Cyrus the Great (mythology)

Author: Herodotus

Time Period: 999 BCE–1 BCE

Country or Culture: Persia

Genre: Legend

Overview

Many heroes, both historical and mythical, have been granted tales of a miraculous birth or preservation. Cyrus II, who was king of Persia from 550 BCE to about 530 BCE, is one such figure. Fragments of his story appear in several ancient texts. Of these, Herodotus gives the most complete account, a tale of multiple families and generations.

Sometimes known as the first historian, the Greek writer Herodotus lived during the fifth century BCE. His Historiai Herodotou (424 BCE; The History, 1709) contains information about Cyrus and the Achaemenid Empire over which he ruled. The work is commonly divided into nine books because the ancient copies of the text required nine scrolls. Herodotus’s stated aims in that work are to record the stories of both Greeks and non-Greeks and to relate how the two groups faced conflict. In contrast to the bards, such as Homer, who invoked heavenly powers as they began writing, Herodotus aimed to use his own research and observation to write.

Herodotus is the major source of information about his own life. He asserts that he was born in Halicarnassus, now known as Bodrum, Turkey. If his work is factual, he visited several areas of the Greek world. His ability to write indicates that he came from a family of means, one able to afford a teacher. He may have served in the army; he describes battles, though not from the viewpoint of a commander. Scholars conjecture that he died sometime after 429, which is the year of the last incident he recorded. That was also the summer of the great plague in Athens; he may have died in the city at that time.

Major characters in Herodotus’s work include Astyages, a powerful regent of the Medes, whose rule over an empire that dominated the Middle East extended from about 584 BCE to 550 BCE. His daughter, Mandane, is married off to a Persian man of lower birth, Cambyses (Kambyses). Their son is Cyrus (Kyros), the hero of the tale. Harpagus (Harpagos) is Astyages’s relative and confidante; Harpagus’s slave Mithradates is a cattle herder. Mithradates’s wife is named Spako, which means “bitch” in the Median language, a name that is significant in the mythology; many myths involve abandoned children being suckled or raised by female animals, such as female canines, properly known as “bitches.”

The folkloric and mythic elements of Herodotus’s account will be examined through the lens of work done in the early twentieth century by folklorists Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. Aarne created and Thompson expanded a classification of the motifs used in Western folktales and fairy tales. The numeric system is similar in concept to the Dewey decimal system used in classifying library books. Each category has a letter and number designation, such as AT S42, which represents the “cruel grandfather,” applicable to the analysis of Cyrus’s story. The archetype of the hero has been most fully explained by the work of the twentieth-century academic and author Joseph Campbell. Although Cyrus was a historical figure, the passage from Herodotus pertaining to him contains mythic elements.

Summary

Like many rulers, Astyages is superstitious and dependent upon his court astrologers and magicians. When he dreams that from his daughter Mandane will come a flood of water so great as to fill not only their city but also all of Asia, he consults his magicians for an interpretation. They relate that her child will rule over this great region. To prevent a loss of his own power, Astyages marries her to Cambyses, a Persian commoner, not his equal in blood or rank. During the first year of the marriage, however, Astyages dreams of a vine that comes from Mandane and covers Asia. The interpreters of dreams suggest that the child Mandane is carrying will usurp Astyages’s power.

To prevent this from happening, Astyages sends for Mandane, who is living in Persia, intending to kill the child. He entrusts the task to his servant Harpagus, telling him to kill the boy and dispose of his body. Although Harpagus agrees, he weeps when he arrives home, explaining to his wife that the boy is his relation and the king has no male heirs. Wanting to protect himself when Mandane comes to the throne, he passes on the task to a slave, Mithradates, who herds cattle in the mountains. Harpagus charges him with exposing the child on the mountains, saying that he will return to see it has been done.

On his way home, Mithradates, who assumes the child has been born of a slave, hears the truth of the child’s origins. Mithradates’s wife is in labor that day, but their child is stillborn. His wife, named Cyno (Kyno) in Greek and Spako in Median, suggests they raise the baby as their own and expose the dead child. This they do and, three days later, summon Harpagus to see the exposed dead body. The cattle herder and his wife bring up the living child, whom they do not call Cyrus.

The truth of the boy’s noble birth comes out when he is twelve and playing with other boys. They elect him as their king, and he acts accordingly, assigning them tasks. When one of the boys disobeys, Cyrus beats him. The boy complains to his father, who goes to Astyages. Cyrus is summoned to answer for beating a boy of higher rank, and he defends himself on the grounds of having been elected king. Cyrus willingly submits to Astyages’s judgment, which indicates to Astyages that his own grandson stands before him.

Astyages calls for Mithradates, who at first claims the boy as his own blood son. As he is being led off to be tortured, however, he confesses the truth and begs forgiveness. Astyages’s wrath is directed at Harpagus, who is summoned and tells the truth at once.

Astyages states that he had regretted the boy’s death, particularly after Mandane’s laments, and is glad all has worked out so well. He asks Harpagus to send for his own son to greet Cyrus and to be present at a feast he is preparing to honor the gods who have planned all this.

Harpagus’s son is about thirteen years old. When he arrives at the palace, Astyages has him butchered, cut into pieces, and then roasted. To the rest of the guests Astyages serves lamb, but he places before Harpagus his own cooked son, with the head, hands, and feet reserved

“Lord, he has only received his due. For the boys in the village, he being among them, were at play, and made me their king, believing me to be the best adapted thereto. And the other boys did as they were told, but he was disobedient, and did not mind me at all. For this he has received his reward. If I have deserved punishment, here I am at your service.”

in a basket. At the conclusion of the meal, Astyages inquires if Harpagus has enjoyed the meal. When Harpagus answers that he has, the servants reveal the head and other parts of his son. Harpagus does not react in anger or sorrow, but says the king has done well.

Astyages once again calls his magicians and relates the story of Cyrus’s survival and the revelation of his identity through playing king, asking what it means. The magicians state that the king has nothing to fear now, because the playacting has fulfilled the prophecy that Cyrus would become king. Astyages therefore calls the boy and sends him to Persia to his overjoyed parents, who had believed him dead.

Cyrus relates to them the story of his being saved from exposure and of Spako caring for him. His parents interpret this to mean that a wild animal suckled Cyrus, a common motif in hero tales.

When Cyrus is grown, Harpagus incites him to attack the Medes. Although victorious, Cyrus does not slay his grandfather, who has been taken prisoner, but instead keeps him near and cares for him. Cyrus then reigns over the Persians and the Medes.

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