Rhodogune

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article (or section) may need to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article, especially its section layout, and relevant internal links. (help)
This article has been tagged since October 2006.

Rhodogune was daughter of Arsaces VI (Mithridates I), king of Parthia (c. 171 BCE-138 BCE); sister of Phraates II (ruled 138 BCE-127 BCE); married c. 138 BCE to Seleucid king Demetrius II Nicator (ruled 146-139 BCE, 129-126 BCE), temporarily a hostage in the Parthian court after an ill-fated campaign, and husband already (since 147 BCE) to Cleopatra Thea, daughter of king Ptolemy VI Philometor of Egypt; lived in Hyrcania with Demetrius for seven years, and with him had two or more children; was persumably abandoned in 131 BCE when Demetrius, after numerous failed attempts to escape from Parthia, was dispatched back to Antioch during the invasion of Parthia by Demetrius' brother, Antiochus VII Sidetes.

Variously: daughter of Xerxes, king of Persia; daughter of King Darius, who killed her nurse for urging her to remarry; daughter of Artaxerxes II, king of Persia, and wife of Orontes I (Aroandes); daughter of Phraates II; Persian warrior maiden; wife of Darius I (ruled 521-486); wife of Hystaspes of Parthia; mother of Darius and Hystapes; wife of King Mithradates; eldest daughter of Darius; and character of "tempestuous dignity" (Dr. Johnson) in the 1708 tragic play The Royal Convert by British playwright Nicholas Rowe (1673-1692).

When informed of a revolt while preparing for her bath, she vowed not to bathe or brush her hair until the revolt was ended. She immediately went to her horse and rode out to the head of her army. She directed a long war and won it, and was depicted with long, disheveled hair because of her adherence to her vow.