Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Some Jewish interpreters in the Middle Ages saw Esther as being about the influences of planets on earthly events: Esther and Mordecai symbolized the good planets Venus and Jupiter, while Haman and the King Ahasuerus symbolized the bad planets Mars and Saturn (respectively). Cosmic, yo. (Source.)
Strangely enough, the Book of Esther is the only Biblical book not to be found in the famous "Dead Sea Scrolls" collection. (Source.)
According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Xerxes (who is probably the same as Ahasuerus—although some say Ahasuerus is one of Xerxes' sons) was actually married to a queen named Amestris. Unlike Vashti, she outlived him and continued to be politically influential. (Source.)