In the
Behistun inscription (
c. 520 BC),
Darius I portrays Achaemenes as the father of
Teispes, ancestor of
Cyrus II (Cyrus the Great) and
Darius I. Many scholars believe he was a ruler of
Parsumash, a vassal state of the
Median Empire, and that from there he led armies against the
Assyrian king
Sennacherib at the
Battle of Halule in 681 BC.
Behistun inscription It may be that the
Behistun inscription's claim of descent from Achaemenes was an invention of Darius I, in order to justify the latter's seizure of the throne. Cyrus II does not mention Achaemenes at all in the detailed genealogy given in the
Cyrus cylinder. As such, Achaemenes could be a retrograde creation of Darius the Great, made in order to legitimize a dynastic relationship to Cyrus the Great. Darius certainly had much to gain in having an ancestor shared by Cyrus and himself, and may have felt the need for a stronger connection than that provided by his subsequent marriage to Cyrus' daughter
Atossa.
Greek writers The Greek writers of antiquity preserve several legends surrounding the figure: The Pseudo-Platonic dialogue
First Alcibiades (120e), written in the late 4th-century BC, portrays Achaemenes as the hero-founder of the Persái in the same way that the Greeks are descended from
Heracles, and that both Achaemenes and Hercules were descendants of
Perseus, son of
Zeus. Another version of the tale makes Achaemenes the son of
Aegeus, yet another founder-hero of legend. The 3rd-century
Aelianus (
De nat. anim. 12.21) says Achaemenes was bred by an eagle. ==See also==