Cyrus the Great vs. the warrior queen Tomyris Many legends were spun around the life of the Persian king Cyrus the Great, including how he met his end. The Greek historian Herodotus reports a tale that he deemed "most trustworthy," of the great king's last war in the distant steppes of central Asia--how he clashed with a fearsome tribe of mounted warriors called the Massagetae, led by a queen who defied the power of the new Persian Empire.

A story adapted from the Greek historian Herodotus (Histories Book 1, 201-214), featuring: Cyrus the Great; Tomyris, Queen of the Massagetae; Croesus of Lydia; Spargaspises, son of Tomyris

Original story contributed by Alba Wolf

- - -

FREE COMMENTARY PODCASTS now available for every story on the channel! Learn more about the ancient historical and cultural context behind each Wine-Dark Sea tale. Find the full archive of videos and MP3s at: https://ko-fi.com/winedarksea/shop

Stories now available in podcast form on Spotify, Apple, and Google Podcasts!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Q4McGg...
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0...

PLAYLISTS
All tales in chronological order:    • Tales of the Wine-Dark Sea | All stor...  
Tales from Ancient Greece:    • Tales from Ancient Greece | Greek His...  
Tales from Ancient Rome:    • Tales from Ancient Rome | Roman History  
Tales from the Mediterranean World:    • Tales from the Mediterranean World  
Tales from Greek and Roman Mythology:    • Tales from Greek and Roman Mythology  

- - -

CREDITS
Video footage from Assassin's Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft, 2020)

Music from www.storyblocks.com (Vlada Balas, Humans Win, Volodymyr Piddubnyk) and DanoSongs

Thumbnail Images:
Cyrus the Great (Mohawk Games: https://mohawkgames.com/oldworld/)
Tomyris (Veysel Kara: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/EV...)

Logo Materials:
Image: Kylix with Apollo playing the lyre and pouring a libation: c. 470 BC, Delphi Archeological Museum (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...)
Video: Coast of Santorini, Greece (https://www.videvo.net/video/greece-s...) Font: Monograms Toolbox (Manfred Klein; https://www.dafont.com/monograms-tool...)

#winedarkseastories #CyrustheGreat #AncientPersia