Hystaspes (father of Darius I)

Hystaspes [ hʏstaspɛs ] (Persian گشتاسب Goschtāsb [ goʃtɔ ː sb], Wištāspa Old Persian, Babylonian Uštaspi, Elamite Mišdašba, his name means "with ungeschirrten Rossen " = " tomboy ", * in 570 BC; † 495 BC ) belonged to the tribe of the Achaemenids.

Hystaspes was the son of Arschama I.. Rhodogune He married and was the father of Darius I.

He took part in the campaign against the Massagetae of Cyrus II. Under Cambyses II, he became governor of the province of Parthia, which he remained under the rule of his son. 522/521 BC, he supported the campaign of his son Darius I against the rebellious Medes and defeated while the allied with the Medes and Parthians Hyrkanianer on the 2nd day of the Persian month Viyakhna (8 March 521 BC).

Hystaspes was often with the same rulers, the patron of the prophet Zarathustra was identified for the first time in Ammianus Marcellinus. This identification, however, is highly controversial. He is mentioned in several Puranas.

In the Shahnameh of Firdausi Hystaspes appear as an Iranian king Goschtasp. According to legend, Zoroaster was received at the court of Wištaspa, who supported the dissemination of his teachings.

Family

With the exception of Darius I Hystaspes of all the other children are known only from the Histories of Herodotus.

• Darius I, 522 BC, the Great King of the Persian Empire.
• Artabanus.
• Artaphernes.
• Artanes, father of Phratagyne.
• NN ( daughter), married to Gobryas and mother of Mardonius.