Cyrus of Persia (Episode 5)

Cyrus of Persia was half Median, which is not to say that he was half average, but rather that half his lineage was traceable to the Medes through his mother, the princess Μανδάνη. Still the story of Cyrus comes to us largely in two halves, the History of Herodotus of Halicarnassus and the biblical accounts of the exilic and post-exilic periods: 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Isaiah, and Daniel. His role in the cosmic restoration of the human family, the history of salvation, is an affirmation of secondary agents, the instrumental use of human weakness to reveal divine strength.

Cyrus was born the to princess Μανδάνη of the Medes and his father Καμβύσης, of the Persians; however Cyrus’s maternal grandfather, King Ἀστυάγης, troubled by a series of dreams that his daughter’s child will rule over him, has the infant separated from his mother at birth, arranging for Cyrus to be killed. In a situation which appears to mirror the planned exposure and death of an famous, royal infant Thebian, the servant selected to enact the heinous deed Ἅρπαγος, does not protest the king’s command directly but fearful of vengeance once the king is succeeded resolves at last to delegate the matter to yet another subordinate, Μιτραδάτης, a cowherd, whose wife had the Persian name “Spaca” but who was known as Κυνὼ, for “Spaca” in Persian means female dog, which in Greek is κύνα.

This last point seems to be a special fixation of Herodotus as he later remarks in his account of Cyrus of a rumor which had developed that Cyrus was saved from his exposure as a child by a female dog, a proto-Romulus and Remus upbringing. Given the life of adversities overcome and relentless military victories, it is quite possible that the phrase “son of a female dog” originated with this Cyrus.

Returning to Herodotus’s account, Μιτραδάτης is convinced by Κυνὼ, his wife,  to swap the stillborn son that she had just delivered in his absence with the young prince and raise Cyrus as their own. Their natural son would get a royal burial, and they would benefit from the blessings of their new son. This all worked well for ten years, until Cyrus played the game of kings with the other boys in his village and was chosen to rule them all as the eponymous king. The son of a noble man was among those playing, and he became insolent as noble boys are often wont to do. Cyrus, the putative cowherd’s son, has the noble boy swiftly beaten. This outrage reaches the attention of King Ἀστυάγης, who interrogates Cyrus and immediately recognizes the family countenance and royal manner of comportment. 

The deception of the servants is uncovered. King Ἀστυάγης is able to reconcile with his daughter, who was not a little put off by her father killing her child immediately after birth. The servant Ἅρπαγος is repaid for his deception by being tricked into eating the flesh of his son, whom the king has murdered. This rather gruesome episode sets the stage for a vengeful Ἅρπαγος to counsel and assist in Cyrus’s overthrow of his grandfather and in so doing, fulfill the dream that so obsessed the wicked king in the first place.

What are we to make of this Persian King, indeed, Persian Emperor by the time he arrives to set the Jewish exiles free in Babylon? It is likely that Cyrus more than any other historical antecedent influenced the minds of Jewish Zealots in the first century A.D. Even the Maccabean revolt had limited success.  What Cyrus accomplished from outside God’s chosen people, the Messiah, it was believed, would accomplish perfectly but this time from within. Viewed from this perspective, Cyrus was a source of great confusion to some Jews at the arrival of Jesus Christ, and yet there is something more to him in this context, something connected to his name. 

Herodotus wrote in Ionic Greek, a dialect or form of the language which varies from the Attic Greek of Athens, largely in the length, selection, and graphical location of vowels, and so Cyrus’s name “Κῦρος” can, without much squinting and mental gymnastics arrive at the Attic “κοῦρος”, or the Epic and Ionic “κόρος”, which both mean “boy,” “lad,” or “son.” While Cyrus is not the only ancient ruler in Herodotus’s work to receive a melodramatic vignette of his rule, Cyrus’s story is uncharacteristically focused on his childhood, his early vulnerability amid obscurity. The blood lust of King Ἀστυάγης for the sake of his continued power is rivaled in our minds only by King Herod and the slaughtering of innocents.

Furthermore, this boy Cyrus who became a  king, so impressed his personal character upon the office, that “κῦρος” came to mean “power” and “authority.” The adjectival form “κύριος,” took on the substantive meaning “master” or “lord,” similar to how the Roman surname Caesar became associated with the office of emperor long after the Julio-Claudians.  The story of Cyrus, indeed, the historical person of Cyrus reminds us that powerful kings were once powerless boys, and more importantly we are reminded of the grand exception to this rule upon rulers that power arises from impotence. There is that one King, eternally begotten, who freely chose to enter our history as a boy of lowly means under the care of a foster-father, sought out for death by the order of a wicked tyrant, a boy who becoming man was not tricked into being sacrificed but laid down His life and offers his flesh as heaven sent food. That King of Kings, that κύριος κυρίων, set all the captives free.

Κύριε ελέησον, Χριστέ ελέησον, Κύριε ελέησον.