The Greek Occupation of Egypt

Alexander of Macedon came to Egypt in 332 BCE.  His coming heralded three centuries of Greek control over Egypt, forefronted by the Ptolemies, who ruled as Pharaohs until the suicide of Cleopatra VII after her & M. Antonius's defeat at Actium.  Throughout Greek occupation, a small aristocracy of Greek immigrants rose to prominence, relegating the much larger native Egyptian population to second-class status.  A number of laws restricted the rights of Egyptians & made opportunities to co-mingle with the elite few.  Greek was the language of power; a Greek name was better than an Egyptian, citizenship in a Greek polis best.  This did not mean there was no interaction between the Greeks & Egyptians; the reality is quite the contrary.

Greek occupation meant the comingling of both cultures, resulting in a unique social & religious reality felt by all living in Egypt.  During this period, despite the Greeks' strong misogynistic tendencies, literate women became more common than ever, if still rare (Graves-Brown).  Elite women were able still to hold, sell, buy, & lease considerable property, & there is record of a number of eunuchs holding important court positions in the second & first centuries BCE (Matić).  The Greeks also meant infant exposure, abhorred by the Egyptians, soon followed by laws punishing any (i.e., Egyptians) from rescuing & raising an exposed child.

In this time, deceased women began to be associated with goddesses rather than gods, often taking a name with the goddess Hathor (Cooney), due probably to the Greek adoption of Egyptian funerary practices coupled with gendered discomfort.  One also sees in this period depictions of the fertility god Bes as a woman (Graves-Brown), & the adoption of Greek deities, on their own & in coordination with those native to Egypt.