Difference between revisions 326489022 and 327243611 on enwiki

[[Image:A Persian nobleman.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A [[Persian people|Persian]] noble man in [[Perspolis]] rock reliefs of [[Persia]]/[[Iran]], probably Otanes.]]

(contracted; show full)itics]], 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
 I of Persia|Xerxes]].

That the king trusted Otanes, is also suggested by the fact that he ordered his father-in-law, who was probably serving as [[satrap]] of [[Lydia]], to conquer the Greek island Samos (c.[[517 BC]]). This island had been without strong leader since an earlier Lydian satrap, Oroetus, had executed [[Polycrates]] of Samos. Its new, pro-Persian ruler, was to be a man named [[Syloson]]. Herodotus tells us:

As for Samos, the [[Persians]] took the entire population like fish in a drag-net, and presented Syloson with an empty island. Some years later, however, Otanes contracted some sort of disease of the genital organs and that, in conjunction with a dream he had, induced him to repopulate the place.
    Histories 3.149;
    tr. [[Aubrey de Sélincourt]]

This is the last piece of information about Otanes. In [[513 BC]], a new satrap was appointed in Lydia, [[Artaphernes]]. Probably, Otanes had died.

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

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

[[Category:Achaemenid people]]
[[Category:Characters in Herodotus]]

[[ca:Otanes (noble)]]
[[de:Otanes]]
[[es:Ótanes]]
[[he:אוטאנס (בן סיסאמנס)]]
[[hr:Otan]]
[[pl:Otanes]]
[[fi:Otanes]]
[[sv:Otanes]]