Berenice (Ancient Greek: Βερενίκη, Bereníkē) is the Ancient Macedonian form of the Attic Greek name Φερενίκη Pherenikē, which means "bearer of victory" from Ancient Greek φέρω (pherō) 'to bear', and νίκη (nikē) 'victory'.[1] Berenika, priestess of Demeter in Lete ca. 350 BC, is the oldest epigraphical evidence.[2][3] The Latin variant Veronica is the direct historical Western Catholic transliteration. The name also has the form Bernice.
Many historical figures bear the name Berenice:
Ancient world[edit]
Ptolemaic and Seleucid queens and royal daughters in Cyrenaica and Egypt[edit]
- Berenice I of Egypt (c. 340 BC – between 279 and 268 BC), mother of Magas of Cyrene and wife of Ptolemy I of Egypt
- Berenice Syra (c. 275 BC – 246 BC), daughter of Ptolemy II of Egypt and wife of Seleucid monarch Antiochus II Theos
- Berenice II of Egypt (267 or 266 BC – 221 BC), daughter of Magas of Cyrene, wife of Ptolemy III of Egypt and traditional namesake of the constellation Coma Berenices
- Berenice III of Egypt (120–80 BC), daughter of Ptolemy IX of Egypt; she first married Ptolemy X of Egypt, and later Ptolemy XI of Egypt
- Berenice IV of Egypt (77–55 BC), daughter of Ptolemy XII of Egypt and elder sister of Cleopatra VII
- Berenice (3rd to 2nd century BC), Greek princess and chief priestess of the Carian Satrapy, great-granddaughter of Ptolemy Epigonos and daughter of the third and final Ptolemaic Client King of Telmessos.
Judean princesses[edit]
- Berenice (daughter of Salome) (1st century BC), daughter of Salome I, a sister of Herod the Great and mother of Herod Agrippa
- Berenice (28–?), a daughter of Herod Agrippa, wife of Herod of Chalcis until 48, then spent much of her life at the court of her brother, Herod Agrippa II
- Berenice (after 50–?), daughter of another daughter of Herod Agrippa I
Saints[edit]
- Berenice, also known as Saint Veronica, 1st-century saint from Jerusalem
- Domnina, Berenice, and Prosdoce, 4th-century Christian martyrs
Others[edit]
- Berenice of Chios (d. 72/71 BC), third wife of Mithridates VI of Pontus
- The daughter in the Exorcism of the Syrophoenician woman's daughter, one of the miracles of Jesus recounted in the Christian Gospels
Modern era[edit]
- Berenice Abbott (1898–1991), American photographer
- Bérénice Bejo (born 1976), French-Argentine actress
- Berenice Celeyta, Colombian human rights activist
- Berenice Mallory (1901–1997), American home economist
- Bérénice Marlohe (born 1979), French actress
- Maé-Bérénice Méité, French figure skater
- Bernice Slote (1913–1983), poet and Willa Cather scholar
- Berenice Wicki (born 2002), Swiss snowboarder
- Bernice Williams, American blues singer
- Berenice Sydney (1944–1983), English artist
References[edit]
- ^ Berenike, Liddell and Scott, "A Greek-English Lexicon", at Perseus
- ^ Lete Epigraphical Database
- ^ Macedonian Institutions Under the Kings: A historical and epigraphic study. Kentron Hellēnikēs kai Rōmaïkēs Archaiotētos. 1996. ISBN 978-960-7094-90-2.
Sources[edit]
- Berenice Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 769.