Eurydice’s Public Image during Her Lifetime

This chapter discusses the public image of Eurydice created during her lifetime by herself and by her sons. It begins with analysis of three dedicatory inscriptions she made that puts hers dedications in the context of those made by subsequent royal women. It reflects on the possible nature of her dedication commemorating her late-acquired education and on the ways in which she crafted her public image as a mother of royal sons, as a model for other women. The chapter also examines Eurydice’s dedicatory inscriptions at the sanctuary of Eucleia (a goddess of good repute) and the character of the female statue apparently associated with one of these inscriptions (whether an image of the goddess or portrait of Eurydice). It discusses the entire sanctuary and its remains, the nature of cult worship there, and the possibility that Eurydice was a priestess of the cult and the founder of the sanctuary. The chapter also looks at a third inscription from nearby Palatitsia naming Eurydice. Saatsoglou-Paliadeli has concluded that this inscription was the label for a statue of Eurydice that formed part of a statue group.