Tigranes (Orontid)
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Tigranes was a legendary Armenian prince, who was a contemporary of the Achaemenid ruler
Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...
(). He appears in both in the '' Cyropaedia'' of the Greek soldier and historian Xenophon (died 354 BC) and the ''
History of Armenia The history of Armenia covers the topics related to the history of the Armenia, Republic of Armenia, as well as the Armenians, Armenian people, the Armenian language, and the regions historically and Armenian Highlands, geographically consid ...
'' of the 5th-century Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi (died 490s AD). In the former, he is based on the Persian
hyparch A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...
Tigranes, while in the latter he was further altered, becoming an Armenian hero, who was the embodiment of the Armenian king Tigranes the Great () and the Iranian hero Fereydun.


In historiography

Tigranes appears in both in the '' Cyropaedia'' of the Greek soldier and historian Xenophon (died 354 BC) and the ''
History of Armenia The history of Armenia covers the topics related to the history of the Armenia, Republic of Armenia, as well as the Armenians, Armenian people, the Armenian language, and the regions historically and Armenian Highlands, geographically consid ...
'' of the 5th-century Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi (died 490s AD). The Iranian name of "Tigranes", which was theophoric in nature, was uncommon during the Achaemenid era (550 BC–330 BC). Only two historical figures are known to bear the name during that period.


Xenophon

According to the ''Cyropaedia'' of Xenophon, Tigranes was the son of an unnamed "king of Armenia" who had agreed to provide troops and pay yearly tribute to the
Median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...
king
Astyages Astyages (Median: ; Akkadian: ; Ancient Greek: grc, Αστυαγης, Astuagēs, , romanized: , , romanized: ; la, Astyages, , ; reigned 585–550 BC) was the last king of the Median Empire. The son of Cyaxares; he was dethroned in 550 BC by h ...
after being defeated by him. When Media was invaded by the Chaldaeans during the reign of Astyages' son and successor Cyaxares, the "king of Armenia" refused to help to him as he was obliged. As a result,
Cyrus Cyrus (Persian: کوروش) is a male given name. It is the given name of a number of Persian kings. Most notably it refers to Cyrus the Great ( BC). Cyrus is also the name of Cyrus I of Anshan ( BC), King of Persia and the grandfather of Cyrus t ...
, who was the son of Astyages' daughter Mandana, quickly led an expedition into Armenia. The "king of Armenia" sent his family, including his younger son Sabaris as well as the treasury to the mountains. They were, however, captured by the Persian commander Chrysantas. The Armenians panicked at the approach of Cyrus, who captured their "king". Tigranes, the elder son of the "king" and "who had been Cyrus' companion once on a hunt" returned from a journey abroad and convinced Cyrus to pardon the "king" and reinstall him. Tigranes served Cyrus faithfully, aiding him in his attack on Assyria, where the spoils were shared between the parties. He also took part in Cyrus' campaign into
Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...
. This account of Tigranes by Xenophon, which was not mentioned by Herodotus (died 425 BC), was considered "pure fabrication" by the Iranologist Alireza Shapur Shahbazi. Xenophon was known for creating ancient heroes by basing them on contemporary figures. Tigranes was most likely based on the Persian
hyparch A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...
Tigranes, who was the son-in-law of
Struthas Struthas was a Persian satrap for a brief period during the Corinthian War. In 392 BC, he was dispatched by Artaxerxes II to take command of the satrapy of Sardis, replacing Tiribazus, and to pursue an anti-Spartan policy. Accordingly, Struthas ...
and lived in the same period as Xenophon. According to Shahbazi, the title of "king of Armenia" should not be taken seriously, as Xenophon also refers to the leader of Hyrcanians and
satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...
of
Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...
as "kings".


Movses Khorenatsi

The ''History of Armenia'' of Movses Khorenatsi was composed to serve as a "national" history of Armenia from the era of the giants to Arsacid rule. According to the book, Tigranes was the son of Eruand (Orontas/Aroandes/Orontes) "the Short-lived". The Median king Azhdahak was afraid of the power of Tigranes and his alliance with Cyrus. This was further reinforced by his dream of a woman on the top of a mountain which represented Armenia. There she birthed three giants, one of whom rode on "a monstrous dragon" and attacked Media, and thus foreshadowing Tigranes' attack on the country. In order to prevent this, Azhdahak married Tigranuhi, the prominent sister of Tigranes. He planned to use her to befriend Tigranes, invite him to Media and then kill him. Informed of the plot by his sister, Tigranes marched against Media at the head of a large force assembled from Cappadocia, Georgia,
Caucasian Albania Caucasian Albania is a modern exonym for a former state located in ancient times in the Caucasus: mostly in what is now Azerbaijan (where both of its capitals were located). The modern endonyms for the area are ''Aghwank'' and ''Aluank'', among ...
, and Greater and Lesser Armenia. There he freed Tigranuhi, and personally killed Azhdahak at a battle. Tigranes afterwards had his sister sent to the city of Tigranakert, which he had founded and named after himself. He also had the family of Azhdahak and 10,000 Medes deported to the city of Azhdanakan in Armenia. Subsequently, Tigranes "with the willing help and encouragement of Cyrus, seized for himself the Empire of the Medes and Persians." He was survived by his sons Pap, Tiran and Vahagn. Vahe, who was a descendant of Vahagn, rebelled against Alexander of Macedon, who as a result killed him. This led to turmoil in Armenia until Arshak the Great ( Vologases I of Parthia) installed his brother Valarshak (
Tiridates I of Armenia Tiridates I ( xpr, 𐭕𐭉𐭓𐭉𐭃𐭕, ''Tīridāt''; el, Τιριδάτης, ''Tiridátes'') was King of Armenia beginning in 53 AD and the founder of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia. The dates of his birth and death are unknown. His earl ...
) on the Armenian throne. Scholarship has long agreed that the story is a mixture of history and various legends. Vahe is possibly an echo of
Mithrenes Mithrenes ( el, Mιθρένης or Mιθρίνης) was a Persian commander of the force that garrisoned the citadel of Sardis. According to Cyril Toumanoff, he was also a member of the Orontid dynasty, of Iranian origin. Waldemar Heckel, on the o ...
, who along with Orontes II led the Armenian contingent at the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. Eruand "the Short-lived" was a personification of the Orontid dynasty, the predecessors of the Artaxiad dynasty, whose most distinguished ruler was Tigranes the Great ().


References


Sources

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Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tigranes Legendary Armenian people