Cyrus the Great (559-530 B.C.E.) was a towering figure in the history of mankind. As the founder of the Persian Empire, he was the first world leader to be referred to as "The Great". Cyrus founded the first world empire - and the second Iranian dynastic empire (the Achaemenids) - after defeating the Median dynasty and uniting the Medes with the other major Iranian tribe, the Persians (Cyrusthegreat.com). Cyrus was born the son of Persian and Median parents. Cyrus’ father Cambyses was Anshan (Persian) king; His mother, Mandane, was the daughter of the last Median king, Astyages. Legend has it that when Cyrus was just an infant Astyages ordered him to be killed, to eliminate him as a future threat (McKay p.50). The infant was given to Astyages’ loyal follower, Harpagus, to be killed. …show more content…
In The Heritage of Persia, author Richard N. Frye says the wife's name (Spako) means dog in the Median language, and suggests that this is a copying of the birth legend of Romulus and Remus who were suckled by a close relative of a dog -- a wolf, or a woman referred to as a wolf (a prostitute). Mitridates left the already-dead baby as if he had been exposed and kept the newborn prince. Eventually, when Cyrus was 10, the truth came out; Harpagus was punished with the presentation of his son as the main course at Astyages' feast. (Gill