III THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INSIGNIFICANT Cyrus' youth in nOA.A.alCl 'Yap yvIDfl.T]V esaltatWa' iIlEal, 'for often outward appearances deceive the mind', Theognis 128

In this chapter, I shall take a look at the way Herodotus presents the early days of the first Persian king, CyruS63. I have chosen this episode (1.107- 130) because in it we find the two aspects of the insignificant, as delineated in my Introduction, most clearly expressed in one story. The story exemplifies the use made of irrelevant people in Herodotus. In his influential article Learning through suffering?, H.-P. Stahl called this episode 'a sort of parenthesis or even postscript' with regard to the theme of human instability, by comparison with the immediately preceding story of ' fall in which that theme is paramount. Stahl states that 'for the conti• nuity of[the theme of the general instability of human conditions] Cyrus' early years are not of interest'64. I hope to make it clear that this contention is quite mistaken, and that this episode is rather a continuation of the theme indicated than a suspension or interruption of it.

J lhe literary junction of 'insignificant' characters

Contrasting purposes The first part of the story we are about to discuss (1.107-116) revolves around the fate of baby Cyrus. The story runs as follows. King has two dreams65 which according to his soothsayers contain the intimation that a grandson is to succeed him to the throne. The king decides to have the baby

63 The story is treated by Evans 1991, 51-6; Von Fritz 1967, 285-90; Immerwahr 1966, 161- 7; Long 1987, 126-176; K. Reinhardt, Herodots Persergeschichten, in Marg 1982, 332-41; Waters 1971, 49-50. I have not been able to consult the article of David Konstan, The stories in Herodotus' : Book I, Hellos 10 (1983), 1-22. But for Gray 1995 (sec note 134), Mitradatcs and Cyno have virtually remained without scholarly attention. We hear that the story is a rationalisation of a story about Cyrus being raised by a biteh (Evans, Immerwahr, Reinhardt) and that Cyno 'shows a life-nurturing cleverness' (Lateiner 1989, 137).

64 Stahl 1975, 20. Stahl states (1-3) that in Herodotus two themes are pervasive: the first is 'the long fight between Greeks and non-Greeks, including the question of war guilt', the second 'the general instability of human conditions', a theme not mentioned in the 'Homeric' proem, but in 1.5.4. He says theme 1 'influences the order offacts as recorded', theme 2 'concerns the meaning of the facts recorded' (2).

65 Fehling 1971, 143 mistakenly states that the two dreams are dreamt by Mandane. Frisch 1968, 10 sees the repetition of the dream as 'ein bellebtes Mittel, die Bedeutung von Trauminhalten zu steigern und ihren Wahrheitsgehalt zu bekraftigen'. On dreams in Hero• dotus, see Frisch 1968 (Astyages' dreams pp. 6-11); on dreams in general Kessels 1978; van Lieshout 1980. 24 The significance ofthe insignificant: Cyrus' youth killed: he orders his vizier Harpagus to take the matter in hand and to do so all by himself Harpagus, however, has reasons of his own not to comply; he or• ders Astyages' cowherd Mitradates to do away with the child. When Mitra• dates takes the baby home, it turns out that his wife Cyno has just given birth to a stillborn child. At the instigation of Cyno, the dead baby is exchanged for the living one. When Mitradates after three days tells Harpagus the order has been effected, the vizier sends highly trusted servants to verify the message; he finds nothing irregular and buries the body. In this way the stratagem of the cowherd and his wife succeeds and Cyrus survives. In this story the 'insignificant', of course, is represented by the cow• herd Mitradates and his wife Cyno66, who are explicitly called 'slaves' (1.110.1), and the' significant' by the king and Harpagus. The most conspicu• ous contrast between these people is that the king and Harpagus are willing to sacrifice the baby, whereas Cyno and her husband are not. This unwillingness is crucial to the story, for there would have been no Cyrus if it had not existed. Now what exactly causes this difference of purpose? In the case of Astyages, motivation is clear enough: the baby will have to die consequent upon the prediction, as is explicitly stated in 1.108.2: Ot ovetp01tOA.ot Eait~atVOv, On ~Uot 0 tile; 9tYya-rpOc; amaU rowe; ~OOEtv Ilvn E1re1.VOU. Tama Oit cOy

66 The role played by 'insignificant' people has been investigated for the Iliad by G. Stras• burger, Die kleinen Kampfer der Ilias, Frankfurt 1954. The part played by these people, their raison d'etre in this story as in Herodotus in general, has to my knowledge not yet been investigated. For example, Gould 1989, 32, a brilliant study, ignores them; lmmerwahr 1966, 161-7, treats the etymology of the names in the story, but ignores the important ety• mology of Cyno's name; he calls Cyrus, Astyages and Harpagus 'the thrce main characters of the story', and calls Mitradates (whose name he does not mention) 'a shepherd' instead of a cowherd. Long's calling the cowherd Mithradates evinces the same negligence. Reinhardt, in: Marg 337-8, calls the story's theme 'die Entartung ciner Norm .. : sie ist die Treue, das Verhiiltnis gegenscitiger Vcrpflichtung zwisehen Konig und Vasal!'; not a word of Cyno and Mitradates. 'Breach of confidence' is not in itself the main theme here, I think; it is rathcr subsidiary to the wider idea, that nothing, least of all reliability, can be taken for granted.

67 As Golden 1990, 136-9 points out, great value was placed on having grandchildren. Golden adduces numerous examples, both of utilitarian motives (the grandson taking the place of a son, 137), and of emotional attachment. In Herodotus, there is one example of a grandfather and grandsons, and it fully corroborates Golden's observations. I am referring to 3.50.2, where Procles receives his grandsons heartily, 'as was to be expected, conSidering they were his daughter's sons' (roc; oiiCO<; flv 6vra1plx; E6~ Tfj; wvrov =f~. The parallel with the case of Astyages and Cyrus is rather close, since the grandfather is in both cases 'the mother's father' (Jl.1ftPOlIix'tOlp, 3.50.2,51.1 and 1.75.1). In view of this evidence, it is clear that in Greek eyes, too, Astyages' behaviour is the opposite of the conduct consid• ered normal - which makes his motive look all the more compelling.