Chapter 7.3: Pantheia commits suicide at the burial of Abradatas.

¶ 1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 1 1. Cyrus has the spoils given to the gods and divided among the men according to their merits…
καὶ τότε μὲν οὕτως ἐκοιμήθησαν. τῇ δ᾽ ὑστεραίᾳ καλέσας ὁ Κῦρος τοὺς φίλους καὶ τοὺς ἡγεμόνας τοῦ στρατεύματος, τοὺς μὲν αὐτῶν ἔταξε τοὺς θησαυροὺς παραλαμβάνειν, τοὺς δ᾽ ἐκέλευσεν ὁπόσα παραδοίη Κροῖσος χρήματα, πρῶτον μὲν τοῖς θεοῖς ἐξελεῖν ὁποῖ᾽ ἂν οἱ μάγοι ἐξηγῶνται, ἔπειτα τἆλλα χρήματα παραδεχομένους ἐν ζυγάστροις στήσαντας ἐφ᾽ ἁμαξῶν ἐπισκευάσαι καὶ διαλαχόντας τὰς ἁμάξας κομίζειν ὅποιπερ ἂν αὐτοὶ πορεύωνται, ἵνα ὅπου καιρὸς εἴη διαλαμβάνοιεν ἕκαστοι τὰ ἄξια.

¶ 2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 2. He enquires after Abradatas…
οἱ μὲν δὴ ταῦτ᾽ ἐποίουν. ὁ δὲ Κῦρος καλέσας τινὰς τῶν παρόντων ὑπηρετῶν, εἴπατέ μοι, ἔφη, ἑώρακέ τις ὑμῶν Ἀβραδάταν; θαυμάζω γάρ, ἔφη, ὅτι πρόσθεν θαμίζων ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς νῦν οὐδαμοῦ φαίνεται.

¶ 3 Leave a comment on paragraph 3 0 3. An aide explain that he died by rushing into the Egyptian phalanx…
τῶν οὖν ὑπηρετῶν τις ἀπεκρίνατο ὅτι ὦ δέσποτα, οὐ ζῇ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῇ μάχῃ ἀπέθανεν ἐμβαλὼν τὸ ἅρμα εἰς τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους: οἱ δ᾽ ἄλλοι πλὴν τῶν ἑταίρων αὐτοῦ ἐξέκλιναν, ὥς φασιν, ἐπεὶ τὸ στῖφος εἶδον τὸ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων.

¶ 4 Leave a comment on paragraph 4 0 4. Pantheia has taken the body for burial by the river Pactolus…
καὶ νῦν γε, ἔφη, λέγεται αὐτοῦ ἡ γυνὴ ἀνελομένη τὸν νεκρὸν καὶ ἐνθεμένη εἰς τὴν ἁρμάμαξαν, ἐν ᾗπερ αὐτὴ ὠχεῖτο, προσκεκομικέναι αὐτὸν ἐνθάδε ποι πρὸς τὸν Πακτωλὸν ποταμόν.

¶ 5 Leave a comment on paragraph 5 0 5. She holds his head in her lap while the servants and eunuchs dig a grave for his body…
καὶ τοὺς μὲν εὐνούχους καὶ τοὺς θεράποντας αὐτοῦ ὀρύττειν φασὶν ἐπὶ λόφου τινὸς θήκην τῷ τελευτήσαντι: τὴν δὲ γυναῖκα λέγουσιν ὡς κάθηται χαμαὶ κεκοσμηκυῖα οἷς εἶχε τὸν ἄνδρα, τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ ἔχουσα ἐπὶ τοῖς γόνασι.

¶ 6 Leave a comment on paragraph 6 1 6. As soon as he hears this Cyrus strikes his thigh and rushes to the scene…
ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ Κῦρος ἐπαίσατο ἄρα τὸν μηρὸν καὶ εὐθὺς ἀναπηδήσας ἐπὶ τὸν ἵππον λαβὼν χιλίους ἱππέας ἤλαυνεν ἐπὶ τὸ πάθος.

¶ 7 Leave a comment on paragraph 7 0 7. He instructs Gadatas and Gobryas to bring as many fine things as they can…
Γαδάταν δὲ καὶ Γωβρύαν ἐκέλευσεν ὅ τι δύναιντο λαβόντας καλὸν κόσμημα ἀνδρὶ φίλῳ καὶ ἀγαθῷ τετελευτηκότι μεταδιώκειν: καὶ ὅστις εἶχε τὰς ἑπομένας ἀγέλας, καὶ βοῦς καὶ ἵππους εἶπε τούτῳ καὶ ἅμα πρόβατα πολλὰ ἐλαύνειν ὅποι ἂν αὐτὸν πυνθάνηται ὄντα, ὡς ἐπισφαγείη τῷ Ἀβραδάτᾳ.

¶ 8 Leave a comment on paragraph 8 0 8. When he sees Pantheia in mourning, he weeps and laments the loss of Abradatas…
ἐπεὶ δὲ εἶδε τὴν γυναῖκα χαμαὶ καθημένην καὶ τὸν νεκρὸν κείμενον, ἐδάκρυσέ τε ἐπὶ τῷ πάθει καὶ εἶπε: φεῦ, ὦ ἀγαθὴ καὶ πιστὴ ψυχή, οἴχῃ δὴ ἀπολιπὼν ἡμᾶς; καὶ ἅμα ἐδεξιοῦτο αὐτὸν καὶ ἡ χεὶρ τοῦ νεκροῦ ἐπηκολούθησεν: ἀπεκέκοπτο γὰρ κοπίδι ὑπὸ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων.

¶ 9 Leave a comment on paragraph 9 1 9. Cyrus is even more deeply moved by the severed hand…
ὁ δὲ ἰδὼν πολὺ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἤλγησε: καὶ ἡ γυνὴ δὲ ἀνωδύρατο καὶ δεξαμένη δὴ παρὰ τοῦ Κύρου ἐφίλησέ τε τὴν χεῖρα καὶ πάλιν ὡς οἷόν τ᾽ ἦν προσήρμοσε, καὶ εἶπε:

¶ 10 Leave a comment on paragraph 10 1 10. She explains that the rest of his limbs have been hacked as well…
καὶ τἆλλά τοι, ὦ Κῦρε, οὕτως ἔχει: ἀλλὰ τί δεῖ σε ὁρᾶν; καὶ ταῦτα, ἔφη, οἶδ᾽ ὅτι δι᾽ ἐμὲ οὐχ ἥκιστα ἔπαθεν, ἴσως δὲ καὶ διὰ σέ, ὦ Κῦρε, οὐδὲν ἧττον. ἐγώ τε γὰρ ἡ μώρα πολλὰ διεκελευόμην αὐτῷ οὕτω ποιεῖν, ὅπως σοι φίλος ἄξιος γενήσοιτο: αὐτός τε οἶδ᾽ ὅτι οὗτος οὐ τοῦτο ἐνενόει ὅ τι πείσοιτο, ἀλλὰ τί ἄν σοι ποιήσας χαρίσαιτο. καὶ γὰρ οὖν, ἔφη, αὐτὸς μὲν ἀμέμπτως τετελεύτηκεν, ἐγὼ δ᾽ ἡ παρακελευομένη ζῶσα παρακάθημαι.

¶ 11 Leave a comment on paragraph 11 3 11. Cyrus gives many ornaments to Pantheia and assures her that Abradatas will not want for honors…
καὶ ὁ Κῦρος χρόνον μέν τινα σιωπῇ κατεδάκρυσεν, ἔπειτα δὲ ἐφθέγξατο: ἀλλ᾽ οὗτος μὲν δή, ὦ γύναι, ἔχει τὸ κάλλιστον τέλος: νικῶν γὰρ τετελεύτηκε: σὺ δὲ λαβοῦσα τοῖσδε ἐπικόσμει αὐτὸν τοῖς παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ: παρῆν δὲ ὁ Γωβρύας καὶ ὁ Γαδάτας πολὺν καὶ καλὸν κόσμον φέροντες: ἔπειτα δ᾽, ἔφη, ἴσθι ὅτι οὐδὲ τὰ ἄλλα ἄτιμος ἔσται, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ μνῆμα πολλοὶ χώσουσιν ἀξίως ἡμῶν καὶ ἐπισφαγήσεται αὐτῷ ὅσα εἰκὸς ἀνδρὶ ἀγαθῷ.

¶ 12 Leave a comment on paragraph 12 1 12. He promises to bestow honors on Pantheia and let her go wherever she wants…
καὶ σὺ δ᾽, ἔφη, οὐκ ἔρημος ἔσῃ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐγώ σε καὶ σωφροσύνης ἕνεκα καὶ πάσης ἀρετῆς καὶ τἆλλα τιμήσω καὶ συστήσω ὅστις ἀποκομιεῖ σε ὅποι ἂν αὐτὴ ἐθέλῃς: μόνον, ἔφη, δήλωσον πρὸς ἐμὲ πρὸς ὅντινα χρῄζεις κομισθῆναι.

¶ 13 Leave a comment on paragraph 13 0 13. She admits that she will never be able to hide from Cyrus where she wants to go…
καὶ ἡ Πάνθεια εἶπεν: ἀλλὰ θάρρει, ἔφη, ὦ Κῦρε, οὐ μή σε κρύψω πρὸς ὅντινα βούλομαι ἀφικέσθαι.

¶ 14 Leave a comment on paragraph 14 6 14. Cyrus departs feeling pity for her; she stabs herself in the heart…
ὁ μὲν δὴ ταῦτ᾽ εἰπὼν ἀπῄει, κατοικτίρων τήν τε γυναῖκα οἵου ἀνδρὸς στέροιτο καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα οἵαν γυναῖκα καταλιπὼν οὐκέτ᾽ ὄψοιτο. ἡ δὲ γυνὴ τοὺς μὲν εὐνούχους ἐκέλευσεν ἀποστῆναι, ἕως ἄν, ἔφη, τόνδ᾽ ἐγὼ ὀδύρωμαι ὡς βούλομαι: τῇ δὲ τροφῷ εἶπε παραμένειν, καὶ ἐπέταξεν αὐτῇ, ἐπειδὰν ἀποθάνῃ, περικαλύψαι αὐτήν τε καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα ἑνὶ ἱματίῳ. ἡ δὲ τροφὸς πολλὰ ἱκετεύουσα μὴ ποιεῖν τοῦτο, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲν ἥνυτε καὶ χαλεπαίνουσαν ἑώρα, ἐκάθητο κλαίουσα. ἡ δὲ ἀκινάκην πάλαι παρεσκευασμένον σπασαμένη σφάττει ἑαυτὴν καὶ ἐπιθεῖσα ἐπὶ τὰ στέρνα τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὴν ἑαυτῆς κεφαλὴν ἀπέθνῃσκεν. ἡ δὲ τροφὸς ἀνωλοφύρατό τε καὶ περιεκάλυπτεν ἄμφω ὥσπερ ἡ Πάνθεια ἐπέστειλεν. How does Chaucer’s reference to Pantheia’s suicide in the “Franklin’s Tale” affect our interpretation of this scene?

¶ 15 Leave a comment on paragraph 15 9 15. Cyrus rushes to the scene to help, and three other eunuchs kill themselves…
ὁ δὲ Κῦρος ὡς ᾔσθετο τὸ ἔργον τῆς γυναικός, ἐκπλαγεὶς ἵεται, εἴ τι δύναιτο βοηθῆσαι. οἱ δὲ εὐνοῦχοι ἰδόντες τὸ γεγενημένον, τρεῖς ὄντες σπασάμενοι κἀκεῖνοι τοὺς ἀκινάκας ἀποσφάττονται οὗπερ ἔταξεν αὐτοὺς ἑστηκότες. καὶ νῦν τὸ μνῆμα μέχρι τοῦ νῦν τῶν εὐνούχων κεχῶσθαι λέγεται: καὶ ἐπὶ μὲν τῇ ἄνω στήλῃ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς καὶ τῆς γυναικὸς ἐπιγεγράφθαι φασὶ τὰ ὀνόματα, Σύρια γράμματα, κάτω δὲ εἶναι τρεῖς λέγουσι στήλας καὶ ἐπιγεγράφθαι “σκηπτούχων.”

¶ 16 Leave a comment on paragraph 16 0 How is the Pantheia and Abradatas story reflected in later works?

¶ 17 Leave a comment on paragraph 17 0 16. Cyrus laments Pantheia and has a great monument erected to both of them…
ὁ δὲ Κῦρος ὡς ἐπλησίασε τῷ πάθει ἀγασθείς τε τὴν γυναῖκα καὶ κατολοφυράμενος ἀπῄει: καὶ τούτων μὲν ᾗ εἰκὸς ἐπεμελήθη ὡς τύχοιεν πάντων τῶν καλῶν, καὶ τὸ μνῆμα ὑπερμέγεθες ἐχώσθη, ὥς φασιν.

¶ 18 Leave a comment on paragraph 18 0 “Abradates and Panthea” by John Bowdler the Younger (1783-1815)

¶ 19 Leave a comment on paragraph 19 0 Abradates and Panthea: A Tale Extracted from Xenophon by William Wither Beach (1765)

¶ 20 Leave a comment on paragraph 20 0 “The Leader of the Pack” by the Shangri-Las

Page 39

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1 Comment on paragraph 1

David Carlisle October 12, 2012 at 3:19 am

οἱ μάγοι: is it significant that the magoi are once again responsible for the selection of the gods’ portion? Why are they tasked with this but not with the sacrifices before battle (which Cyrus himself performs)?

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Sarah Ferrario June 24, 2012 at 2:34 pm

Does anyone else have the scholarly reference for the connection between thigh-slapping and death in the Iliad? I cannot remember who wrote that up.

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Sarah Ferrario June 24, 2012 at 2:48 pm

The dismemberment here seems to be treated as tragic rather than profane. Dismemberment/disfigurement was a known Persian punishment: see e.g. Anabasis 1.9.13, Herodotus Histories 3.154, and W. Desmond 2004:19-40, “Punishment and the Conclusion of Herodotus’ Histories,” GRBS 44 (2004), 19-40, publicly accessible here: http://eprints.nuim.ie/1943/1/WD_Desmond.pdf. But it was also a fearsome form of suffering in the Greek world. A nice reversal of the deceased/mutilated husband motif (although I am not sure if one can do much with it here) is the story of Agamemnon; at Aeschylus Choephoroi 439-444 reference is made to his mutilation after his death.

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1 Comment on paragraph 10

David Johnson June 29, 2012 at 2:30 am

How does Pantheia’s disillusionment here reflect on Cyrus’ leadership?

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3 Comments on paragraph 11

David Johnson June 29, 2012 at 2:27 am

Does anyone else find it odd that (a) Cyrus offer Pantheia burial goods from himself, and we’re then told that its Gobryas and Gadatas who are at hand with the goods? Perhaps they are merely carrying things from Cyrus. Or that (b) Cyrus says that Abradatas’ tomb will be worthy of “us” (Cyrus). Though he does add that the sacrifices will befit a good man (presumably Abradatas).

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1. David Carlisle October 12, 2012 at 3:27 am
  
  For (b), might there be an alternate reading? I think ἡμῶν may be partitive with πολλοὶ, or, alternatively, if we keep ἡμῶν as complementary with ἀξίως, note that ἀξίως is an adverb, modifying χώσουσιν: only the way the tomb is handled is worthy “of us,” not the tomb itself.
  
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David Carlisle October 12, 2012 at 3:31 am

ἐπισφαγήσεται αὐτῷ: is this just respect for the dead, or is hero-cult implied by the blood-sacrifices? If so, is there a Persian (or Susan) tradition of hero-cult, or is Xenophon imposing a Greek practice here? And why is Abradatas the only one singled out for this treatment?

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1 Comment on paragraph 12

David Johnson June 29, 2012 at 2:28 am

What does Cyrus expect Pantheia to say in response to this question? My best guess is that he hopes she’ll end up with him–but if he does he’s in for a big surprise, isn’t he?

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0 Comments on paragraph 13

6 Comments on paragraph 14

Norman Sandridge March 11, 2012 at 3:52 am

What is the significance of the “dagger”/”scimitar” or Persian akinakes that Pantheia uses to commit suicide?

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1. Norman Sandridge March 11, 2012 at 3:56 am
  
  For illustrations and general discussion see Kuhrt 2007:533-535. Xenophon also mentions the akinakes at Cyropaedia 7.3.15 (which Pantheia’s eunuchs also use to commit suicide) and Cyropaedia 7.5.29 (which the Assyrian king uses in an attempted suicide).
  
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  1. Norman Sandridge March 11, 2012 at 4:42 am
    
    In Herodotus Histories 3.118, Intaphrenes, one of the seven co-conspirators with the Persian king, Darius, uses an akinakes to disfigure Darius’ servants when they will not grant him access. Herodotus Histories 4.62 also describes a Scythian (human) sacrifice to Ares involving an iron akinakes. The akinakes is also involved in Scythian blood oaths (Herodotus Histories 4.70). Xerxes throws an akinakes into the Hellespont (along with a golden phial and bowl) in preparation of crossing it (Herodotus Histories 7.54). He gives an akinakes to the people of Abdera as a token of friendship (Herodotus Histories 7.67). When the Spartan general, Pausanias, came upon the Persian tents after the battle of Plataea, he finds many golden akinakes (Herodotus Histories 9.80). Artayntes rushes at Masistes with an akinakes in order to kill him, but is thwarted (Herodotus Histories 9.107). In one version of the death of Darius, Plutarch reports that Artaxerxes (rather than having Darius executed) drew his akinakes in anger and struck him until he died (Plutarch Life of Artaxerxes 29). Demosthenes Against Timocrates 129 charges Glaucetes with stealing Mardonius’ akinakes while treasurer of the Acropolis. Cyrus the Younger gives Syennesis, king of the Cilicians, an akinakes (among other gifts) as tokens of royal honor (Xenophon Anabasis 1.2.27). When Cyrus the Younger dies in battle, one of his most faithful attendants, Artapates, falls on his body and (it is reported perh. by Ctesias; some say the king order him to be killed) commits suicide with the akinakes he had received from Cyrus to honor his good will and devotion (Anabasis 1.8.29). In Plato Republic 553c7 the honor-bringing gifts of the Persian king (including the akinakes) are part of a metaphor for the timocratic man’s pursuit of honor. Arrian Anabasis 6.29 says that when Alexander the Great found the body of Cyrus in his tomb in Pasargadae he was buried with a number of akinakai. It is interesting to note from all of these examples that only Xenophon treats the akinakes as a weapon of suicide (in four separate cases); perhaps this is indicative of a certain tradition of storytelling.
    
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    1. Norman Sandridge March 11, 2012 at 4:56 am
      
      For other examples of women committing suicide by the sword, cf. Medea (Euripides Medea 39–40), Dido (Vergil Aeneid 4.663–665), and Arria (Pliny the Younger Letters 3.16).
      
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2. Norman Sandridge March 13, 2012 at 2:23 pm
  
  See Miller 1995:46–8 (and Miller 1995:n76 for bibliography) for the akinakes as an artifact and spoil of war.
  
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Norman Sandridge June 24, 2012 at 3:23 am

What is the connection between this account of Cyrus’ reaction to Pantheia’s loss of Abradatas and subsequent suicide to his reaction to the death of his wife, Cassandane, in Herodotus Histories 2.1? “When Cyrus had brought his life to an end, Cambyses received the royal power in succession, being the son of Cyrus and of Cassandane the daughter of Pharnaspes, for whose death, which came about before his own, Cyrus had made great mourning himself and also had proclaimed to all those over whom he bore rule that they should make mourning for her.”

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9 Comments on paragraph 15

Norman Sandridge June 16, 2012 at 5:06 pm

How is the Pantheia and Abradatas story reflected in later works?

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1. Norman Sandridge June 16, 2012 at 5:11 pm
  
  Perry 1967:168-169 notes that the Suda mentions an epyllion by the poet Sotericus (in the time of Diocletian). See also Haight 1936:22-28 Essays on Ancient Fiction.
  
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2. David Carlisle June 25, 2012 at 2:20 am
  
  The tale is often seen as a prototype for the ancient novel (even more so than the Cyropaedia itself). But this scene in fact points out one striking difference between this tale and the five “canonical” Greek novels: they all have “happy” endings. What is it then, I wonder, about this tale that makes it seem so much like one of the novels? Is it simply that it is a love-story with a husband and wife who are passionately devoted to each other and who face great obstacles to their love?
  
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  1. Norman Sandridge June 25, 2012 at 3:38 am
    
    “Is it simply that it is a love-story with a husband and wife who are passionately devoted to each other and who face great obstacles to their love?” I would say that the story of Tigranes and the Armenian princess (in Cyropaedia 3.1) fits this definition even better and does end happily (but to my knowledge sparked no Greek novels).
    
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  2. Rob Cioffi June 25, 2012 at 11:02 pm
    
    David, that’s a very interesting question that has gotten me pondering. I have been wondering whether this narrative could be thought of as part of a wider genre of romance, which need not end happily. We might even see glimpses of such a genre in the Greek novels, which have a number of stories that serve as foils for the main plot: for instance, there is the story of “Thelxinoe and Aegialeus” in Xenophon of Ephesus 5.1.4-9, which has often been read as a kind of foil for the main narrative. By the time Habrocomes (the novel’s protagonist) meets Aegialeus, Thelxinoe has died. He has embalmed her corpse and pretends that she is still alive: “I speak to her all the time as if she were alive” (ἀεί τε ὡς ζώσῃ λαλῶ, Xenophon of Ephesus 5.1.11; see Tim Whitmarsh 2011:1-4, Narrative and Identity (Cambridge, 2011: 1-4) for an emphasis on how strange and self-deceptive Aegialeus’ treatment of his wife’s embalmed corpse is). Although it is not nearly so strange, the story of Pantheia and Abradatas might fight more readily into that paradigm – it is a ‘digressive’ story of romance that ends badly.A second issue I thought I might raise to the group: what do you make of the narrative strategy of repeated returning to their story? I need to go back and look at the Cyropaedia again to see whether there are other narratives as complex, but the narrative strategy of telling their story in several repeated chunks seems very unusual to me.
    
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3. David Carlisle June 25, 2012 at 3:29 am
  
  Bodil Due 2003:581-599, “Xenophon of Athens: The Cyropaedia,” in Schmeling, Gareth, The Novel in the Ancient World (Leiden), gives a summary (Due 2003:585n15), noting also Philostratus V.S.I 22.254, which states that Celer wrote a novel about Araspas and Pantheia under Hadrian, and Schmeling’s argument that the Liebespaar of the Ephesiaka of Xenophon of Ephesus is modeled on Pantheia and Abradatas.
  
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Jennifer Finn June 22, 2012 at 4:12 pm

Honestly, I see a lot of Alexander and Hephaistion here. Alexander’s reaction to his death was (some would say) overblown, and he even erected a monument to Hephaistion (a lion, a key symbol of Achaemenid power) at Hamadan, deep in the Persian Empire, much like Cyrus does for Pantheia here. I already spoke about the ways in which Alexander’s behavior towards Sisygambis is much like Cyrus’ is towards Pantheia, so even in this very story there is a great deal of literary mixing that makes it very rich and interesting indeed.

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1. Norman Sandridge June 22, 2012 at 8:00 pm
  
  Very interesting parallel. Do you see similar motives in Cyrus and Alexander’s decisions to honor their (beloved?) dead so grandly?
  
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  1. David Carlisle June 25, 2012 at 3:46 am
    
    It is interesting that you focus on the monument as a key element in the parallel; the Scheintod motif in the later Greek novels plays with this sort of scene, borrowing as much of its pathos as possible without actually killing the protagonists; in those instances, a massively overblown monument is sometimes constructed; see, e.g., Chariton 4.1; Xenophon Ephesius 3.7.
    
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Cyrus' Paradise