Artaynte (f. 478 BC), was the wife of the
Crown Prince Darius.
Life
Daughter of an unnamed woman and Prince
Masistes
Masistes (Old Persian 𐎶𐎰𐎡𐏁𐎫, ''Maθišta''; Greek Μασίστης, ''Masístēs''; Old Iranian *''Masišta'') (?- c. 478 BC) was a Persian prince of the Achaemenid Dynasty, son of king Darius I (reign: 520-486 BC) and of his wife ...
, a marshall of the armies during the invasion of Greece in 480-479 BC, and the brother of King
Xerxes I
Xerxes I ( peo, 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ξέρξης ; – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. He was the son and successor of ...
.
During the Greek campaign Xerxes developed a passionate desire for the wife of Masistes, but she would constantly resist and would not bend to his will. Upon his return to Sardis, the king endeavoured to bring about the marriage of his son Daris to Artaynte, the daughter of this woman the wife of Masistes, supposing that by doing so he could obtain her more easily.
After moving to Susa he brought Artaynte to the royal house with him for his son Daris, but fell in love with her himself, and after obtaining her they became lovers.
At the behest of Xerxes, Artaynte committed adultery with him (Xerxes). When queen
Amestris
Amestris ( el, Άμηστρις, ''Amēstris'', perhaps the same as Άμαστρις, ''Amāstris'', from Old Persian ''Amāstrī-'', "strong woman"; died c. 424 BC) was a Persian queen, the wife of Xerxes I of Persia, mother of Achaemenid King ...
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 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