Mithridates - Definition and Overview

The name Mithridates (more accurately, Mithradates) is derived from the Persian sun-god Mithra and the Indo-European root da, "to give" — i.e. "given by Mithra." That name was borne by a large number of kings, soldiers and statesmen in Asia Minor:

• Mithradates, a eunuch who helped Artabanus to assassinate Xerxes I.
• Mithradates, who fought first with Cyrus the Younger and after his death with Artaxerxes against the Greeks, and is the ancestor of the kings of Pontus.
• Mithridates I of Parthia (171 - 137 BC)
• Mithridates II of Parthia (110 - 87 BC)
• Mithridates III of Parthia (58 - 57 BC)
• Mithridates IV of Parthia (AD 128 - 147)
• Mithridates I of Cius (c.336 - 302 BC)
• Mithridates II Ktistes (302 - 366 BC)
• Mithridates III of Pontus
• Mithridates IV of Pontus (156 - c.150 BC)
• Mithridates V of Pontus (died 120 BC)
• Mithridates VI of Pontus (120 - 63 BC)
• Mithridates I of the Bosporus
• Mithridates II of the Bosporus
• Mithridates I of Commagene
• Mithridates II of Commagene
• Mithridates of Armenia (AD 35 - 51)

Also, the word mithridates was once synonymous with antidote, and mithridatism meant the practice of taking repeated low doses of a poison with the intent of building immunity to it. Mithridates was also a common title for books containing samples of several languages. These meanings were inspired by legends about Mithridates VI of Pontus.