ABSTRACT
The Ptolemies had one of the most elaborate ruler cults of Hellenistic times. Kings and their families were recipients of cults in Greek and Egyptian temples. At the same time the foreign pharaoh was, in Egyptian temples, the one and only agent of cults. This chapter focuses on the role of the royal spouses in Greek and Egyptian cults and shows that they played a highly important role not only as agents of cults but also as recipients. The representation of the royal spouse will be discussed and it will be demonstrated that the supposed double nature of Ptolemaic monarchy, having an Egyptian face on the one hand and a Greek face on the other hand, should be complemented by a third side, one that mixes both forms of representation and that was used to present the basilissa as a merged Greco-Egyptian goddess.
