The Achaemenid kings ruled Persia from the 6th to the 4th centuries BCE, and much of what we know about them comes from Greek sources. Greek authors often depicted the Persians as decadent and fickle, ruled by a lineage of so-called great kings, contrasting Persian culture with the austerity of Athens and Sparta. Stories of Persian kings found in Greek philosophical, historical, and theatrical works mix firsthand observations with a large dose of fiction and fantasy. The Greeks felt threatened by the power of Persia, and this rivalry shaped the writings of Greek thinkers. The Persian wars opposed the two peoples for half a century, from 499 to 449 BCE, and the Greeks struggled to keep Persian power in check. The Greek portrayal of Persian kings was that of a stereotype of barbarian leaders from a foreign world where violence and cruelty reigned. However, one king deviates from this rule: Cyrus II, also known as Cyrus the Great. Greek sources present a different view of his reign, which saw the creation of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. The lands over which he ruled stretched from Asia Minor to the Indus Valley, the largest empire of his time. Cyrus the Great managed to conquer the entire great states of the Near East, except for Egypt, in barely eleven years, from 550 to 539 BCE. He began by defeating the Medes, in the Northwest of present-day Iran, then the kingdom of Lydia ruled by Croesus in modern-day Turkey, before turning to the Babylonian Empire of Mesopotamia. Under Cyrus's rule, the Persian Empire held hegemonic power in the East. Although he began his reign as a vassal of the Median Empire, against which he eventually rose, Cyrus was a valiant and effective warrior. However, he marked history as a humane leader and liberator, respectful of the customs, laws, and religions of the peoples he conquered. The ancient world praised this aspect of his reign, which also contributed to the portrait drawn of him over the centuries. Cyrus, father of the Achaemenid Empire, appears in Greek writings as an exemplary leader and a merciful king, a portrait supported by Babylonian and Hebrew sources. In the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus, whom he wrote a century after Cyrus's death, the king is described as kind, brave, and close to his soldiers. Herodotus provides one of the most complete accounts of Cyrus's origins, even though he sometimes falls into clearly legendary elements. He writes that Astyages, the last king of Media and grandfather of Cyrus, saw in a dream the taking of his throne by his grandson. Before the emergence of the Achaemenid Empire, Persia had been under the control of Media for many years, it was its vassal. In order to prevent his grandson Cyrus, who was still a baby at the time, from becoming a threat to his reign, King Astyages ordered his general to kill the child. However, he did not do so, moved by pity for the baby, and secretly entrusted him to the care of a humble family of shepherds. As the young Cyrus experienced the vicissitudes of his youth, his boldness and leadership qualities made him stand out. This inevitably led Astyages to discover his true identity. Later, a conflict between the Persians, led by Cyrus, and the Medes, led by Astyages, emerged and the Persians came out victorious. Herodotus describes the need that Cyrus had to gain the trust of his soldiers after deciding to rebel against the Medes. He then entrusted them with a task: to spend the day weeding a field of thistles. The next day, they returned and found a feast waiting for them. Once they had eaten, Cyrus asked them what they preferred: to remain slaves to the Medes and perform their menial tasks, such as getting rid of the thistles, or to rid themselves of their yoke, gain their freedom, and live in the abundance of their own empire. This episode gives an insight into the talents that Cyrus had for motivating his troops, preparing them for war; a factor that was decisive for his conquests. Herodotus writes that the Persians appreciated Cyrus so much that they considered him a paternal figure. An assertion supported by Plutarch, another Greek historian: "The Persians love aquiline noses because Cyrus, their beloved king, had such a nose." Herodotus, however, mentions the concerning behaviors that Cyrus displayed at the end of his life. He cites, as an example, the strange punishment that the king inflicted on the river Gyndes (possibly the present-day Diyala river) after the drowning of one of his horses in its waters. To avenge himself, Cyrus would have made his army work for an entire summer to divide this tributary of the Tigris into 360 channels. The waters were sacred to the Persians, it was an act as irrational as it was sacrilegious. Herodotus also associates this behavior with the dramatic circumstances surrounding Cyrus's death. According to his writings, Cyrus died fighting the Massagetae, a nomadic people of Central Asia led by Queen Tomyris. After his death, the body of Cyrus was desecrated by the queen, who sought to avenge the death of her son. According to the historian, this last military campaign was motivated by Cyrus's arrogance, a hubris for which the gods punished him. Herodotus uses this narrative to push a reflection on the degeneration of Persian power. He declares that Cyrus's conquests followed one another, that his people and he began to abandon the austerity and discipline of their early days to indulge in opulence and ease. Herodotus and several other Greek authors see this change in behavior as instigating the decadence of the Persian Empire and the corruption of its great kings. The Cyropaedia of Xenophon is an idealized biography of Cyrus, described as a philosopher-king. Xenophon, a philosopher and historian from Athens who lived between the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, supported the idea of monarchy and projected his vision of an ideal monarch onto Cyrus. The Cyrus described in his Cyropaedia should be read as a fictional character, created by Xenophon to reflect his own political views. To write it, the philosopher drew inspiration from his Greek predecessors such as Herodotus but also had direct knowledge of the Persian world. From 401 to 399 BCE, he participated in the expedition of the Ten Thousand as a member of the army of Greek mercenaries recruited by another Cyrus from the Achaemenid dynasty. Cyrus the Younger wanted to rise against the authority of his brother, the king Artaxerxes II. It was during this military campaign that Xenophon had to hear about the life of Cyrus II, embellished by Persian tradition. He describes Cyrus the Great as a studious, just, generous, affectionate with his men, brave, and thirsty for glory. Cyrus the Great, as described by Xenophon, corresponds to the cliché of the great king, so popular and typical of Persian stories of the time. He was handsome and strong, and his royal qualities were evident from childhood. The Athenian recounts that Cyrus the Great piously devoted himself to his religious duties, thus attracting the favor of the gods. In short, the great king was "an excellent sovereign" because "he was so different from all other kings." This positive view is supported by Diodorus of Sicily, who writes that Cyrus "was preeminent among men of his time in bravery and wisdom and other virtues because his father [Cambyses I] raised him in the manner of kings and bequeathed him the zeal to emulate the greatest achievements." A large number of Cyrus's conquests, such as in Media and Lydia, are often attributed to his military expertise. The fall of Babylon is, however, also due to its king, Nabonidus, who failed to honor his protective god, Marduk, causing discord and creating the opportunity for invasion. Cyrus's religious tolerance, the abolition of forced labor, and the liberation of the Jews earned him praise from the city. Xenophon affirms that the great king exhorted his subjects, proclaiming: "After the gods, however, show your respect to all races of men as they pass in perpetual succession." It is an indicator of Cyrus's human qualities, which placed him on a pedestal in the eyes of the Greek historian. The Cyropaedia tells a different version of the king's death: he did not die in battle, as Herodotus claims, but in his palace, surrounded by his sons. Xenophon adds that his death occurred during a conversation on immortality, while Cyrus encouraged his audience to lead worthy and pious lives. This scene recalls the death of Socrates, Xenophon's mentor, who took his own life in the company of his friends and followers after his condemnation to death by Athens. Plato, another disciple of Socrates, also refers to Cyrus, presenting him as a model of justice and wisdom. According to the philosopher, the Persians, under the rule of Cyrus, maintained the right balance between servitude and freedom. This ability allowed them to become the masters of an empire. But after the reign of Cyrus, the balance was broken, and his successors succumbed to luxury, decadence, and the pleasures of the harem. Vices that inevitably led to the fall of the empire. However, not all Greek authors sing the praises of Cyrus. Ctesias, for example, was a Greek physicist and historian who, between the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, served at the court of the Persian king Artaxerxes II. There, writes Ctesias, he had the opportunity to consult directly the annals of the Achaemenids. Ctesias's writings on Cyrus are imbued with hostility and suspicion and oppose the previous accounts. According to the historian, Cyrus's origins would not be as noble as claimed by Herodotus and Xenophon. Cyrus's humble and nomadic past gives him all the characteristics of a barbarian, in total disagreement with the civilized lifestyle of Greek society. And his rise to the throne was not as glorious either. According to Ctesias's account, after his rebellion against King Astyages of the Medes, Cyrus would have killed the king's son-in-law and married his daughter Amytis. In other words, Cyrus was a usurper and had no right to the Median throne. And the account of his death differs in Ctesias, who claims that the king died from a leg wound inflicted during a confrontation with the Derbices, a people from the East of Iran. Isocrates, an Athenian orator and politician, also mentions Cyrus but does not consider his actions to be pious or just. Regarding the war between the Medes and the Persians, Isocrates writes that after the defeat of Astyages, king of the Medes and grandfather of Cyrus, Cyrus unjustly condemned him to death. This account should be read with its context in mind. Isocrates was a defender of Greek unity against the Persian threat. His opinions on the Persians could have influenced his negative description. Despite his detractors, Cyrus II remains the Achaemenid king best treated by Greek tradition. He was often presented as an ideal monarch, the example of a wise, pious, and just sovereign. According to Greek tradition, the decline of the Persian Empire began with his son, Cambyses II. From there, according to Greek sources at least, Persia was ruled only by cruel and impious despots. Xerxes I, the Achaemenid king who dared to attack mainland Greece in 480 BCE, was the worst of all. The biased descriptions of the Greeks of the Persian monarchy have influenced the representation of the Achaemenids until today.