Atossa

Atossa or Atoosa (from Old Persian *Utauθa, and Avestan Hutaosā) was an Achaemenid queen and daughter of Cyrus the Great and his wife, Cassdine. She lived from 550 BC to 475 BC and probably was a sister (or half-sister) of the Persian king Cambyses II.

Atossa married Darius I during 522 BC after he, with the help of the nobleman Otanes, defeated the followers of a man claiming to be Bardiya (Smerdis), the younger brother of Cambyses II.

Herodotus records in The Histories that Atossa was troubled by a bleeding lump in her breast. She wrapped herself in sheets and sought a self-imposed quarantine. Ultimately, a Greek slave, Democedes, persuaded her to allow him to excise the tumor.

Xerxes I was the eldest son of Atossa and Darius. Atossa lived to see Xerxes invade Greece. Being a direct descendent of Cyrus the Great, Atossa had a great authority within Achamenian royal house and court. Atossa's special position enabled Xerxes, who was not the eldest son of Darius, to succeed his father.