Astyages (626-550 BC) was King of Media from 585 to 550 BC, succeeding Cyaxares and preceding Cyrus the Great.
Biography[]
Astyages was the son of Cyaxares of Media, and he succeeded his father as king of the Medes in 585 BC. Astyages inherited a large Middle Eastern empire stretching from Iran to Afghanistan, as well as alliances with his brothers-in-law Croesus of Lydia (brother of Astyages' wife Aryenis) and Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon (husband of Astyages' sister Amytis). After he had a nightmare in which his daughter Mandane gave birth to a son who would destroy his empire, Astyages had his daughter married off to the harmless prince Cambyses I of Anshan. After a second nightmare, Astyages sent his general Harpagus to kill the infant Cyrus, but Harpagus was unwilling to kill a royal child and instead gave the child to a childless shepherd. Harpagus presented the stillborn shepherd's son to Astyages as the body of the slain prince, but, when Cyrus was found alive at the age of ten, Astyages was persuaded to spare the boy by the Magi. Astyages punished Harpagus by feeding him his own son at a banquet, and, in 553 BC, Harpagus persuaded Cyrus to rebel against his cruel grandfather. In the ensuing Persian Revolt, Astyages was deposed and, in spite of his cruelties, was spared and treated well under Cyrus' rule, becoming Governor of Parthia. There, he was murdered by his political rival Oebares, who had Astyages abandoned in the desert to die.