* Artaxerxes II was a Persian Emperor of the Achaemenid Dynasty.
* Aspasia of Phocaea was a freeborn Greek woman who was later captured and became the favored concubine of Cyrus the Younger (not Cyrus the Great). She was said to be an extraordinary beauty with wisdom to match.
* Tiridates was a eunuch in the Achaemenid court and also Artaxerxes II’s lover.
* When Cyrus the Younger (who was also the brother of Artaxerxes II) tried to usurp the Persian throne and was defeated, Aspasia became Artaxerxes II’s prize.
* Artaxerxes II incorporated Aspasia into his harem. He was also obsessed with her and favored her above his other wives.
* Meanwhile, his favorite eunuch Tiridates died, and Artaxerxes II was inconsolable.
* To get over his grief Artaxerxes II asked Aspasia to console him while dressed up in Tiridates clothes. Supposedly, she had to do this multiple times.
* It is unclear if Artaxerxes II had sex with Aspasia while she was dressed as his dead eunuch lover (he most definitely did).
* Even though the incident is bizarre, this is probably one of the tamer things to happen during the reign of Artaxerxes II. He had a long and strange reign where a lot of weird things happened in the Persian court (weirder than usual for the Achaemenid court, that is). For example, you can look up Stateira (his principal wife) and Parysatis (his mother).
LastEsotericist on
“I wonder how she’d look dressed as my favorite femboy” is such a Greek thing I’m surprised he’s Persian.
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**A bit of context to this historical anecdote:**
* Artaxerxes II was a Persian Emperor of the Achaemenid Dynasty.
* Aspasia of Phocaea was a freeborn Greek woman who was later captured and became the favored concubine of Cyrus the Younger (not Cyrus the Great). She was said to be an extraordinary beauty with wisdom to match.
* Tiridates was a eunuch in the Achaemenid court and also Artaxerxes II’s lover.
* When Cyrus the Younger (who was also the brother of Artaxerxes II) tried to usurp the Persian throne and was defeated, Aspasia became Artaxerxes II’s prize.
* Artaxerxes II incorporated Aspasia into his harem. He was also obsessed with her and favored her above his other wives.
* Meanwhile, his favorite eunuch Tiridates died, and Artaxerxes II was inconsolable.
* To get over his grief Artaxerxes II asked Aspasia to console him while dressed up in Tiridates clothes. Supposedly, she had to do this multiple times.
* It is unclear if Artaxerxes II had sex with Aspasia while she was dressed as his dead eunuch lover (he most definitely did).
* Even though the incident is bizarre, this is probably one of the tamer things to happen during the reign of Artaxerxes II. He had a long and strange reign where a lot of weird things happened in the Persian court (weirder than usual for the Achaemenid court, that is). For example, you can look up Stateira (his principal wife) and Parysatis (his mother).
“I wonder how she’d look dressed as my favorite femboy” is such a Greek thing I’m surprised he’s Persian.