Family
He married the Ptolemaic princess Tryphaena, but in 116 BC his half-brother and cousin Antiochus IX Cyzicenus (see Antiochus VII Sidetes) returned from exile and a civil war began. Cyzicenus' wife, also named Cleopatra, was a half-sister of Tryphaena and was eventually killed in a dramatic fashion in the temple of Daphne outside Antioch, on the order of Tryphaena. Cyzicenus eventually killed Tryphaena as revenge. The two brothers then divided Syria between them until Grypus was killed by his minister Heracleon in 96 BC.
Five of Grypus' sons later rose to kingship:
- Seleucus VI Epiphanes
- Antiochus XI Ephiphanes Philadelphus
- Philip I Philadelphus
- Demetrius III Eucaerus
- Antiochus XII Dionysus
This contributed to the confusion of civil war amid which the Seleucid empire ended.
He also had at least one daughter:
- Laodice VII Thea, married to king Mithridates I Callinicus of Commagene as part of a settlement by Mithridates' father Sames II Theosebes Dikaios to ensure peace between the Kingdom of Commagene and the Seleucid Empire. Laodice and Mithridates' son was king Antiochus I Theos of Commagene. This was a grandson to Grypus.
Read more about this topic: Antiochus VIII Grypus
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