Artaynte (f. 478 BC), was the wife of the Crown Prince Darius, son of the king

Xerxes I Xerxes I ( – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was a List of monarchs of Persia, Persian ruler who served as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC. He was ...

Life

What we know of Artaynte primarily comes from the writings of

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

. She was the daughter of an unnamed woman and Prince

Masistes Masistes (Old Persian 𐎶𐎰𐎡𐏁𐎫, ''Maθišta''; Greek Μασίστης, ''Masístēs''; Old Iranian *''Masišta''; died 478 BC) was a Persian prince of the Achaemenid Dynasty, son of king Darius I (reign: 520-486 BC) and of his wi ...

, who was a marshall of the armies during the invasion of Greece in 480-479 BC, and was also the brother of King

. During the Greek campaign Xerxes developed a passionate desire for the wife of his brother Masistes, but she would constantly resist and would not bend to his will. Upon returning to

Sardis Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian language, Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Lydia (satrapy) ...

, the king endeavoured to bring about the marriage of his son Darius to Artaynte, the daughter of this woman the wife of Masistes, supposing that by doing so he could obtain Artaynte's mother more easily. After moving to

Susa Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...

he brought Artaynte to the royal house with him for his son Darius, but fell in love with her himself, and after obtaining her they became lovers. At the behest of Xerxes, Artaynte committed adultery with him. When queen

Amestris Amestris (, ''Amēstris'', perhaps the same as Άμαστρις, ''Amāstris'', from Old Persian ''Amāstrī-'', "strong woman") was an Achaemenid queen, wife of king Xerxes I and mother of king Artaxerxes I. She was poorly regarded by ancien ...

found out, she did not seek revenge against Artaynte, but against her mother, Masistes' wife, as Amestris thought that it was her connivance. On Xerxes' birthday, Amestris sent for his guards and mutilated Masistes' wife by cutting off her breasts and threw them to dogs, and her nose and ears and lips also, and cutting out her tongue as well. On seeing this, Masistes fled to

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...

to start a revolt, but was intercepted by Xerxes' army who killed him and his sons.

References

{{Reflist * Godley, Alfred Denis (1921–24). "Histories book 9". Herodotus, with an English translation. OCLC 1610641. * Artaynte (''The Histories'' IX 108-110) Achaemenid princesses 5th-century BC Iranian people