Philetaerus (born c. 343 bc, Tios, in Paphlagonia, a region of northern Anatolia—died 263 bc) was the founder (reigned 282–263) of the Attalid dynasty, a line of rulers of a powerful kingdom of Pergamum, in northwest Asia Minor, in the 3rd and 2nd centuries bc.
Philetaerus initiated the policies that made Pergamum a leading centre of Greek civilization in the East. He served under Antigonus I Monophthalmus, successor to Alexander the Great in Phrygia, in northern Anatolia, until 302, when he deserted to Antigonus’ rival, Lysimachus, ruler of Thrace. Lysimachus made him guardian of the fortress of Pergamum with its treasure of some 9,000 talents. In 282 Philetaerus transferred his allegiance to Seleucus I, the successor to Alexander the Great in Syria, who allowed him a far larger measure of independence than he had hitherto enjoyed.
The territory Philetaerus controlled was as yet quite small—no more than Pergamum and its environs—and it was largely of necessity that he curried favour with the first Seleucid kings. His gifts to the temples at Delphi, Greece, and on the island of Delos, in the Aegean Sea, secured for his family some prestige outside of Anatolia. When, after the death of Seleucus I in 280, the Seleucid grip on Asia Minor slackened, Philetaerus found a chance to increase the area under his control. Before his death in 263 he had abandoned the Seleucids in favour of a tie with Egypt.
Philetaerus was reportedly a eunuch; he adopted one of his nephews, Eumenes, as his heir and successor.