{{more footnotes, date=January 2011 Stateira ( gr, Στάτειρα; died about 400 BC) was the wife of King

Artaxerxes II of Persia Arses ( grc-gre, Ἄρσης; 445 – 359/8 BC), known by his regnal name Artaxerxes II ( peo, 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂 ; grc-gre, Ἀρταξέρξης), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 405/4 BC to 358 BC. He was the son and suc ...

Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

831 Stateira is named in her honour.

Biography

Stateira was the daughter of the Persian nobleman

Hydarnes Hydarnes ( peo, 𐎻𐎡𐎭𐎼𐎴, Vidṛna), also known as Hydarnes the Elder, was a Persian nobleman, who was one of the seven conspirators who overthrew the Pseudo-Smerdis. His name is the Greek transliteration of the Old Persian name ''Vid� ...

. She married Artaxerxes II, the oldest son of Darius II of Persia and his wife Parysatis. It is probable that Darius II wanted to establish good relations with an important noble family, from which Stateira was descended because her brother Terituchmes married Amestris, a daughter of Darius II. Terituchmes loved one of his half-sisters more than his royal bride and tried to start a rebellion. Therefore, Parysatis had all the children of Hydarnes killed and only spared the life of Stateira at the request of her husband. Artaxerxes II took over the Persian throne in 404 BC after the death of his father. Stateira seems to have been his only legal wife despite his numerous concubines. She bore a son, Artaxerxes, the heir to the throne, and probably other children. The queen mother Parysatis and Stateira tried to be the key political influence on the king; so the women became bitter rivals. Stateira was very popular with the people, allegedly because she left the curtains open when she drove in her carriage and because she talked to the ordinary people. She supported her husband in his quarrel with his brother

Cyrus the Younger Cyrus the Younger ( peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ''Kūruš''; grc-gre, Κῦρος ; died 401 BC) was an Achaemenid prince and general. He ruled as satrap of Lydia and Ionia from 408 to 401 BC. Son of Darius II and Parysatis, he died in 401 BC i ...

and criticized her sharp-tongued mother-in-law, because Parysatis had helped her favorite son Cyrus in his attempt to win the Persian throne from his brother Artaxerxes II. Reportedly the intense hatred between the two women led Parysatis to encourage Artaxerxes II to take on concubines in order to hurt his wife. Stateira also publicly spoke up against the cruelties of the queen mother at the Persian court. For example, she criticized the brutal treatment of the

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...

Masabates and therefore intensified her conflict with Parysatis. Finally Parysatis had Stateira murdered. Classical sources give different reasons for this deed. According to one version, Parysatis wanted to save the life of the Spartan commander

Clearchus The name Clearchus or Clearch may refer to: *Clearchus of Athens, Greek comic poet *Clearchus of Heraclea (c. 401 BCE – 353 BCE), Greek tyrant of Heraclea Pontica *Clearchus of Rhegium, Greek sculptor, pupil of Eucheirus, teacher of Pythagoras th ...

and his fellow generals, who had been taken prisoner by

Tissaphernes Tissaphernes ( peo, *Ciçafarnāʰ; grc-gre, Τισσαφέρνης; xlc, 𐊋𐊆𐊈𐊈𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 , ; 445395 BC) was a Persian soldier and statesman, Satrap of Lydia and Ionia. His life is mostly known from the works of Thuc ...

, but Stateira had succeeded in persuading her husband to execute the prisoners. Therefore, Parysatis is supposed to have poisoned Stateira.

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

, in his biography of Artaxerxes II, did not believe this story. According to another tradition, Parysatis murdered her daughter-in-law because she realized that her son only felt true love for his wife. Plutarch reports that Parysatis performed the assassination with the help of a loyal servant named Gigis. She carved a bird with a poisoned knife in such a way that only one-half of the animal was mixed with the poison. This half was served to Stateira when they were dining together. The poisoned meal caused the painful death of Stateira.

, ''Artaxerxes'' 5-6 and 17-19 (mainly based on Ctesias).

Notes

References

* Karl Fiehn: ''Stateira 1)''. In: '' Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft''. Vol. III A, 2 (1929), col. 2170–2171. * ''Stateira '. In: ''Der Neue Pauly''. Vol. 11 (2001), col. 920. * William Greenwalt: ''Statira I''. In: ''Women in World History''. Vol. 14 (2002), p. 745-746. 5th-century BC women Queens of the Achaemenid Empire Iranian murder victims Deaths from food poisoning 5th-century BC Iranian people Artaxerxes II