Drawn from the tale of Artaxerxes in Plutarch's Lives, the story concerns Queen Parysatis, wife of King Darius, and their two sons, Artaxerxes and Cyrus. Artaxerxes, the eldest born, becomes king upon the death of Darius. To remove the danger of being usurped by Cyrus, the queen's favorite son, Artaxerxes has one of his eunuchs, Mesabetes, behead Cyrus. The enraged queen challenges Artaxerxes to a game of dice, the prize being the selection of a eunuch from the opponent's household. Parysatis wins and selects Mesabetes. Without revealing her plans to Artaxerxes, she has Mesabetes brought to her, whereupon she presents the eunuch to her executioners to be skinned alive on three stakes. In Ensor's version, the queen herself performs the revenge killing. - James Ensor: The Complete Graphic Work, p. 233