Silver print, vintage 29 x 23 cm / 11,5 x 9,1 inch
In the 3rd century BC, Ptolemy III, King of Egypt, went to war. Queen Berenice promised to sacrifice her hair to Aphrodite if her husband returned safe and sound. Three years later Ptolemy III returned. Berenice cuts her hair and places it as an offering in the temple of Aphrodite. The next day, the hair were gone.
The King shut down the city and has it searched in vain. The astronomer Canon of Samos announces to him that the goddess would have placed the offering in heaven. As proof, he showed him the Constellation, which still bears the name of Berenice’s Hair.
