She was the oldest daughter of the Egyptian king Ptolemy VIII Physcon and his niece, step-daughter and wife Cleopatra III.
Tryphaena hated her sister Cleopatra IV, who had taken refuge in the temple of Apollo, and wanted her to be killed.
She accused Cleopatra IV of introducing foreign armies into the dispute between the Seleucid stepbrothers and marrying outside Egypt against the will of her mother.
Before dying Cleopatra IV cursed her murderers and left her revenge to the discretion of the dishonoured gods.
[4] A year later, in 111 BC, Tryphaena was taken prisoner by Antiochus IX after he had beaten his stepbrother in another battle.