Cyrus' Paradise

It is very interesting, Norman, that you see Pantheia/Abradatas as falling within a broader scheme of politics and diplomacy. As Rob has noted, some have pointed to this narrative as a proto-novel, so your observation is particularly striking in light of some of the work that has been done lately on the political dimensions of the Greek romance plot. Earlier interpretations (e.g., that of Perry 1967) saw the romance plot as something apolitical, developed from an alternative value system that arises when the Hellenistic Greeks lose their unique civic identities and roles and become awash in the vast chaos of the Hellenistic cosmopolis; more recently, however, some scholars (e.g., Perkins 1995; Swain 1996) have argued cogently for a political dimension to the seemingly private love-story that forms the core of these works. If they are right (and I believe that they are), your comment would suggest that this political dimension of the romantic love-affair, far from being something the later novelists simply use it for, is already inherent in the very earliest example of this story type.

ἀποδόντες τοῖς μάγοις, Κύρῳ δ᾽ ἐξῃρηκότες: what is the implication of moving immediately from the portion that was given to the gods to the portion that was selected for Cyrus, including the “Susan woman” (note that Cyaxares’ portion, which they agreed should include beautiful women, is not mentioned)?

θεοὶ δ᾽ ἡμῖν μάρτυρες ἔστων: why are the words of the oath given here (by contrast with, for example, the pact with the Hyrcanians)? Is there something significant about the words used? They seem rather ordinary.

Or does he possibly mean that vengeance is, in this case, a religious imperative?

σὺν θεοῖς: is this mere colloquial convention for a promise (“god willing”), or is Cyrus suggesting that his aid brings with it divine assistance?

I’m so glad you opened up this line of questioning about one of the most fascinating parts of the Cyropaedia. I want to tackle a bit of your question on how the narrative functions in the story, while acknowledging at the same time that there more ways of viewing it than just the one I present here. I think the Pantheia and Abradatas story is part of a series of stories (probably the most important story) dealing with one of Cyrus’ leadership practices, which we might call “conquest by matchmaking.” (Incidentally, this is a practice that Alexander engages in when he captures and “preserves” the wife of Darius.)

I think Xenophon is offering up Cyrus as an alternative to the leader who engages in conquest by mate-poaching and polygamy. For example, Herodotus’ Cyrus tries this approach with Tomyris, queen of the Massegetae (Herodotus Histories 1.205) and so does Cambyses with the daughter of the Egyptian king, Amasis (Herodotus Histories 3.1). Xerxes’ pursuit of the wife of Masistes may be the most outrageous and gruesome example of this (Herodotus Histories 9.108-9.113). Xenophon gives us a hint that Cyrus could be or become such a leader at several places in the Cyropaedia, I think first in the concluding scene of the Armenian banquet at Cyropaedia 3.1.41, when Tigranes worries that his wife might find Cyrus attractive. Tigranes is newly-wed (i.e., without an heir) and the son of a treasonous king. Had Cyrus wanted to conquer by different means, he might have killed Tigranes, married his wife, and left behind a child to govern Armenia. But that is not the way Xenophon tells it. Instead, Tigranes is given the opportunity to plead his father’s case and even offer up his own life for his wife, thus winning her romantic devotion. This we might say is a kind of proto-Pantheia/Abradatas tale. As I say, Cyrus habitually conquers through matchmaking or at least reuniting lovers with their beloved. He reunites Croesus with his wife (Cyropaedia 7.2.26-28). He matches the daughter of Gobryas with Hystaspas, both a political and personal alliance; and he offers to do the same for Chrysantas (Cyropaedia 5.2.12, Cyropaedia 8.4.13-22). After a battle with the Assyrians he gives a music girl to a “lover of music” (Cyropaedia 5.1.1). Even the Two Coats story, the land-sharing/intermarriage treaty between the Armenians and Chaldaeans, and the dirt clod toss that matches Pheraulas with the Sacian horseman are examples of Cyrus’ ability (however imperfect) of joining people together in ostensibly more prosperous partnerships  (Cyropaedia 1.3.17, Cyropaedia 3.2.17-24, Cyropaedia 8.3.26-50). There is precedence for Cyrus’ approach in the both humorous and instructive way that Socrates describes himself and the political leader as a “pimp” or “go between” (Symposium 3.10, Symposium 4.61, Symposium 4.64.3-8). Socrates seems to describe very well what Cyrus will himself do even in his youth when he acts as a mediator between Astyages and the fathers of his Medan comrades (Cyropaedia 1.4.1). I want to stress, though, that there’s more going on in the Pantheia and Abradatas story than this, and I hope we can take a look at it section by section. As much as it plays a central part to the Cyropaedia, it can stand alone (see the links here at the end of their story at Cyropaedia 7.3.16). I am curious to know how much of this story is Greek and how much of it is Persian/Iranian? Are there parallel tales in, say, the Shahnameh? Do Pantheia and Abradatas steal the show from Cyrus? Are they happier because they can surrender themselves to love, whereas Cyrus cannot?

Pantheia is first mentioned here as “the Susan woman who is said to be the most beautiful in Asia” (τὴν Σουσίδα γυναῖκα, ἣ καλλίστη δὴ λέγεται ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ γυνὴ γενέσθαι); she is not named until Cyropaedia 6.1.41 (see further “Xenophon’s Unusual Character Introductions in the Cyropaedia“). The narrative about her and her husband (Abradatas) has often been thought to be a kind of proto-novel, albeit one with a tragic ending (see recently Capra 2009 and Consonni 2000 on the connection between this story and Xenophon of Ephesus An Ephesian Tale, a novel about two lovers, Habrocomes and Anthia). What is the narrative function of this narrative which extends across several books (Cyropaedia 4.6.11, Cyropaedia 5.1.2-18, Cyropaedia 6.1.45-51, Cyropaedia 6.4.1-11, Cyropaedia 7.1.29-32, Cyropaedia 7.3.2-16)? What (if anything) does it contribute to the portrait of Cyrus (some ideas to start in ¶ 22 of “Wives, Subjects, Sons, and Lovers: Phthonos and Entitlement in Xenophon’s Cyropaedia“)? What kind of narrative is it (Xenophon calls it a pathos in Cyropaedia 7.3.6)? And, finally, how do the novelists use it?