Phratagune

Phratagune

Phratagune

Ancient Persian princess and wife to Darius the Great

Phratagune (or Phratagone) was a princess of ancient Persia, the only daughter of Artanes, who lived around the 5th century BCE.[1]

Phratagune's father gave her in marriage to his brother, her uncle, Darius the Great. This was ostensibly because Artanes had no male heirs and marrying his daughter to his brother, and offering his entire estate as her dowry, would enable his fortune to remain in the family.[2] This also had the side effect of ensuring Phratagune would produce no rival claimants to the throne.[3][4] Contemporary accounts suggest this was not seen as an incestuous relationship, but a socially acceptable form of interfamilial alliance.[5]

Phratagune bore Darius two sons, Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, both of whom died at the Battle of Thermopylae, as did her father.[1][6]

References

  1. [1]
    Kuhrt, Amélie (2013). The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period. Taylor & Francis. pp. 173, 245, 263, 264, 626. ISBN 9781136017025. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  2. [2]
    Waters, Matt (2014). Ancient Persia: A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE. Cambridge University Press. p. 78. ISBN 9781107652729. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  3. [3]
    Brosius, Maria (2020). A History of Ancient Persia: The Achaemenid Empire. Wiley. p. 64. ISBN 9781444350920. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  4. [4]
    Stoneman, Richard (2015). Xerxes: A Persian Life. Yale University Press. pp. 185–186. ISBN 9780300216042. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  5. [5]
    Brosius, Maria (1996). Women in ancient Persia, 559–331 BC. Clarendon Press. p. 68. ISBN 9780198150091. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
  6. [6]
    Nevin, Sonya (2022). The Idea of Marathon: Battle and Culture. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 48. ISBN 9781350157613. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
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