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'''Otanes''' ([[Persian language|Old Persian]] Utâna): [[Persia]]n nobleman, one of the seven conspirators who killed the [[Magian]] usurper [[Gaumâta]] and helped [[Darius I]] the Great become king ([[29 September]] [[522 BC]]). Several years later, he added the [[Greece|Greek]] island [[Samos]] to the [[Achaemenid]] empire.

(contracted; show full)he third place, Otanes had a powerful claim to the throne because he was the brother of [[Cassandane]], the queen of king [[Cyrus the Great]], and the father of Phaedymia, the queen of Cambyses and the false Smerdis. (Darius' claim to the throne was based on the fact that he belonged to a younger branch of the family of Cyrus and Cambyses, the Achaemenids.)

It is likely that Otanes, who, according to Herodotus, decided to stay aloof from Persian [[politics]], prepared the road for Darius to become [[
monarch|king]]. It was necessary: after the assassination of Gaumâta, the [[Babylonians]] had revolted and the crisis was acute. Otanes stepped aside and Darius honored him by marrying his daughter Phaedymia, who had already been married to Cambyses and the false Smerdis.When Darius married her, his rule became more legitimate. At the same time, Otanes married a sister of Darius. They probably were the parents of [[Amestris]], who was to marry king [[Xerxes]].

(contracted; show full)Otanes had a son [[Patiramphes]], who served as the driver of the [[chariot]] of King [[Xerxes]] during his campaign to [[Greece]]. As we have already seen above, Otanes was probably also the father of Xerxes' first wife, queen [[Amestris]].

==Reference==
*''This entry incorporates public domain text originally by Jona Lendering ©.''

[[Category:Persian people]]

[[de:Otanes]]