Alatiel—Antigonus of Famagosta

Alatiel—Antigonus of Famagosta is a relationship forged at the moment Alatiel’s long series of misfortunes begins to turn toward recovery. At Baffa, Antigonus recognizes the woman believed lost at sea as the Sultan of Egypt’s daughter. Alatiel trusts him with the history she has kept hidden, and Antigonus converts that recognition into action: he persuades the King of Cyprus to honorably escort her home.

A Chance Encounter at Baffa

Antigonus is introduced as a gentleman advanced in years and unusually wise, though poor because his involvement in the affairs of the King of Cyprus has repeatedly brought him bad fortune. He happens to pass the house where Alatiel is staying while her merchant companion is away on business in Armenia. Seeing her at a window, he is struck by her beauty and feels that he has seen her before, but cannot recall where.

Alatiel recognizes him at once. She remembers seeing him in Alexandria, where he had held a position in her father’s service. Knowing the merchant is absent, she has Antigonus called to her and asks whether he is Antigonus of Famagosta. The encounter is not merely a reunion with someone from her former life: it gives her a possible route out of the precarious existence into which she has been carried.

Recognition and Confidence

When Antigonus confirms his identity, Alatiel embraces him and weeps. Her recognition is immediate; his follows when she reminds him that he saw her in Alexandria. He then understands that she is the Sultan’s daughter, long thought to have perished at sea. Antigonus would pay her the deference due to her rank, but Alatiel does not allow the moment to become a formal display. She asks him instead to sit with her and hear what has happened.

Antigonus asks how she came to be there, since her death had been accepted throughout Egypt as certain. Alatiel answers that she wishes she had died rather than endured the life that followed, and doubts that her father would wish otherwise if he knew the truth. Her distress makes clear why she has kept her identity concealed. Yet she chooses to reveal it to Antigonus because seeing him brings her father to mind and awakens the tenderness she feels toward him. She entrusts him with the story she has hidden, asking him to seek a way to restore her former position; if there is no remedy, she asks him to keep their meeting secret.

From Confidant to Advocate

After hearing Alatiel’s account, Antigonus weeps with pity and considers what can be done. He promises to restore her to her father and, afterward, to the King of Algarve as a wife. When Alatiel asks how he intends to accomplish this, he explains the plan and acts without delay: he returns to Famagosta and approaches the King of Cyprus.

Antigonus presents the matter as an opportunity for both royal honor and personal service, achievable at little cost to the king. He identifies Alatiel as the Sultan’s daughter, presumed drowned but now in Baffa, and emphasizes that she wishes to return to her father. He also explains that she has suffered greatly while concealing who she is in order to protect her honor. His appeal makes her private disclosure politically actionable: instead of exposing her to further danger, it offers the king a chance to perform a memorable act of generosity and strengthen relations with the Sultan.

The King of Cyprus agrees at once. Alatiel is brought to Famagosta with honor, where the king and queen receive her with great rejoicing and lavish hospitality. When they ask about her adventures, she gives an account according to Antigonus’s instructions. A few days later, at her request, the king sends her back to her father under Antigonus’s governance, accompanied by a distinguished company of men and women. Her father receives her with joy, as does Antigonus and the rest of the party.

The Shape and Significance of Their Bond

Antigonus is neither the cause of Alatiel’s earlier ordeals nor a romantic partner in the episode. His role is that of a trusted former servant of her father who becomes her confidant, advocate, and escort. Alatiel’s choice to disclose herself is decisive: she could have continued to hide her identity, but recognizes in Antigonus a person connected to the family and royal world from which she has been separated. His response honors that confidence by joining compassion to practical judgment.

Their reunion also links private survival to the wider network of courts and ports through which Alatiel has been moved. A chance meeting at Baffa leads Antigonus back to Famagosta, brings the King of Cyprus into the matter, and makes possible Alatiel’s return to Egypt. The episode’s reversal depends not on Antigonus simply knowing who she is, but on what he does with that knowledge: he protects her confidence, persuades a ruler to help, and restores her to her father under public protection.