Xerxes I of Persia

] , foretelling his invasion of Greece. The reference to "Darius the son of Ahasuerus" in ", in turn corresponding to Babylonian " _ak. Aḫšiyaršu".All of these names originate with Old Persian " _pe. Xšayāršā".

In the Book of Esther

For these same reasons and due to the historical context of the text, it is also commonly understood and translated that Esther's husband Ahasuerus is Xerxes the Great. [New International Version, The Message, Amplified Bible, New Living Translation, Contemporary English Version, New King James Version, New Century Version, New International Reader's Version, Today's New International Version, etc.] But the Greek Septuagint version of the Hebrew Bible identifies Esther's husband as Artaxerxes I (Longimanus), rather than Xerxes himself, ["Septuagint"; Esther 1:1,2,9...etc.; 2003 Hendrickson Publishers, ed. by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton; ISBN 0-913573-44-2] as does the Judeo-Roman historian Josephus. [Josephus, "Antiquities of the Jews" Book 11, Chap. 6, sec. 2; Whiston, William; "The Complete Works of Josephus"; Hendrickson Publishers, 1987; ISBN 0-913573-86-8.] Yet it is now thought that the translators of this portion of the Septuagint simply mistook Xerxes the Great for Artaxerxes I (Longimanus). [Sir Godfrey Driver, [http://www.bible-researcher.com/driver1.html Introduction to the Old Testament of the New English Bible] (1970)] [Wikipedia, "Septuagint, Creation of the Septiagint", 5 October 2008]

Children

By queen Amestris
*Amytis, wife of Megabyzus
*Artaxerxes I
*Darius, the first born, murdered by Artaxerxes and Artabanus.
*Hystaspes, murdered by Artaxerxes.
*RodogyneBy unknown wives
*Artarius, satrap of Babylon.
*Ratashah [M. Brosius, "Women in ancient Persia".]

Cultural influence

* "The Persians", an Athenian tragedy written by Aeschylus in 472 BCE

* Baroque operas set to Nicolò Minato's libretto on the life of Xerxes I, derived from the Histories of Herodotus and subsequently adapted by Silvio Stampiglia and others:
**"Xerse" (1654), by Francesco Cavalli
** "Xerse" (1694), by Giovanni Battista Bononcini
** "Serse" (1738), by George Frideric Handel

ee also

* "Ahasuerus"

References

Further reading

* Herodotus, "The Persian Wars". Translated by George Rawlinson, Introduction by Francis R.B. Godolphin (1942 edition)
*A.T. Olmstead, 1948. "History of the Persian Empire" (University of Chicago Press) pp. 214ff.
*P. Briant, 2002. "From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire".
* Farrokh, Kaveh (2007). "Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War". Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1846031087.