Қызыл теңіздің патшайымы Артемисия I

Ancient Greek queen of the 5th century BC

Artemisia I of Caria (Ἀρτεμισία; fl. 480 BC) was a queen of the ancient Greek city state of Halicarnassus, which is now in Bodrum, present day Turkey. She was also queen of the nearby islands of Kos, Nisyros and Kalymnos, within the Achaemenid satrapy of Caria, in about 480 BC. She fought as an ally of Xerxes I, King of Persia against the independent Greek city states during the second Persian invasion of Greece. She personally commanded her contribution of five ships at the naval battle of Artemisium and at the naval Battle of Salamis in 480 BC. She is mostly known through the writings of Herodotus, himself a native of Halicarnassus, who praises her courage and relates the respect in which she was held by Xerxes.

Artemisia's father was the satrap of Halicarnassus, Lygdamis I (Λύγδαμις Α') and her mother was from the island of Crete. She took the throne after the death of her husband, as she had a son, named Pisindelis (Πισίνδηλις), who was still a youth. Artemisia's grandson, Lygdamis II (Λύγδαμις Β'), was the satrap of Halicarnassus when Herodotus was exiled from there and the poet Panyasis (Πανύασις) was sentenced to death, after the unsuccessful uprising against him. The name Artemisia is derived from Artemis (n, f.; Roman equivalent: Diana), itself of unknown origin and etymology Anton Goebel "suggests the root στρατ or ῥατ, "to shake," and makes Artemis mean the thrower of the dart or the shooter"; Babiniotis while accepting that the etymology is unknown, states that the name is already attested in Mycenean Greek and is possibly of Pre Greek origin.

Xerxes was induced by the message of Themistocles to attack the Greek fleet under unfavourable conditions, rather than sending a part of his ships to the Peloponnesus and awaiting the dissolution of the Greek armies. Artemisia was the only one of Xerxes' naval commanders to advise against the action, then went on to earn her king's praise for her leadership in action during his fleet's defeat by the Greeks at the Battle of Salamis (September, 480 BC).

Plutarch, in his work Parallel Lives ( Βίοι Παράλληλοι) at the part which mentions Themistocles, says that it was Artemisia who recognised the body of Ariamenes (Ἀριαμένης) (Herodotus says that his name was Ariabignes), brother of Xerxes and admiral of the Persian navy, floating amongst the shipwrecks, and brought the body back to Xerxes.

After the battle, according to Polyaenus, Xerxes acknowledged her to have excelled above all the officers in the fleet and sent her a complete suit of Greek armour; he also presented the captain of her ship with a distaff and spindle. According to Herodotus, after the defeat, Xerxes presented Artemisia with two possible courses of action and asked her which she recommended. Either he would lead troops to the Peloponnese himself, or he would withdraw from Greece and leave his general Mardonius in charge. Artemisia suggested to him that he should retreat back to Asia Minor and she advocated the plan suggested by Mardonius, who requested 300,000 Persian soldiers with which he would defeat the Greeks in Xerxes' absence. According to Herodotus she replied: "I think that you should retire and leave Mardonius behind with those whom he desires to have. If he succeeds, the honour will be yours because your slaves performed it. If on the other hand, he fails, it would be no great matter as you would be safe and no danger threatens anything that concerns your house. And while you will be safe the Greeks will have to pass through many difficulties for their own existence. In addition, if Mardonius were to suffer a disaster who would care? He is just your slave and the Greeks will have but a poor triumph. As for yourself, you will be going home with the object for your campaign accomplished, for you have burnt Athens." Xerxes followed her advice, leaving Mardonius to conduct the war in Greece. He sent her to Ephesus to take care of his illegitimate sons. On the other hand, Plutarch mocks Herodotus' writing, since he thinks that Xerxes would have brought women with him from Susa, in case his son needed female attendants. Justin in the History of the World mentioned that she "was fighting with the greatest gallantry among the foremost leaders; so that you might have seen womanish fear in a man, and manly boldness in a woman." On the other hand, Thessalus, a son of Hippocrates, described her in a speech as a cowardly pirate. In his speech, Thessalus said that the King of Persia demanded earth and water from the Coans in 493 BC but they refused, so he gave the island to Artemisia to be wasted. Artemisia led a fleet of ships to the island of Cos to slaughter the Coans, but the gods intervened. After Artemisia's ships were destroyed by lightning and she hallucinated visions of great heroes, she fled Cos. However, she later conquered the island.

A legend, quoted by Photius, some 13 centuries later, claims that Artemisia fell in love with a man from Abydos (Ἄβῡδος), named Dardanus (Δάρδανος), and when he ignored her, she blinded him while he was sleeping, but her love for him increased. An oracle told her to jump from the top of the rock of Leucas, but she was killed after she jumped from the rock and buried near the spot. Those who leapt from this rock were said to be cured from the passion of love. According to a legend, Sappho killed herself jumping from these cliffs too, because she was in love with Phaon. Aristophanes mentioned Artemisia in his works Lysistrata and Thesmophoriazusae. Pausanias, in the third book of his work Description of Greece (Ἑλλάδος Περιήγησις), entitled Laconia (Λακωνικά) mentioned that in the marketplace of Sparta the most striking monument was the portico which they called Persian (στοὰ Περσικὴν), because it was made from spoils taken in the Persian wars. Over time, the Spartans altered it until it became very large and splendid. On the pillars were white marble figures of Persians, including Mardonius. There was also a figure of Artemisia. Also, the encyclopedia called the Suda mentioned Artemisia. Artemisia was succeeded by her son Pisindelis, who became the new tyrant of Caria. He would himself later be succeeded by his son Lygdamis. This destroyer was the largest ship in the Iranian Navy. The previous name of the Greek ferryboat, Panagia Skiadeni, was Artemisia (ex Star A, Orient Star and Ferry Tachibana). In the municipality of Nea Alikarnassos in Crete there is a cultural association founded in 1979 named "Artemisia", after Queen Artemisia. In the 1962 film, The 300 Spartans, Artemisia is portrayed by Anne Wakefield. Artemisia appears in Gore Vidal's 1981 (and 2002 release) historical novel Creation. In Vidal's depiction, she had a long relationship with the Persian general Mardonius, who at some
periods lived in Halicarnassus and acted unofficially as her consort – but that she refused to marry him, determined to preserve her independence. In the 2014 film, 300: Rise of an Empire, Artemisia is featured as commander of the invading navy that the Greeks must fight, and serves as the main antagonist. She is portrayed by Eva Green. Artemisia appears a playable character in the Mobile/PC Game Rise of Kingdoms.

Herodotus, The Histories, trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt, Penguin Books, 1954. Vitruvius, De architectura ii,8.10–11, 14–15
Pliny the Elder, Naturalis historia xxxvi.4.30–31
Orosius, Historiae adversus paganos ii.10.1–3
Valerius Maximus, Factorum et dictorum memorabilium iv.6, ext. I
Justinus, Epitome Historiarum philippicarum Pompei Trogi ii.12.23–24

Nancy Demand, A History of Ancient Greece. Boston: McGraw Hill, 1996.