Who Did Xerxes Marry? Find Information About His Wives. What Children Did He Have?
From the few sources available it would appear that Xerxes had three consecutive wives, Vashti, Ester, and Amestris.
Vashti appears to have been the first wife of Xerxes. She was described as being a very beautiful woman, and this could have possibly been her downfall. It is believed that Xerxes gave a huge banquet, and on the one hundred and eightieth day of celebrations, he summoned Vashti, as he wanted to show her off to his guests. When Vashti received this message she refused, leaving Xerxes incredibly angry. He later sent out a decree, which stated, ‘Vashti is never again to enter the presence of king Xerxes’ (Esther 1:19). After this Xerxes called on all the beautiful young virgins that live within his empire to come and stand before him, from this group of young women he choses one, Esther, the bible stating that, ‘the king loved Esther above all the women’ (Esther 2:1 – 16).
Esther was a Jewish women, whose ‘real name was Hadas’sah’ (
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther) but after entering the royal harem assumed the name of Esther, which she became known as thereafter. She under the guidance of her cousin Mordecai kept her Jewish ancestry hidden for Xerxes. Esther appears in the Bible as a, ‘women of deep piety, faith, courage, patriotism and caution, combined with resolution; a dutiful daughter...[who] obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked’ (
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther). Xerxes through the guidance of Haman, gave power and authority to Harman to kill and extirpate, all Jewish people within the Persian Empire. Mordecai advised Esther of what was happening and begged her to confront the king, Esther goes to Xerxes saying, ‘I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish’ (Esther 4:16). Her actions are considered to have been what saved the Jewish people of the Persian Empire, and Haman was hanged. There are no official sources detailing how, when, or where she died, and thus can only be assumed it was of natural causes.
Amestris was Xerxes third wife, and probably the most loathed and feared of them all. Amestris was the Daughter of Octanes and one of Darius’s sisters. Herodotus describes her as a cruel despot: ‘Burring people alive is a Persian custom; I understand that Xerxes wife Amestris in her old age did it to fourteen Persian boys of distinguished family, by way of a present which she hoped the supposed god of the under world would accept instead of herself’ (Herodotus, the histories, 7, 114). According to Herodotus, Amestris was a very jealous woman, and when Xerxes returned from the Greek wars he fell in love with the wife of one of Darius’s sons, Artaynte. In return for her favours she demanded a special cloak that Amestris had made for Xerxes. When Amestris saw Artaynte in the clock she knew what was going on and ordered Artaynte’s mother be mutilated. According to Herodotus ‘Amestris sent for the soldiers of the royal bodyguard and had Masistes wife (Artaynte’s mother) horribly mutilated. Her breasts, nose, ears, and lips were cut off and thrown to the dogs; and her tongue was torn out, and in this dreadful condition she was sent home’ (Herodotus, the histories, 9, 108 – 11). Amestris remained influential after the death of Xerxes, during the reign of her son Artaxerxes, Egyptian rebels killed another of her sons. According to the Greek historian Ctesias (not known for his reliability) Amestris was enraged because no one had punished the murders of her son, initially Artaxerxes did not allow Amestris revenge, but after waiting five years, she was permitted to crucify the Egyptian leader, Inarus, and kill several captives. It is believed that Amestris may have lived as late as 440BC (
www.livius.org/am-ao/amestris/amestris.htm). Amestris appears to be the only wife that gave Xerxes any children, their names being, Artaxerxes, Dareios, Hystaspes, Artarios, Tithraustes, Rodogune, and Dareiaia (www,american-pictures.com/genealogy/persons/per00534.htm)
Information regarding the wives of Xerxes is very vague. Most of the information that does concern them is found in the Book of Esther, which is considered by many as ‘more [of] a religious calling to celebrate the Purim feast that a historical document’ (
www.look.no/anita/slekt/webcards/ps34_362.htm), so careful consideration is needed, in accessing the truefullness of it all.
