Conclusion
On the surface of things, we can identify two strands to the way in which Achaemenid royal women utilised their agency to gain revenge: one was to satisfy a personal slight, the other to meet a political affront - although of course these two characteristics were often inherently intertwined.
However, a third reason can be suggested for why some royal women were drawn to murder or mutilation: simple jealousy and a clash of personalities could also overwhelm dynastic politics. Harem politicking at the Achaemenid court was such that intense domestic rivalries among the royal women had a direct impact upon imperial policy as wives and mothers went head to head with one another out of jealously over rank and status, or to secure their own status, or, predominantly, to solidify the status of their sons. As such, revenge killings, punishments and mutilations were commonplace.The works of Herodotus and Ctesias may contain literary cliches that reflect the misogynistic tone of Greek literature in which powerful women were perceived as a threat to the political world of men. But there is truth in their accounts of harem politics if we read these stories in the light of what Josef Wiesehofer has recognised as ‘a society of tribal origins [where] political marriages contracted in order to ensure loyalty were particularly important, especially since the question of the succession to the throne in the polygamous Persian royal house was liable to assume vital significance'.[753] Revenge murders and vendetta maiming must be seen as significant and bona fide instruments in the politicking of absolute monarchies, especially in the dynastic power plays of the harem.
I am disposed to take seriously stories of the irrational caprice and wanton cruelty of rulers. The ancient Persian court will have been subject to the same kind of pressures and insecurities that have afflicted the courts of absolute rulers down to the time of Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi - and beyond. Revenge torture and vendetta killings must be seen as a significant and bona fide instrument in the politiking of absolute monarchies, especially in the dynastic politics among the women of inner court.