Tigranes (, grc, Τιγράνης) is the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

transliteration of the

Old Iranian The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian languages are grouped ...

name ''*Tigrāna''. This was the name of a number of historical figures, primarily kings of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

. The name of Tigranes, which was

theophoric A theophoric name (from Greek: , ''theophoros'', literally "bearing or carrying a god") embeds the word equivalent of 'god' or God's name in a person's name, reflecting something about the character of the person so named in relation to that deit ...

in nature, was uncommon during the

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest emp ...

era (550 BC–330 BC). Only two historical figures are known to bear the name during that period. By far the best known Tigranes is

Tigranes the Great Tigranes II, more commonly known as Tigranes the Great ( hy, Տիգրան Մեծ, ''Tigran Mets''; grc, Τιγράνης ὁ Μέγας ''Tigránes ho Mégas''; la, Tigranes Magnus) (140 – 55 BC) was King of Armenia under whom the ...

, king of Armenia from 95 to 55 BC, who founded a short-lived Armenian empire. His father, who ruled from 115 to 95 BC, was also named Tigranes, as were several later kings of Armenia. There is some lack of consistency in assigning dynastic numbers to these kings. The earliest Tigranes and his son are usually not included, making Tigranes I the father of Tigranes the Great. Another Tigranes was a member of the

family who, according to

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

, was a son of Artabanus who commanded the

Medes The Medes ( Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, ...

in the army of Xerxes during the invasion of

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. The satirist Lucian, in his True History, describes

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

(probably 8th century BC) as a Babylonian called Tigranes, who assumed the name Homer when taken "hostage" (homeros) by the Greeks.Lucian, Vera Historia, 2.20.2-8.

Persons

* Tigranes (legendary), legendary Armenian figure *

Tigranes I Tigranes I of Armenia ( hy, Տիգրան Ա, grc, Τιγράνης) was an Artaxiad king of Armenia at the end of 2nd and the beginning of 1st century BC. Few records have survived about his and his predecessor Artavasdes I's reign, which has l ...

ruled 115 – 95 BC *

, sometimes known as Tigranes II, ruled 95 – 55 BC *

Tigranes the Younger Tigranes the Younger was an Artaxiad prince, who briefly ruled the Kingdom of Sophene in 65 BC. Biography Tigranes the Younger was the son and heir of the Artaxiad king of Armenia, Tigranes the Elder (). His mother was Cleopatra of Pontus, ...

, son of Tigranes the Great, briefly ruled the

Kingdom of Sophene The Kingdom of Sophene ( hy, Ծոփք, translit=Tsopʻkʻ, grc, Σωφηνή, translit=Sōphēnḗ), was a Hellenistic-era political entity situated between ancient Armenia and Syria. Ruled by the Orontid dynasty, the kingdom was culturally mixed ...

, 65 BC *

Tigranes III Tigranes (, grc, Τιγράνης) is the Greek transliteration of the Old Iranian name ''*Tigrāna''. This was the name of a number of historical figures, primarily kings of Armenia. The name of Tigranes, which was theophoric in nature, was ...

ruled 20 – 8 BC *

Tigranes IV Tigranes IV (30s BC–1) was a Prince of the Kingdom of Armenia and member of the Artaxiad Dynasty who served as a Roman Client King of Armenia from 8 BC until 5 BC and 2 BC until 1 AD. Family background and early life Tigranes IV was the son b ...

ruled 8 – 5 BC and 2 BC – 1 AD * Tigranes V ruled 6 – 12 *

Tigranes VI Tigranes VI, also known as Tigran VI or by his Roman name Gaius Julius Tigranes ( el, Γαίος Ιούλιος Τιγράνης, before 25 – after 68) was a Herodian Prince and served as a Roman Client King of Armenia in the 1st century. H ...

ruled 58 – 61 * Tigranes VII (Tiran) ruled 339 – c.350

References

Sources

* * {{cite journal, last=Shahbazi, first=A. Shapur, editor1-last=Badian, editor1-first=Ernst, year=2017, title=Irano-Hellenic Notes: 1. The Three Faces of Tigranes, journal=American Journal of Ancient History, publisher=De Gruyter, volume=2, issue=2, pages=124–136, doi=10.31826/9781463237547-002 Iranian masculine given names Armenian masculine given names