A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

2. One of the three commanders of the cavalry in the army of Xerxes. A fall from his horse brought on an illness, which prevented him from proceeding with the expedition into Greece, and obliged him to remain behind at Sardis. By his order the horse's legs were cut off at the knees on the spot where he had thrown his master (Hdt. 7.88). The name Pharnuchuse occurs also as that of a Persian commander in the Persae of Aeschylus (305, 928).