Atossa was an Achaemenid empress and daughter of Cyrus the Great and Cassandane. She lived from 550 BC to 475 BC and was a sister-wife^[1] of the Persian king of kings Cambyses II^[2] and wife of Darius I.

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Name[edit]

The name Atossa (or Atusa) means 'skilled or learned'. It can also mean 'well trickling' or 'well granting'. Atossa is the Grecized (Ancient Greek: Ἄτοσσα) form of the Old Persian name Utauθa. Her name in Avestan is Hutaosā.^[3]

Life[edit]

Atossa was born in 550 BC in Pasargadae. She was eldest daughter of Cyrus the Great and Cassandane. 21 hazaar video song free download hd. Atossa married her brother Cambyses II, probably after death of her father.

When Darius I defeated the followers of a man claiming to be Bardiya (Smerdis), the younger brother of Cambyses II in 522 BC, he married Atossa.^[4] Atossa played an important role in the Achaemenid royal family, as she bore Darius the Great the next Achaemenid king, Xerxes I.

Atossa had a 'great authority' in the Achaemenid royal house and her marriage with Darius I is likely due to her power, influence and the fact that she was a direct descendant of Cyrus.^[4]

Herodotus records in The Histories that Atossa was troubled by a bleeding lump in her breast. She wrapped herself in sheets and sought a self-imposed quarantine. Ultimately, a Greek slave, Democedes, persuaded her to allow him to excise the tumor.^[5] This is the first recorded case of mastitis.^[6]

Xerxes I was the eldest son of Atossa and Darius. Atossa lived to see Xerxes invade Greece. Being a direct descendant of Cyrus the Great, Atossa had a great authority within Achamenian imperial house and court. Atossa's special position enabled Xerxes, who was not the eldest son of Darius, to succeed his father.^[4]

Literary references[edit]

Aeschylus included her as a central character in his tragedy The Persians. Atossa is also one of the major characters in the Gore Vidal novel Creation.

Atossa is also included in Herodotus' The Histories and is shown to be a strong woman with a lot of influence. He even goes as far as to suggest that her wanting a Greek maiden was a reason for why Darius the Great decided to begin his campaign to Greece.

In his history of cancer, The Emperor of All Maladies, Siddhartha Mukherjee imagines Atossa traveling through time, encountering different diagnoses and treatments for her breast cancer. Atossa becomes emblematic of cancer sufferers through history.^[7]

Legacy[edit]

Minor planet 810 Atossa discovered by Max Wolf, is named in her honor.

Footnotes[edit]

1. ^Boyce, Mary (1982). A History of Zoroastrianism: Volume II: Under the Achaemenians. BRILL. ISBN9789004065062.
2. ^Boyce, Mary (1982). A History of Zoroastrianism: Volume II: Under the Achaemenians. BRILL. p. 78. ISBN9004065067. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
3. ^http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/atossa-achaemenid-queen
4. ^ ^abcSchmitt, Rüdiger (1989). 'Atossa'. Encyclopaedia Iranica. vol. 3. Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation. ISBN0-7100-9121-4.
5. ^Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies, p.41. See Herodotus, The Histories, OUP, 1998, pt. VIII
6. ^Sandison, A. T. (1959). 'The First Recorded Case of Inflammatory Mastitis— Queen Atossa of Persia and the Physician Democêdes'. Medical History. 3 (4): 317–322. doi:10.1017/s0025727300024820. PMC1034507. PMID14441415.
7. ^Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies, pp. 463–467

References[edit]

• Mukhjerjee, Siddhartha (2011). The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. Harper Collins. ISBN978-0-00-725092-9.