Sisygambis (; died 323 BCE) was the mother of

Darius III of Persia Darius III ( ; ; – 330 BC) was the thirteenth and last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC. Contrary to his predecessor Artaxerxes IV Arses, Darius was a distant member of the Achaemenid dynasty. D ...

, whose reign was ended during the wars of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

. After she was captured by Alexander at the

Battle of Issus The Battle of Issus (also Issos) occurred in southern Anatolia, on 5 November 333 BC between the League of Corinth, Hellenic League led by Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Empire, led by Darius III of Persia, Darius III. It was the second g ...

, she became devoted to him, and Alexander referred to her as "mother".

Early life

She may have been the daughter of king Artaxerxes II Mnemon, or possibly of his brother Ostanes. If the latter, she married her own brother Arsames (an ancient

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...

tradition).. Another possibility is that she was the daughter of an Uxian leader. She gave birth to Darius, Oxyathres, and possibly also Stateira I.

Alexander's invasion

At the Battle of Issus (333 BCE), Darius's army was routed by

, and the Persian king fled the field, leaving his extended family—including his mother; his wife, Stateira I; his children; and many others—to the mercy of Alexander. He captured them but treated them with all dignity, where many others would have executed them out of hand. When Alexander and

Hephaestion Hephaestion ( ''Hēphaistíōn''; c. 356 BC – 324 BC), son of Amyntor, was an ancient Macedonian nobleman of probable "Attic or Ionian extraction" and a general in the army of Alexander the Great. He was "by far the dearest ...

went together to visit the captured Persian royal family, Sisygambis knelt to Hephaestion to plead for their lives, mistaking him for Alexander — Hephaestion was the taller, and both young men were similarly dressed. When she realized her mistake, she was acutely embarrassed, but Alexander reassured her with the words, "You were not mistaken, Mother; this man too is Alexander." At the

Battle of Gaugamela The Battle of Gaugamela ( ; ), also called the Battle of Arbela (), took place in 331 BC between the forces of the Ancient Macedonian army, Army of Macedon under Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Army, Persian Army under Darius III, ...

, Sisygambis and her family were kept within the baggage train behind Alexander's army. When the Persian army's Scythian cavalry broke through Alexander's forces to reach them, she allegedly refused to celebrate what appeared at first to be Persian victory. After Darius was killed shortly following his defeat at Gaugamela, Alexander sent his body to her, so that she could give him dignified funeral honors.

Under Alexander

She was left at Susa with tutors to teach her and her family Greek, while Alexander pursued his conquests towards India. On his return in 324 BCE, he married Sisygambis's granddaughter, Stateira II, an event which was the centrepiece of the Susa weddings, where Stateira's sister,

Drypetis Drypetis (died 323 BCE) was the daughter of Stateira I and Darius III of Persia. Drypetis was born between 350 and 345 BCE, and, along with her sister Stateira II, was a princess of the Achaemenid dynasty. Capture and marriage When Darius III ...

, was also given in marriage to Hephaestion. Within about a year of the wedding, however, both Hephaestion and Alexander had suddenly died eight months apart. On hearing of the latter's death, Sisygambis, overwhelmed with pain and despairing of the fate that loomed over her family, had herself sealed into her rooms and refused to eat. She is said to have died of grief and starvation four days later.

Legacy

The scene of Sisygambis mistakenly kneeling before Hephaestion has been a popular subject in Western art, represented by

Charles le Brun Charles Le Brun (; baptised 24 February 1619 – 12 February 1690) was a French Painting, painter, Physiognomy, physiognomist, Aesthetics, art theorist, and a director of several art schools of his time. He served as a court painter to Louis XIV, ...

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , ; ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana (Veronese), The Wedding ...

Justus Sustermans Justus Sustermans, Joost Sustermans or Suttermans, his given name Italianised to Giusto (28September 159723April 1681), was a Flemish people, Flemish painter and draughtsman who is mainly known for his portraits. He also painted history and ge ...

, and many others.James Hall, ''Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art'', Westview Press, Boulder, 1979, p.13.

Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

823 Sisigambis is named after her.

References

{{Authority control 4th-century BC births 4th-century BC deaths 4th-century BC women People associated with Alexander the Great Queens consort of the Achaemenid Empire 4th-century BC Iranian people Women in ancient Near Eastern warfare Uxii Darius III Suicides by starvation