Ktesias Welt

Ctesias World
Herausgegeben von/Edited by
Josef Wiesehfer, Robert Rollinger,
Giovanni B. Lanfranchi

2011
Harrassowitz Verlag . Wiesbaden
ISBN 978-3-447-06376-0

The Oibaras Saga in Ctesias

Matt Waters
The Oibaras saga, so termed here, survives in two distinct versions: one in Ctesias Persica
and the other in Herodotus. Despite minor variation in the spelling of the name, it is clear
that at least one theme underlies the character in both versions: a clever man of humble
origins plays a central role in aiding his master become king.1 A number of examples suggest that Ctesias adopted and adapted several elements of Herodotus history to his own
purposes. Some of these shared elements, however, may be attributed to alternate traditions
of events. At such points where Ctesias converges with Herodotus indeed, throughout
Ctesias whole work it is worthwhile to consider folktale (oral) tradition as sources. Such
is the intention here with the components of the Oibaras saga.2 Approached from this
perspective, Ctesias Oibaras reflects an independent, if modified, legend rather than a fabricated distortion of Herodotus Oibares.
In Ctesias, or rather in Nicholaus of Damascus account based upon Ctesias,3 Oibaras
appears while Cyrus, on campaign against the Cadusians, is contemplating his potential
revolt against Astyages.4 Cyrus is encouraged by a Babylonian (Chaldean) seer, whose
name is not given, renowned for his expertise in divination. Oibaras himself becomes another positive omen (as interpreted by the seer) for Cyrus, indeed, several rolled into one: a
fellow Persian far from home; one carrying horse manure, interpreted as a sign of wealth
and power; and one whose name means noble messenger.5 Thus enters the individual
1

3
4
5

The spelling preference Oibaras here reflects the Ctesian form, though Oibares is used when
referring to Herodotean passages to conform to his spelling (see below and note 22). I thank Prof.
Dr. Josef Wiesehfer for the invitation to include this paper in the conference proceedings. Research for this work was made possible by grants from the American Council of Learned Societies and the Center for European Studies of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I gratefully
acknowledge both organizations support.
To consider the myriad facets of this topic it is necessary to dabble in folklore, wherein I claim no
expertise, so it is my hope that the reader will indulge this tentative assessment. Mayor 2000, with
references, bemoans the lack of classicists attention to the study of folktale motifs. The terms
tradition and folktale are occasionally applied herein as synonyms. Though that may seem to
effect a disregard for the different nuances of each term, that is not the intent. In a context in
which the material has not yet been well-codified, let alone analyzed, only a preliminary overview
is attempted. For an overview of folklore in context of the Old Testament, see Ben-Amos (1992).
See Drews 1974, 391, Brunt 1980, 483-85, and Lenfant 2000, 304-18.
Lenfant 2004, 96f., F8d 13. Citation format throughout follows Lenfants 2004 edition.
  V?  C?
 88. See below for discussion of Oibaras
name. These and other motifs relevant to the Oibaras saga may be compared with several in the
Thompson 1955 classic Motif-Index of Folk Literature: L101 the Unpromising Hero or L113
Hero of Unpromising Occupation; motifs K811, K831.1.1, K834, K870, and K914.3 regarding
the use of a trick to do away with an enemy; motifs L245 and M312 on the dream portending

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arguably most responsible, after Cyrus, for the Persians success in their revolt against Astyages and their establishment of an independent kingdom.
A summary of Ctesias Oibaras saga, as relayed by Nicholaus of Damascus account
and by Photius epitome, is necessary background.6 After joining Cyrus during the Cadusian campaign for reasons that are not enumerated, presumably on account of Oibaras
good service during the campaign Oibaras gains stature and the accompanying markers
upon their return to Media; he is awarded a horse, Persian raiment, and a retinue. This
moves him beyond his initial, humble status in the work similar in thematic conceptualization (though much different in detail) to Cyrus progression from a lowly commoner
to a royal courtier earlier in this same account. Oibaras value to Cyrus is described as a
function of his good sense and company, and thus Cyrus keeps him nearby, until he becomes Cyrus most trusted adviser.7 It is Oibaras who encourages Cyrus into the decisive
moment whereat Cyrus commits to overthrowing the Medes. It is Oibaras who provides
Cyrus the plan for the revolt and a scheme for Cyrus to extricate himself from Astyages
court. Oibaras becomes a full-fledged conspirator in advising Cyrus, though there is no
doubt who is in charge. It is arguable whether Oibaras subsequent actions are done out of
self-interest or out of loyalty to Cyrus and his welfare; the account, truncated as it is,
appears to imply the latter.
Oibaras takes great pains to safeguard the secret of the nascent revolt, so much so that
his concern for Cyrus safety leads him to kill the Babylonian seer who initially advised
Cyrus. Ironically, it was due to the seers encouragement that Cyrus made Oibaras his associate. In a perverse payback, Oibaras recommends to Cyrus that the seer be kept under close
watch, at minimum, but preferably killed outright. The reason given is that Oibaras fears
that the seer may turn informer, but an implicit rivalry among advisors may underlie Oibaras drastic act. This murder is accomplished despite Cyrus expressed wish that the seer
suffer no harm. Oibaras resorts to his cunning and initiates a trick under cover of religious
obligation.8 Oibaras prepares a bed over a deep hole in his tent, invites the seer to dinner,

6
7

future greatness; motif M312 and motif S144 regarding Astyages abandonment in the desert.
This is only a superficial list. I emphasize that a one-to-one correspondence is not being put
forward here, only potential (and, in some cases, extended) parallels. The reader may consult for
others Thompson 1955, Aarne and Thompson 1961, El-Shamy 2004 and Lyons 1995, Vol. 1,
118-27 (specifically for the man of wiles). For a later Persian example of a commoners role in
overthrowing a tyrant, consider Kaveh the blacksmiths role against Zahhak; Shahnameh,
translation Davis 2006, 18-21. Note also the character of vz in the Turkmenian Grughl cycle,
for which see Cepjek in Rypka 1968, 635.
Greek text and French translation in Lenfant 2004, 96-111, F8d 14-46 and F9 1-6.
Oibaras mental capacity, appropriate to a trickster figure or a wise adviser, is consistently emphasized, along with his nobleness of character (e.g., in F8d 14, 16, 17 and 32). The frequent repetition of ideas is emblematic of a traditional story; note the general discussion of Niditch and Doran 1977, 184. Compare Cyrus the Youngers gifts of clothing to Syennesis (Xen.
Anab. 1.2.26) and how in doing so he was already acting as king (Rood 2005, 200, note for p. 9,
with references).
F8d 17-19, for a sacrifice to the moon (Selene). Herodotus (I.131) notes that the Persians sacrifice to the sun, moon, earth, fire, water, and winds. See Boyce 1982, 114-16 for imagery associated with the Mesopotamian moon god Sin and the Zoroastrian moon god Mh under Darius I.
Whether Oibaras is to be understood here as engaging in a Mazdaean practice is, of course, uncertain.

The Oibaras Saga in Ctesias

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gets him drunk, and pushes him into the hole (along with his servant to eliminate the witness). When Oibaras, after some prevaricating, finally reveals the deed to Cyrus, the latters
anger causes him initially to reject Oibaras. But Oibaras is soon brought back within the
fold. Cyrus goes so far as to lie to the wife of the murdered seer on Oibaras behalf.
Word is sent to Cyrus father Artadates, satrap of Persia, to prepare an army, ostensibly
for another campaign against the Cadusians. What remains is for Cyrus to secure permission from Astyages to depart for Persia, so that the revolt may begin. Oibaras plan
involves another ruse: that Cyrus be allowed to offer sacrifices on Astyages behalf and to
tend to Cyrus purportedly-infirm father. Astyages rejects the request initially, because his
fondness for Cyrus makes him loath to grant Cyrus leave. It is Oibaras who again takes the
initiative through his cleverness. He encourages the disconsolate Cyrus and advises him to
recruit another, a eunuch, to ask Astyages again on Cyrus behalf. This ploy, notably implemented while Astyages is giddily drunk, is successful. With leave granted, Cyrus and
Oibaras swiftly depart.
When Astyages is warned of the danger and sends horsemen to fetch Cyrus, Cyrus
trick to elude them again involves Oibaras. In this case, Oibaras advice is mentioned as an
aside,9 though it offers deliberate repetition of the mans clever character and his involvement in any undertaking or course that requires such. Cyrus assures Astyages messengers
that he will indeed return, invites them to feast, and gets them drunk. Once they are unconscious Cyrus and Oibaras make their escape, in order to prepare for the forthcoming
assault that will manifest Astyages response. Cyrus initially places Oibaras in command of
the left wing at the battle of Hyrba, and Oibaras displays his mettle as a soldier and commander there and at Pasargadae.10 In the process Cyrus promotes Oibaras to general (). Oibaras is ultimately the one who places the crown () upon Cyrus, as Cyrus
sits on Asytages throne, and Oibaras is appointed overseer for removing the captured treasures.
Photius epitome continues the Oibaras saga.11 Cyrus pursues Astyages to Ecbatana,
where Astyages daughter Amytis and her husband Spitamas hide him. To force Astyages
hand, Cyrus threatens to have Oibaras torture Astyages children and grandchildren. Oibaras places Asytages in fetters, but Cyrus subsequently releases and honors him as a father.
Astyages soon becomes Cyrus father-in-law, when Cyrus (having killed her husband Spitamas for lying) marries Amytis. Against Sardis, Oibaras stratagem of using wooden dummies as decoys allows the capture of the city.12
9 "  V?  (Lenfant 2004, 102, F8d 27).
10 One might posit an extended parallel with the character of the sensible and serviceable Adusius
(    8) in Xenophons Cyropaedia, though he appears only at 7.4.17.4.7 and 8.6.7. Adusius the soldier relies upon guile and cleverness to reconcile two warring Carian factions, and despite his use of trickery, becomes wholly admired by the Carians. Cyrus later
names him satrap of the Carians, at their request. See Gera 1993, 281 with notes 3-4 and also
175f. for discussions of commoners in the Cyropaedia.
11 Nicholaus account of the capture of Sardis and Croesus (F 68) does not mention Oibaras.
12 Lenfant 2004, 114 Polyaenus VII.6.10. Compare Semiramis use of elephants-decoys in her war
against the Indians; Lenfant 2004, 43f., F1b 16 8-10 Diodorus Siculus, Book II. Photius
epitome touches only briefly on Cyrus campaigns against the Bactrians and Saka, and it is reasonable to wonder if Oibaras had in Ctesias original a similarly important role in these campaigns
as he did against the Medes and the Lydians. Photius epitome relates Oibaras suicide subsequent

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Oibaras comes to an inglorious end, though it is by his own choosing. When Cyrus dispatches the eunuch Petesakes to bring Astyages, as both Cyrus and Amytis are eager to see
him, Oibaras induces Petesakes to abandon Astyages in the desert to starve to death. There
is no reason given why Oibaras arranges his death. If there is any parallel with the murder
of the Babylonian seer, Oibaras perceived a threat (real of imagined) to Cyrus or to himself
from Astyages. Amytis punishes the eunuch Petesakes with a cruel death by torment. Oibaras chooses death by starvation on parallel with the fate he arranged for Astyages
rather than face the same fate as Petesakes. Oibaras clearly does not take seriously Cyrus
avowals that nothing untoward would happen to him. This is a curious and somewhat anticlimactic end to a character so vitally involved in the action. Of course, the entire account,
both as relayed by Nicholaus and especially by Photius, is condensed. Many details are
lacking, and many questions remain besides. For example, the impetuses and pressures
from Amytis that presumably lead to Oibaras suicide, despite Cyrus sureties, are not extant. As Amytis proves a forerunner to the ruthless and relentless Parysatis, it may be that
clever Oibaras has no illusions as to his fate and takes it upon himself to circumvent a
worse one from Amytis.
Oibaras is described at first appearance as having been flogged and carrying a basket of
horse manure in the mountains of the Cadusians.13 Beyond the superficial level of the
omens, it is difficult to discern the sequence or full significance of this telescoped description. It may be interpreted to imply that Oibaras was carrying the horse dung in conjunction
with his flogging, but this conjunction is not a necessary inference.14 Herodotus Oibares,
explicitly identified as a groom (v III.85), has been viewed as reminiscent of the
importance of the horse in Persian royal investiture.15
Ctesias Oibaras initial link to horses consists of carrying horse dung. A horse itself is
not mentioned at this juncture. It is possible that the carrying of horse manure was as punishment and, thus, not part of Oibaras regular job, but such an objection may seem hypercritical. Regardless, the Babylonian seer interprets this component as a sign of wealth and
power, two things that Oibaras does not have at that point in the narrative but soon gains
through his valued service to Cyrus. Beyond Herodotus record of the honor awarded to his
Oibares by Darius mention of him in an inscription (III.88), that Oibares is a cipher. If
Ctesias Oibaras was a groom at the outset a distinct possibility, if not probability (if for
no other reason than the parallel version of the story in Herodotus) he did not remain so
for long, and he becomes second only to Cyrus in importance.
Ctesias Oibaras is not so remarkable for a connection with horses but for his cleverness
and loyalty. These attributes often are accompanied by extreme ruthlessness, even to the
to the description of those campaigns.
13 2 8 c  c2, c c    ;
Lenfant 2004, 96, F8d 13.
14 The account does not specify for what offense Oibaras is being punished or by whom he was
whipped. Lenfant 1996, 358 and n. 39 assumes that Oibaras was punished by Astyages. This is
possible, i.e., that Oibaras was sent to the mountains of the Cadusians as part of the punishment,
but it is not clear that the narrative is to be understood that way.
15 Lenfant 1996, 358f. For the importance of the horse, see discussion and references in Friedrich
1936; Dumzil 1984, 144; Cook 1983, 54f. and 238 n. 20; Balcer 1987, 38 and 117; Tuplin 1997,
128; and Briant 2002, 898.

The Oibaras Saga in Ctesias

493

point of Oibaras contradicting his masters wishes. The amorality of Oibaras actions is
subsumed in the narrative to his good service: protecting Cyrus interests and effecting Cyrus success. The ends justify the means. The Babylonian seer (the most learned [
] of the Chaldeans) is the first advisor to Cyrus; he encouraged the enterprise, after he
interpreted Cyrus mothers dream portending Cyrus greatness.16 Cleverness trumps learnedness. Oibaras removal of this threat to Cyrus at the same time removes Oibaras only
rival for Cyrus esteem and to his own prominence. The text is not explicit on this line, and
we should not expect it to be, but it is the de facto result. Oibaras then takes center stage,
alone, with Cyrus.
It is not a coincidence that cleverness and loyalty apply likewise to the Oibares of Herodotus, even if that Oibares has a far less prominent place in that narrative. Herodotus
Oibares appears only in III.85-88, wherein Darius enjoins Oibares to aid him in gaining the
throne via his cunning (, ; III.85.1).17 In Herodotus account the new king
will be chosen by whose horse is the first to neigh, so Oibaras fixes the contest (;
III.85.2). Herodotus also notes that the Persians tell two versions of how Oibares coerced
the horse to neigh, and he gives the variant (III.87): slightly different, but different nonetheless. In Photius epitome of Ctesias (F13 17), the horse-trick that gained Darius the throne
is noted, but there is no groom mentioned.
Justins epitome of Pompeius Trogus combines elements of Herodotus and Ctesias accounts of Cyrus rise, along with some modifications and additions.18 Here Cyrus finds Sybares (I.6, occurring in the Greek accusative form Sybaren), a slave (servus) in the slavehouse (ergastulum) of a certain Mede; learns he is Persian; frees him; and invites him, according to his dream, to join his enterprises. Justins Sybares receives from Cyrus an appointment as governor of Persia and Cyrus sister in marriage (I.7). Sybares then disappears
from the epitome. Justin form of the name differs somewhat, mainly by the addition of the
initial sibilant, but it is recognizable as a variant of Oibaras. Oibaras is also named as
Cyrus satrap in Polyaenus, Stratagemata 7.45 2,19 a description of the Battle of Hyrba,
though the attribution of the title satrap appears to be Polyaenus own or extrapolated
from another source. Tzetzes (Chiliades I.9320), describing the assault on Sardis, names
Oibaras as Cyrus great general ( 2). Both of these descriptions of
Oibaras also find their origins in Ctesias.
The name Oibaras is not unique to the loyal trickster described above. Another Oibares
occurs in Herodotus VI.33, the son of Megabyzus and hyparch of Dascylium during the
Ionian revolt; this Oibares is mentioned in context of a treaty with the city of Cyzicus.21 A
16 Lenfant 2004, 95f., F8d 9 and 12. Compare Astyages dream of Mandane urinating to flood all
Asia in Herodotus (I.107f.), for which see Pelling 1996. The imagery of the destructiveness of a
flood is not uncommon; for some Mesopotamian examples see CAD (Chicago Assyrian Dictionary) A/I abbu mng. 2 (esp. 2c for Assyrian kings), 78f.
17 For a detailed study of this Oibares in Herodotus, see Khnken 1990, 115-37; Ctesias Oibaras is
not discussed. Van der Veen 1996, 111 n. 275 cites a comparable case in Herodotus (V.111f.) of
Onesilus esquire, who cuts off the legs of his masters enemys horse.
18 Latin text from Arnaud-Lindet 2003.
19 Woelfflin and Melber 1970, 352f., spelled V?.
20 Lenfant 2004, 113, F9a, spelled (in the accusative case) V?.
21 Note the chart of this Oibares place in the wider, Achaemenid family tree in Burn 1984, 335.

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great Oibares (2 V?) also occurs in Aeschylus Persians, line 984, as one of
the Persians who fell at Salamis. Both instances in Herodotus and the one mentioned by
Aeschylus are spelled V? (nominative, third declension), contrasted with V?
(nominative, first declension) in Ctesias. R. Schmitt discusses the name in its various, supposed permutations in Elamite and Akkadian, but he stresses an Iranian extraction, *Vahbara.22
The connection between Ctesias Oibaras and Herodotus Oibares has been assumed on
the pattern of other instances where Ctesias adopted and adapted Herodotean elements for
his own purposes.23 For example, an Artembares occurs in both Herodotus and Ctesias
accounts. In the former, Artembares is the father of the boy whom Cyrus punished while
Cyrus play-acted the part of the king in his youth. In the latter, Artembares is the name of
Astyages wine-steward and palace overseer, who adopts Cyrus as his son.24 Many have
thus viewed the character Oibaras in Ctesias as a doppelganger of Herodotus Harpagus,
with a changed chronology and setting.25 In light of both the limited evidence as well as the
considerable (though still woefully inadequate) amount of comparative material, one should
not assume that the phenomenon is so simple. Ctesias Oibaras and Herodotus Harpagus
have considerably different backgrounds, not least in that Oibaras was initially a commoner.
Ctesias modification of Herodotus in some instances is beyond question.26 However,
even if, hypothetically, Ctesias did borrow and twist his Oibaras saga straight from Herodotus, the question remains: from where did Herodotus get his Oibares? To my mind, a more
productive methodological approach allows the possibility that Ctesias and Herodotus relayed modified variations of genuine Persian or Mesopotamian folk tradition(s). The Epic
of Gilgamesh stands as an example (indeed, the paradigmatic one) of an age-old tale that
underwent a number of revisions and alterations over time, manifest in sometimes significantly different plot variations among even the extant textual versions.27
It is thus worthwhile to seek other such sources that may lie behind Ctesias and Herodotus accounts. For both Greek historians in general this has been attempted by a number
of scholars with modest results, a function of the source material more than the attempts. If
Herodotus may be believed when he claims to have known three other accounts of Cyrus
life (I.95), and there seems no reason to dispute this,28 it is not arduous to assume a similar
22 For Aesychlus Persians, see Hall 1996. For discussion on the name form, see Schmitt 2006, 11315 with references. Note also Smyth 1920, 282aN.
23 Lenfant 2004, xxviii-xxxii for overview and references.
24 Hdt. I.114-116. Ctesias via Nicholaus of Damascus (Lenfant 2004, 94f. F8d 5-7). Other parallels may be cited such as Ctesias Artapanos and Herodotus Artabanos; Bigwood 1978, 26f. n.
30, Melchert 1996, 143, and Schmitt 2006, 81-83. For similar parallels and references, see Melchert 1996, 32f. and 176f. (a type-list) and Bichler 2004, 111f. and especially 116.
25 For example, Jacoby 1922, 2057; Melchert 1996, 34 and references in notes 63f.; Bichler 2004,
116. Cf. Aly 1969, 104f. and especially 231f..
26 For example, the accounting of Xerxes invasion of Greece, for which see Bigwood 1978; Melchert 1996, 154-75 and Lenfant 2004, lxxxvi-c. Cizek 1975, 544-47 (546f. on Oibaras), dismisses
Ctesias version of Cyrus childhood as a tragic-romantic corruption of Herodotus.
27 George 1999, xvi-xxx and George 2003, Vol. 1, Chapter 1; note also Henkelman 2006.
28 Of course, there is no way to know whether the Ctesias version relayed by Nicholaus of Damascus is one of these alternate versions to which Herodotus alludes. In I.214, Herodotus makes re-

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495

phenomenon for other aspects of Cyrus life and career and those involved with it. Unless
one assumes that the Greek authors conjured these disparate versions from thin air,29 it becomes a question of alternate (oral) traditions that were current in the fifth and fourth
centuries BCE. At I.95, Herodotus explicitly states that the version he relates is based on
what certain ones of the Persians say... (2 2 2...).
A number of attempts have been made to track Achaemenid influences in later Iranian
epic, for example, the Shahnameh and its forerunners, but without much success. With few
exceptions, some of which are still under debate, the Achaemenid kings are for the most
part invisible in this tradition. Parallels have been drawn between the account of Cyrus rise
and that of Ardashirs.30 In light of the expanse of the Achaemenid Empire, it is of course
not just Persian or Mesopotamian parallels that are at issue but potentially those from a
number of other peoples therein; cross-fertilization of the tales in their dissemination and
retelling over decades, and indeed centuries, muddied the mixture. But analysis and interpretation of these cross-cultural influences on oral traditions are fraught with methodological difficulties.31
If one takes an expansive view, the trickster figure and the wise advisor are, of course,
popular in almost any literature. There are ancient Near Eastern parallels that may be mentioned for this figure, typified in Ctesias (though not exclusively) by Oibaras. This is not to
assert that there is a direct correspondence. The Oibaras saga evolved in the tradition just
as, for example, the Sargon Legend did to incorporate Cyrus as the hero-exposed-at-birth.32
A folk hero named Oibaras may lie behind other uses of the name (for example, the
hyparch Oibares of Herodotus VI.33), but this is, of course, conjecture. It is impossible
from the current state of our knowledge to determine the original Oibaras, or whether the
name itself was for reasons indiscernible to us grafted onto more general motifs by
Herodotus (or his source) and applied by Ctesias (or his source) with similar characteristics
to separate circumstances. What exists in common between the two Oibaras is an emphasis
on humble occupation or circumstance, cunning, loyalty, and a connection to horses. Granted, in Ctesias version the horse-connection is extended to Oibaras bearing horse-manure

29
30

31

32

ference to the many stories ( 2) told of Cyrus death. The version in

Xenophons Cyropaedia may also be cited. As Briant 2002, 330 notes, the Deinon variant (FGH
690 F 9) of Astyages overthrow is an excellent example for the transmission of these legends via
oral tradition.
Compare Fehling 1989, 110-12 on the Cyrus legend. Note among others the extensive survey of
Weissbach 1924 of the Greek traditions about Cyrus and also Briant 2002, 13-16.
See, for example, Gutschmid 1880, 586f.; Noldeke 1930, 6; Christensen 1936, 119-22; Frye 1964,
46-48; Bigwood, 1964, 117-29 with references (p. 129 on Oibaras). Kai Khosrow was also raised
by a shepherd, for which see Davis 2006, 275-78. For a broad survey of Iranian parallels, see
Tuplin 1997, 108-27.
Note Henkelman (this volume: sections 3, 3.3, and 5) and his analysis of Aelians version (probably based on Ctesias) of Xerxes and the tomb of Belitanas, including cautionary remarks on interpreting potentially Mesopotamian folkloristic elements. For the text, see Lenfant 2004, 124, F13
26 (= Photius) and 128, F13b (= Aelian, Varia Historia XIII.3). In addition, there is the fundamental question of how much of Oibaras career may be considered historical, one that is not considered here. Bigwood 1964, 129 asserts none. In an examination of folktale motifs their historicity is in some cases beside the point. Note also for the remarks (on Herodotus) of Thomas 2000,
6 and references.
See Drews 1974, 391-93; Lewis 1980; Cooper 1985; and Kuhrt 2003.

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(see above), though the connection is at least obliquely reinforced by Cyrus gift to Oibaras
of a horse concurrent with his rising fortunes. In Ctesias version, Cyrus himself is of ignoble origin, and his enlisting of another of low status exhibits a repetition of that motif.33
Mesopotamian literature offers potential parallels for Persian folktale motifs, specifically the rise of Cyrus as portrayed in Greek sources, but this material does not seem to
have been exploited beyond the important and obvious Sargon Legend.34 The Poor Man of
Nippur serves as one example of a Mesopotamian tale with a motif similar to that found in
the Oibaras saga: the trickster figure and his triumph.35 But the story in its details and its
setting is entirely different. The hero, a commoner named Gimil-Ninurta, in extreme circumstances attempts to win the mayors (his adversary) favor with a goat, but during the
subsequent feast he is given only bone and gristle, along with third rate beer, and then unceremoniously expelled. Gimil-Ninurta promises to the mayors door-warden that he will
be avenged upon the mayor three times. The tale then proceeds to describe the various
tricks (feigned theft; disguise; use of a decoy) Gimil-Ninurta employs to level three beatings upon the mayor. The last the use of a decoy in order to attack the mayor while unguarded falls under the general rubric of stratagem,36 and it is closest to the behavior
Oibaras consistently exhibits in Ctesias history, though, again, on a different scale and in a
different context.
All this, of course, may be unsatisfying to one seeking scrupulous precision in folktale
(or literary) parallels, and any comparison between the two stories may thus be viewed as
meaningless. I do not intend to force or belabor the parallel. I end by returning to my expressed hope at the outset that someone with expertise in folktale may adduce further, or at
least more germane, parallels. Though clichd, it is important to recall that only scattered
bits of Ctesias work remain, and one may only speculate what else Ctesias may have recorded about Oibaras that has not survived.

33 Cyrus humble origins in Ctesias version have been interpreted as an indirect swipe at Cyrus the
Younger, which strikes me as problematic, among other reasons, in light of Ctesias apparent closeness with Parysatis, who clearly favored Cyrus; compare Bigwood 1964, 127f. and Lenfant
2004, lix-lx. Frye 1964, 41, citing Plutarch, Artaxerxes 2.3, notes that the new Persian king ate a
peasants meal. In Herodotus version of Cyrus upbringing, Cyrus is initially raised by peasants,
a herdsman and his wife (I.108-122); see Van der Veen 1996, 23-52.
34 Again, the problems are vast. Tuplins observation (1997, 132) on Iranian-Greek parallels is apropos here as well: The difficulty in fact is where to stop indeed knowing what could count as a
criterion for deciding where to stop. The extant ancient record is severely circumscribed, and minimalists will reject even qualified efforts to extrapolate from it.
35 Foster 1996, vol. II, 813-818 for a translation. Note Drews 1974, 391 for Parysatis (and thus Ctesias) in Babylon; for Parysatis, see also Stolper 2006. For extended parallels with the Arabic Umar (from the Srat Hamzat al-Pahlawn), see Lyons 1995, vol. I, 125. Ahiqar, as the disgraced
counselor reinstated, offers parallels as the wise adviser. For the extant story and the proverbs
associated with Ahiqar, see Charlesworth 1985, vol. II, 479-507 and Vanderkam 1992. Note also
Greenfield 2001, vol. I, 334-43; Niditch and Doran 1977, comparing Joseph, Daniel, and Ahiqar;
Cooper (1985) comparing Sargon and Joseph; and the remarks of Tuplin 1997, 119. The classic
treatment of the wise adviser motif in Herodotus is Lattimore 1939.
36 See Gurney 1972, esp. 154f. and Alster 1992, 57 and n. 120.

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