Mandane

The daughter of Astyages and, after the rule of the Medes, the mother of the first Persian king Kyrus I (Cyrus).

While she was still unmarried, Mandane’s father had a dream which was interpreted as signifying the end of the rule of the Medes over western and central Asia; her father would not allow her to marry another Mede because her children would have a claim to the throne; Astyages forced her to marry a Persian named Kambyses (Cambyses) and assumed that no half-Persian/half-Mede child could ever claim the throne of the Median Empire.

After the marriage, Astyages dreamed that Mandane would have a child that would cast a shadow over all of Asia; believing this dream to be another bad omen, Astyages ordered one of his most trusted subjects, Harpagus, to take Mandane’s newborn child and kill it; Harpagus was a loyal Mede but he was no child slayer; he delegated the murder of the baby to another man who was also too moral to kill an innocent baby.

The baby was spared and grew to be a young man before Astyages became aware that Mandane’s son was still alive; Astyages consulted his seers and decided that the young boy was no threat to him or his empire; the boy was given back to his mother and father and named Kyrus (Cyrus).

As punishment for not following orders, Astyages killed the son of Harpagus; when Kyrus came of age, Harpagus, in revenge for his murdered son, urged Kyrus to unite the Persians and revolt against the Medes; the revolution was successful and Mandane became the mother of the Persian dynasty of kings that would rule Persia until the time of Alexander the Great.

• Histories, book 1, chapters 107-130