to the identity of the king mentioned in 1 Esdras 3.4 and other sources. Josephus 3.1 says the king is the son (Darius I) of Hystaspes. Vanderkam[7] also favours Darius I. Gower (vii.1889) changes the king’s name to Cirus (Cyrus the Great). Cook suggests the names may not refer to historical characters.[8]: 5  If real characters are the source, the candidates are Darius I [7] or Darius III[8]: 31 [9] or Darius III.[2]: 41  There are two theories as to the source for Apame. Coggins and Knibb[10] suggest a Persian name such as Apama or Apama II. Torrey suggests "we must look either to Egypt or Antioch."[2]: 41 

Bacchus is handling the king a goblet, but at the very same moment the king is being slapped on the cheek by his concubine Apame, who has taken off his crown and is placing it on her own head in illustration of 3 Esdras 4:29.
Apame and Darius are portrayed in Hendrick Goltzius’s painting Apame usurps the king’s crown. [11][12]

References
  1. "Bible, Revised Standard Version". quod.lib.umich.edu.
  2. Charles C.Torrey (1910). Ezra Studies.
  3. Josephus. "3.5". Antiquities of the Jews.
  4. John Gower. "VII.1884-1899". Confessio Amantis.
  5. translation is at Richard Brodie; Ellin Anderson (2009). "John Gower's Confessio Amantis Modern English version".
  6. Alcuin Blamire (1998). "2 The Formal Case: Origins, Procedures". The Case for Women in Medieval Culture. Oxford University Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-19-818630-4.
  7. James C. Vanderkam (2001). An Introduction to Early Judaism. p. 60. ISBN 978-0802846419.
  8. S. A. Cook (1913). "1 Esdras INTRODUCTION". In R. H. Charles (ed.). THE APOCRYPHA AND PSEUDEPIGRAPHA OF THE OLD TESTAMENT IN ENGLISH.
  9. not examined: Edmund Bayer (1911). Das dritte Buch Esdras und sein Verhältnis Zu Den Büchern Esra-Nehemia (German ed.). p. 116. ISBN 5874774432.
  10. Richard J. Coggins; M. A. Knibb (21 June 1979). The First and Second Books of Esdras. p. 30. ISBN 9780521097574.
  11. Ilja M. Veldman (1987). "Who Is the Strongest? The Riddle of Esdras in Netherlandish Art". Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art. 17 (4): 223–239. doi:10.2307/3780619. JSTOR 3780619.
  12. Hendrick Goltzius. "Apame usurps the king's crown".
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