Hydarnes was an eminent Persian

Persian people

The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...

, the commander of the "Ten Thousand Immortals"

Persian Immortals

The "Immortals" was the name given by Herodotus to an elite force of soldiers who fought for the Achaemenid Empire. This force performed the dual roles of both Imperial Guard and standing army during the Persian Empire's expansion and during the Greco-Persian Wars...

 during the time of king Xerxes

Xerxes II of Persia

Xerxes II was a Persian king and the son and successor of Artaxerxes I. After a reign of forty-five days, he was assassinated in 424 BC by his brother Sogdianus, who in turn was murdered by Darius II. He is an obscure historical figure known primarily from the writings of Ctesias. He was...

 invasion of Greece.

Perhaps the most famous episode involving Satrap

Satrap

Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires....

 Hydarnes and his Immortals came at the Thermopylae

Battle of Thermopylae

The Battle of Thermopylae was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I over the course of three days, during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place simultaneously with the naval battle at Artemisium, in August...

 in 480 BC, when they came into contact with Leonidas of Sparta

Sparta

Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

.

Hydarnes is known also from an Aramaic inscription found at Armavir that states his choice of girls for his Harem

Harem

Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...

.

In popular culture

• In the movie The 300 Spartans
  The 300 Spartans
  The 300 Spartans is a 1962 Cinemascope film depicting the Battle of Thermopylae. Made with the cooperation of the Greek government, it was shot in the village of Perachora in the Peloponnese...
  
  (1962), Hydarnes is portrayed by the actor Donald Houston
  Donald Houston
  Donald Daniel Houston was a Welsh actor whose first two films – The Blue Lagoon with Jean Simmons, and A Run for Your Money with Sir Alec Guinness – were highly successful...
  
  .
• In Steven Pressfield
  Steven Pressfield
  Steven Pressfield is an American novelist and author of screenplays, principally of military historical fiction set in classical antiquity...
  
  's novel, Gates of Fire
  Gates of Fire
  Gates of Fire is a 1998 historical fiction novel by Steven Pressfield that recounts the Battle of Thermopylae through Xeones, a Spartan Helot and the sole Greek survivor of the battle....
  
  , Hydarnes is one of the characters.
• In the video game 300: March to Glory
  300: March to Glory
  300: March to Glory is a video game for the PlayStation Portable that was released on February 27, 2007, based on the comic book mini-series 300 by Frank Miller and the movie of the same name.- Story :...
  
  , Hydarnes is the boss of the level "Persian Camp".He looks like the other Immortals
  Persian Immortals
  The "Immortals" was the name given by Herodotus to an elite force of soldiers who fought for the Achaemenid Empire. This force performed the dual roles of both Imperial Guard and standing army during the Persian Empire's expansion and during the Greco-Persian Wars...
  
  , with gigantic blades for hands and can launch claw missiles as well as call 2 Immortals at a time.