THE TEXT: In this engaging tale, Herodotus describes of how the bedroom subterfuge of the Persian princess Phaedima revealed that King Smerdis was, in fact, neither the son of Cyrus the great, nor even a Persian. Rather, he was an imposter and a criminal of the Magian [Magus] people.
THE SCENE: In the eighth month, however, it was discovered who he was in the mode following. There was a man called Otanes who for rank and wealth was equal to the greatest of the Persians. This Otanes was the first to suspect that the Magus was not Smerdis the son of Cyrus, and to surmise moreover who he really was. He was led to guess the truth by the king never quitting the citadel, and never calling before him any of the Persian noblemen. As soon, therefore, as his suspicions were aroused he adopted the following measures: One of his daughters, who was called Phaedima, had been taken to wife, together with the rest of [the previous king’s] wives, by the Magus. To this daughter Otanes sent a message, and inquired of her who it was whose bed she shared — was it Smerdis the son of Cyrus, or was it some other man? Phaedima in reply declared she did not know. Smerdis the son of Cyrus she had never seen, and so she could not tell whose bed she shared.
He sent [another] message to his daughter in these words following: “Daughter, thou art of noble blood. Thou wilt not shrink from a risk which thy father bids thee encounter. If this fellow be not Smerdis the son of Cyrus, but the man whom I think him to be, his boldness in taking thee to be his wife, and lording it over the Persians, must not be allowed to pass unpunished. Now therefore do as I command – when next he passes the night with thee, wait till thou art sure he is fast asleep, and then feel for his ears. If thou findest him to have ears, then believe him to be Smerdis the son of Cyrus, but if he has none, know him for Smerdis the Magian.” Phaedima returned for answer [that] it would be a great risk. If he was without ears, and caught her feeling for them, she well knew he would make away with her; nevertheless she would venture. So Otanes got his daughter’s promise that she would do as he desired. Now Smerdis the Magian had had his ears cut off in the lifetime of Cyrus son of Cambyses, as a punishment for a crime of no slight heinousness. Phaedima therefore, Otanes’ daughter, bent on accomplishing what she had promised her father, when her turn came, and she was taken to the bed of the Magus (in Persia a man’s wives sleep with him in their turns), waited till he was sound asleep, and then felt for his ears. She quickly perceived that he had no ears; and of this, as soon as day dawned, she sent word to her father.
– The Histories, Herodotus, 5th Century BC
