was the wife of Artaxerxes II. Her brother, Terituchmes, loved one of his half-sisters more than his intended bride - Amestris, Darius II and Parysatis's daughter. Terituchmes tried to start a rebellion, and Parysatis had all the family killed and only spared the life of Stateira at the request of her husband. After Artaxerxes II took control and Cryus's attempt to seize the throne failed, the queen mother Parysatis and queen consort Stateira both tried to be the key political influence on the king, making them bitter rivals. Reportedly the intense hatred between the two women led Parysatis to encourage Artaxerxes II to take on concubines in order to hurt his wife. Stateira also publicly spoke up against the cruelties of the queen mother at the Persian court. For example, she criticized the brutal treatment of the eunuch Masabates, intensifying her conflict with Parysatis. Finally, Parysatis had Stateira murdered. Classical sources give different reasons for this deed. According to one version, Parysatis wanted to save the life of the Spartan commander Clearchus and his fellow-generals, who had been taken prisoner by Tissaphernes, but Stateira had succeeded in persuading her husband to execute the prisoners. Therefore, Parysatis is supposed to have poisoned Stateira. Plutarch, in his biography of Artaxerxes II, did not believe this story. According to another tradition, Parysatis murdered her daughter-in-law because she realized that her son only felt true love for his wife. Plutarch reports that Parysatis performed the assassination with the help of a loyal servant named Gigis. She carved a bird with a poisoned knife in such a way that only one half of the animal was mixed with the poison. This half was served to Stateira when they were dining together. The poisoned meal caused the painful death of Stateira. Artaxerxes was enraged and tried to capture Gigis, who was being hidden in Parysatis's quarters. Eventually, she was captured when she visited her family and was executed. Parysatis was banished to Babylon, but returned afterwards to continue to provide advice and counsel to the king. She advised him to marry his daughters Amestris and Atossa, to continue her influence over him, as they were less experienced in court. In popular culture Asteroid 888 Parysatis, discovered by Max Wolf is named after her. Jane Dieulafoy wrote a novel called Parysatis in 1890. It was later turned into a play with instrumental music by Camille Saint-Saëns in