Hermotimos from Pedasa

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Hermotimos ( Greek  Ἑρμότιμος ) from Pedasa in Caria was made a prisoner of war as a boy, possibly during the time of the Ionic uprising . A slave trader named Panionios of Chios bought him and had him castrated because he specialized in making eunuchs out of handsome slaves and then selling them to the east in Ephesus or Sardis , where eunuchs were considered particularly trustworthy. Hermotimos came to the Persian court and over time became the chief eunuch and close confidante of Xerxes I.

As Xerxes now in the campaign of 480 BC BC stayed in Ionia , Hermotimos went to the area of Chios and located the Panionios there. He approached him, very graciously, told the slave trader what an important position at the Persian court he owed to his intervention and how obliged he was thereby. As a token of his gratitude, he wanted to shower him and his family with benefits as soon as they moved in with him.

The slave trader agreed and moved in with his wife and four sons at Hermotimos'. As soon as the latter had Panionios and his household safely in his hand, he heavily accused the slave trader and boy tailor of the crime he had committed, then forced him to castrate his sons with his own hands, and then forced the sons to do the same to their father to do.

The story is told by Herodotus in the histories as an example of the most extensive vengeance for an injustice suffered. Athenaios attests to her fame in the Deipnosophistai (6.266e).

After the Battle of Salamis , which ended in defeat for the Persians , Hermotimus was commissioned to lead the sons of Xerxes back to Ephesus. Then he disappears from the tradition.

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  • Herodotus Histories 8,104-106

literature

personal data
SURNAME Hermotimos
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ἑρμότιμος (Greek)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Greek eunuch
DATE OF BIRTH 6th century BC BC or 5th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 5th century BC Chr.