Kalliope (queen)

Kalliope (Ancient Greek: Καλλιόπη, Kalliópē, meaning "beautiful-voiced") was an Indo-Greek queen and wife of Hermaeus, who was a Western Indo-Greek king of the Eucratid Dynasty. Hermaeus ruled the territory of Paropamisade in the Hindu-Kush region, with his capital in Alexandria of the Caucasus (near today's Kabul, Afghanistan). Their reign dates from the first quarter of the first century BC.^[2]

Coin of Hermaeus and Kalliope. Obverse shows the king and queen, with the Greek legend: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΣΩTHPOΣ EPMAIOY KAI KAΛΛIOΠHΣ, Basileōs Sōtēros Hermaiou kai Kalliopēs, "(of) Saviour King Hermaeus and Kalliope". Reverse shows Hermaeus on horseback and with Kharosthi script: Maharajasa Tratarasa Heramayasa Kaliyapaya.^[1]

Coinage

Kalliope and Hermaeus jointly issued silver, Indian-Standard Drachms. The obverse featured diademed and draped busts of them both.^[3] The reverse shows the king on a prancing horse, which is characteristic motif of the contemporary Greek kings in the eastern Punjab such as Hippostratos. It has been suggested that the coin represented a marital alliance between the two dynastic lines.^[4] Coins have been found in Peshawar and near Mohmand.^[5] They were also part of the assemblage of the Sarai Saleh hoard and 928 were found in the first Mir Zakah deposit.^[6] Some of these coins are found overstruck with dies in the name of Artemidoros.^[7][6] The depiction of the wife on Indo-Greek coins is otherwise not common, so that it can be assumed that Calliope played a special role (perhaps in the marriage policy of the Indo-Greek states).^[4][8]

Historiography

Whilst Kalliope has been referred to as Hermaeus' wife by W W Tarn and A K Narain, S K Dikshit suggested that Kalliope appeared older in her portrait and as such perhaps was Hermaeus' mother.^[9]