Amytis

Amytis (Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) was an Achaemenid princess, daughter of King Xerxes I and Queen Amestris, and sister of King Artaxerxes I.

Name The female name is the Latinised form of the Greek name , which hypothetically, with vowel metathesis, reflect an original Old Persian name , meaning "having good thought," equivalent to the Avestan term .

Greek sources portray Amytis as a licentious woman. According to Ctesias, during Xerxes' reign she was accused of adultery by Megabyzus. The same historian further affirms that, after her husband's death, she had a love affair with the Greek physician Apollonides of Cos, and that when the affair was discovered, Apollonides was tortured and put to death by queen mother Amestris. Dinon, another Greek historian, describes Amytis as the most beautiful and licentious woman of Asia. The most difficult challenge in using historians as Ctesias or Dinon as reliable sources is the fact that they tended to write amazing stories that would better appeal to their readers, often without much attention to historical rigor. The lack of primary sources makes it therefore impossible to have an accurate image of Amytis. Similarly, Amestris torture of the physician is considered historically doubtful.

Classical references Photius' epitome of Ctesias account: 24 , 26 , 33 , 34 , 42 -45 . Dinon, cited by Athenaeus of Naucratis: Deipnosophistae 13. 89, where her name is misspelled as Anoutis.