Weaving the narrative and shaping power: An assessment of Achaemenid royal women through Ctesias of Cnidus and the Persica

Garcia Espinosa, Ana 2025. Weaving the narrative and shaping power: An assessment of Achaemenid royal women through Ctesias of Cnidus and the Persica. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

This thesis focuses on the use of soft power and the influence of Achaemenid royal women through the Persica, written by Ctesias of Cnidus, who worked as a physician for the royal family at the Persian court. This project provides new insights into the different types of power and influence that Achaemenid royal women had, and how they were able to shape the accounts of their heritage, culture, and the legitimacy of their families. It examines how traditional views of what power is rely on ideals of masculinity that miss numerous other dimensions of power connected to women’s influence, roles, and agency. This research also offers a new perspective on the Persica’s value as a historical source and addresses Ctesias’ work in the context of Greek literature and the crucial influence of Iranian culture and heritage in his Persica. It employs a wide range of material evidence and literary sources of ancient Greece and the Near East to assess the information provided by the Persica, applying gender studies, critical race theory, and reception studies. This PhD thesis demonstrates that Achaemenid royal women were able to transmit their own perspective and influence the discourse linked to their dynasties; they had a crucial role and control over the matters of the palace, working and overseeing their dynasty’s survival; they shaped the events of their time, intervened in political matters, mediated between different family branches during internal conflict, or sided with one contender, having a role in war; and, despite their apparent lack of agency and direct intervention in these matters, they had power. In sum, it concludes that Ctesias’ Persica has value as a source for historical research and that its representation of the role and influence of Achaemenid royal women is not a stereotype.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D051 Ancient History D History General and Old World > DF Greece D History General and Old World > DS Asia
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	1 October 2025
Date of Acceptance:	22 September 2025
Last Modified:	03 Oct 2025 16:05
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/181426

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