Sisygambis

The family of Darius in front of Alexander, by Charles le Brun. Sisygambis (in yellow) kneels before the king

Sisygambis (; died 323 BCE) was the mother of Darius III of Persia, whose reign was ended during the wars of Alexander the Great. After she was captured by Alexander at the Battle of Issus, she became devoted to him, and Alexander referred to her as "mother".

Early life She may have been the daughter of King Artaxerxes II Mnemon, or possibly of his brother Ostanes. If the latter, she married her own brother Arsames (an ancient Achaemenid tradition). Another possibility is that she was the daughter of an Uxian leader. She gave birth to Darius, Oxyathres, and possibly also Stateira I.

At the Battle of Gaugamela, Sisygambis and her family were kept within the baggage train behind Alexander's army. When the Persian army's Scythian cavalry broke through Alexander's forces to reach them, she allegedly refused to celebrate what appeared at first to be Persian victory.

Under Alexander She was left at Susa with tutors to teach her and her family Greek, while Alexander pursued his conquests towards India. On his return in 324 BCE, he married Sisygambis's granddaughter, Stateira II, an event which was the centrepiece of the Susa weddings,

Within about a year of the wedding, however, both Hephaestion and Alexander had suddenly died eight months apart. On hearing of the latter's death, Sisygambis, overwhelmed with pain and despairing of the fate that loomed over her family, had herself sealed into her rooms and refused to eat. She is said to have died of grief and starvation four days later.

Asteroid 823 Sisigambis is named after her.