This part of Herodotus's History tells a famous story of the encounter
between the Lydian King Croesus, reckoned as one of the richest men in the world, and
Solon, the wise Athenian.
When all these conquests had been added to the Lydian empire, and the prosperity of
Sardis was now at its height, there came thither, one after another, all the sages of
Greece living at the time, and among them Solon, the Athenian. He was on his travels,
having left Athens to be absent ten years, under the pretence of wishing to see the world,
but really to avoid being forced to repeal any of the laws which, at the request of the
Athenians, he had made for them. Without his sanction the Athenians could not repeal them,
as they had bound themselves under a heavy curse to be governed for ten years by the laws
which should be imposed on them by Solon.
On this account, as well as to see the world, Solon set out upon his travels, in the
course of which he went to Egypt to the court of Amasis, and also came on a visit to
Croesus at Sardis. Croesus received him as his guest, and lodged him in the royal palace.
On the third or fourth day after, he bade his servants conduct Solon. over his treasuries,
and show him all their greatness and magnificence. When he had seen them all, and, so far
as time allowed, inspected them, Croesus addressed this question to him. "Stranger of
Athens, we have heard much of thy wisdom and of thy travels through many lands, from love
of knowledge and a wish to see the world. I am curious therefore to inquire of thee, whom,
of all the men that thou hast seen, thou deemest the most happy?" This he asked
because he thought himself the happiest of mortals: but Solon answered him without
flattery, according to his true sentiments, "Tellus of Athens, sire." Full of
astonishment at what he heard, Croesus demanded sharply, "And wherefore dost thou
deem Tellus happiest?" To which the other replied, "First, because his country
was flourishing in his days, and he himself had sons both beautiful and good, and he lived
to see children born to each of them, and these children all grew up; and further because,
after a life spent in what our people look upon as comfort, his end was surpassingly
glorious. In a battle between the Athenians and their neighbours near Eleusis, he came to
the assistance of his countrymen, routed the foe, and died upon the field most gallantly.
The Athenians gave him a public funeral on the spot where he fell, and paid him the
highest honours."
Thus did Solon admonish Croesus by the example of Tellus, enumerating the manifold
particulars of his happiness. When he had ended, Croesus inquired a second time, who after
Tellus seemed to him the happiest, expecting that at any rate, he would be given the
second place. "Cleobis and Bito," Solon answered; "they were of Argive
race; their fortune was enough for their wants, and they were besides endowed with so much
bodily strength that they had both gained prizes at the Games. Also this tale is told of
them:- There was a great festival in honour of the goddess Juno at Argos, to which their
mother must needs be taken in a car. Now the oxen did not come home from the field in
time: so the youths, fearful of being too late, put the yoke on their own necks, and
themselves drew the car in which their mother rode. Five and forty furlongs did they draw
her, and stopped before the temple. This deed of theirs was witnessed by the whole
assembly of worshippers, and then their life closed in the best possible way. Herein, too,
God showed forth most evidently, how much better a thing for man death is than life. For
the Argive men, who stood around the car, extolled the vast strength of the youths; and
the Argive women extolled the mother who was blessed with such a pair of sons; and the
mother herself, overjoyed at the deed and at the praises it had won, standing straight
before the image, besought the goddess to bestow on Cleobis and Bito, the sons who had so
mightily honoured her, the highest blessing to which mortals can attain. Her prayer ended,
they offered sacrifice and partook of the holy banquet, after which the two youths fell
asleep in the temple. They never woke more, but so passed from the earth. The Argives,
looking on them as among the best of men, caused statues of them to be made, which they
gave to the shrine at Delphi."
When Solon had thus assigned these youths the second place, Croesus broke in angrily,
"What, stranger of Athens, is my happiness, then, so utterly set at nought by thee,
that thou dost not even put me on a level with private men?"
"Oh! Croesus," replied the other, "thou askedst a question concerning
the condition of man, of one who knows that the power above us is full of jealousy, and
fond of troubling our lot. A long life gives one to witness much, and experience much
oneself, that one would not choose. Seventy years I regard as the limit of the life of
man. In these seventy years are contained, without reckoning intercalary months,
twenty-five thousand and two hundred days. Add an intercalary month to every other year,
that the seasons may come round at the right time, and there will be, besides the seventy
years, thirty-five such months, making an addition of one thousand and fifty days. The
whole number of the days contained in the seventy years will thus be twenty-six thousand
two hundred and fifty, whereof not one but will produce events unlike the rest. Hence man
is wholly accident. For thyself, oh! Croesus, I see that thou art wonderfully rich, and
art the lord of many nations; but with respect to that whereon thou questionest me, I have
no answer to give, until I hear that thou hast closed thy life happily. For assuredly he
who possesses great store of riches is no nearer happiness than he who has what suffices
for his daily needs, unless it so hap that luck attend upon him, and so he continue in the
enjoyment of all his good things to the end of life. For many of the wealthiest men have
been unfavoured of fortune, and many whose means were moderate have had excellent luck.
Men of the former class excel those of the latter but in two respects; these last excel
the former in many. The wealthy man is better able to content his desires, and to bear up
against a sudden buffet of calamity. The other has less ability to withstand these evils
(from which, however, his good luck keeps him clear), but he enjoys all these following
blessings: he is whole of limb, a stranger to disease, free from misfortune, happy in his
children, and comely to look upon. If, in addition to all this, he end his life well, he
is of a truth the man of whom thou art in search, the man who may rightly be termed happy.
Call him, however, until he die, not happy but fortunate. Scarcely, indeed, can any man
unite all these advantages: as there is no country which contains within it all that it
needs, but each, while it possesses some things, lacks others, and the best country is
that which contains the most; so no single human being is complete in every respect-
something is always lacking. He who unites the greatest number of advantages, and
retaining them to the day of his death, then dies peaceably, that man alone, sire, is, in
my judgment, entitled to bear the name of 'happy.' But in every matter it behoves us to
mark well the end: for oftentimes God gives men a gleam of happiness, and then plunges
them into ruin."
Such was the speech which Solon addressed to Croesus, a speech which brought him
neither largess nor honour. The king saw him depart with much indifference, since he
thought that a man must be an arrant fool who made no account of present good, but bade
men always wait and mark the end.
After Solon had gone away a dreadful vengeance, sent of God, came upon Croesus, to
punish him, it is likely, for deeming himself the happiest of men. First he had a dream in
the night, which foreshowed him truly the evils that were about to befall him in the
person of his son. For Croesus had two sons, one blasted by a natural defect, being deaf
and dumb; the other, distinguished far above all his co-mates in every pursuit. The name
of the last was Atys. It was this son concerning whom he dreamt a dream that he would die
by the blow of an iron weapon. When he woke, he considered earnestly with himself, and,
greatly alarmed at the dream, instantly made his son take a wife, and whereas in former
years the youth had been wont to command the Lydian forces in the field, he now would not
suffer him to accompany them. All the spears and javelins, and weapons used in the wars,
he removed out of the male apartments, and laid them in heaps in the chambers of the
women, fearing lest perhaps one of the weapons that hung against the wall might fall and
strike him.
Now it chanced that while he was making arrangements for the wedding, there came to
Sardis a man under a misfortune, who had upon him the stain of blood. He was by race a
Phrygian, and belonged to the family of the king. Presenting himself at the palace of
Croesus, he prayed to be admitted to purification according to the customs of the country.
Now the Lydian method of purifying is very nearly the same as the Greek. Croesus granted
the request, and went through all the customary rites, after which he asked the suppliant
of his birth and country, addressing him as follows:- "Who art thou, stranger, and
from what part of Phrygia fleddest thou to take refuge at my hearth? And whom, moreover,
what man or what woman, hast thou slain?" "Oh! king," replied the Phrygian,
"I am the son of Gordias, son of Midas. I am named Adrastus. The man I
unintentionally slew was my own brother. For this my father drove me from the land, and I
lost all. Then fled I here to thee." "Thou art the offspring," Croesus
rejoined, "of a house friendly to mine, and thou art come to friends. Thou shalt want
for nothing so long as thou abidest in my dominions. Bear thy misfortune as easily as thou
mayest, so will it go best with thee." Thenceforth Adrastus lived in the palace of
the king.
It chanced that at this very same time there was in the Mysian Olympus a huge monster
of a boar, which went forth often from this mountain country, and wasted the corn-fields
of the Mysians. Many a time had the Mysians collected to hunt the beast, but instead of
doing him any hurt, they came off always with some loss to themselves. At length they sent
ambassadors to Croesus, who delivered their message to him in these words: "Oh! king,
a mighty monster of a boar has appeared in our parts, and destroys the labour of our
hands. We do our best to take him, but in vain. Now therefore we beseech thee to let thy
son accompany us back, with some chosen youths and hounds, that we may rid our country of
the animal." Such was the tenor of their prayer.
But Croesus bethought him of his dream, and answered, "Say no more of my son going
with you; that may not be in any wise. He is but just joined in wedlock, and is busy
enough with that. I will grant you a picked band of Lydians, and all my huntsmen and
hounds; and I will charge those whom I send to use all zeal in aiding you to rid your
country of the brute."
With this reply the Mysians were content; but the king's son, hearing what the prayer
of the Mysians was, came suddenly in, and on the refusal of Croesus to let him go with
them, thus addressed his father: "Formerly, my father, it was deemed the noblest and
most suitable thing for me to frequent the wars and hunting-parties, and win myself glory
in them; but now thou keepest me away from both, although thou hast never beheld in me
either cowardice or lack of spirit. What face meanwhile must I wear as I walk to the forum
or return from it? What must the citizens, what must my young bride think of me? What sort
of man will she suppose her husband to be? Either, therefore, let me go to the chase of
this boar, or give me a reason why it is best for me to do according to thy wishes."
Then Croesus answered, "My son, it is not because I have seen in thee either
cowardice or aught else which has displeased me that I keep thee back; but because a
vision which came before me in a dream as I slept, warned me that thou wert doomed to die
young, pierced by an iron weapon. It was this which first led me to hasten on thy wedding,
and now it hinders me from sending thee upon this enterprise. Fain would I keep watch over
thee, if by any means I may cheat fate of thee during my own lifetime. For thou art the
one and only son that I possess; the other, whose hearing is destroyed, I regard as if he
were not."
"Ah! father," returned the youth, "I blame thee not for keeping watch
over me after a dream so terrible; but if thou mistakest, if thou dost not apprehend the
dream aright, 'tis no blame for me to show thee wherein thou errest. Now the dream, thou
saidst thyself, foretold that I should die stricken by an iron weapon. But what hands has
a boar to strike with? What iron weapon does he wield? Yet this is what thou fearest for
me. Had the dream said that I should die pierced by a tusk, then thou hadst done well to
keep me away; but it said a weapon. Now here we do not combat men, but a wild animal. I
pray thee, therefore, let me go with them."
"There thou hast me, my son," said Croesus, "thy interpretation is
better than mine. I yield to it, and change my mind, and consent to let thee go."
Then the king sent for Adrastus, the Phrygian, and said to him, "Adrastus, when
thou wert smitten with the rod of affliction- no reproach, my friend- I purified thee, and
have taken thee to live with me in my palace, and have been at every charge. Now,
therefore, it behoves thee to requite the good offices which thou hast received at my
hands by consenting to go with my son on this hunting party, and to watch over him, if
perchance you should be attacked upon the road by some band of daring robbers. Even apart
from this, it were right for thee to go where thou mayest make thyself famous by noble
deeds. They are the heritage of thy family, and thou too art so stalwart and strong."
Adrastus answered, "Except for thy request, Oh! king, I would rather have kept
away from this hunt; for methinks it ill beseems a man under a misfortune such as mine to
consort with his happier compeers; and besides, I have no heart to it. On many grounds I
had stayed behind; but, as thou urgest it, and I am bound to pleasure thee (for truly it
does behove me to requite thy good offices), I am content to do as thou wishest. For thy
son, whom thou givest into my charge, be sure thou shalt receive him back safe and sound,
so far as depends upon a guardian's carefulness."
Thus assured, Croesus let them depart, accompanied by a band of picked youths, and well
provided with dogs of chase. When they reached Olympus, they scattered in quest of the
animal; he was soon found, and the hunters, drawing round him in a circle, hurled their
weapons at him. Then the stranger, the man who had been purified of blood, whose name was
Adrastus, he also hurled his spear at the boar, but missed his aim, and struck Atys. Thus
was the son of Croesus slain by the point of an iron weapon, and the warning of the vision
was fulfilled. Then one ran to Sardis to bear the tidings to the king, and he came and
informed him of the combat and of the fate that had befallen his son.
If it was a heavy blow to the father to learn that his child was dead, it yet more
strongly affected him to think that the very man whom he himself once purified had done
the deed. In the violence of his grief he called aloud on Jupiter Catharsius to be a
witness of what he had suffered at the stranger's hands. Afterwards he invoked the same
god as Jupiter Ephistius and Hetaereus- using the one term because he had unwittingly
harboured in his house the man who had now slain his son; and the other, because the
stranger, who had been sent as his child's guardian, had turned out his most cruel enemy.
Presently the Lydians arrived, bearing the body of the youth, and behind them followed
the homicide. He took his stand in front of the corse, and, stretching forth his hands to
Croesus, delivered himself into his power with earnest entreaties that he would sacrifice
him upon the body of his son- "his former misfortune was burthen enough; now that he
had added to it a second, and had brought ruin on the man who purified him, he could not
bear to live." Then Croesus, when he heard these words, was moved with pity towards
Adrastus, notwithstanding the bitterness of his own calamity; and so he answered,
"Enough, my friend; I have all the revenge that I require, since thou givest sentence
of death against thyself. But in sooth it is not thou who hast injured me, except so far
as thou hast unwittingly dealt the blow. Some god is the author of my misfortune, and I
was forewarned of it a long time ago." Croesus after this buried the body of his son,
with such honours as befitted the occasion. Adrastus, son of Gordias, son of Midas, the
destroyer of his brother in time past, the destroyer now of his purifier, regarding
himself as the most unfortunate wretch whom he had ever known, so soon as all was quiet
about the place, slew himself upon the tomb. Croesus, bereft of his son, gave himself up
to mourning for two full years.
At the end of this time the grief of Croesus was interrupted by intelligence from
abroad. He learnt that Cyrus, the son of Cambyses, had destroyed the empire of Astyages,
the son of Cyaxares; and that the Persians were becoming daily more powerful. This led him
to consider with himself whether it were possible to check the growing power of that
people before it came to a head. With this design he resolved to make instant trial of the
several oracles in Greece, and of the one in Libya. So he sent his messengers in different
directions, some to Delphi, some to Abae in Phocis, and some to Dodona; others to the
oracle of Amphiaraus; others to that of Trophonius; others, again, to Branchidae in
Milesia. These were the Greek oracles which he consulted. To Libya he sent another
embassy, to consult the oracle of Ammon. These messengers were sent to test the knowledge
of the oracles, that, if they were found really to return true answers, he might send a
second time, and inquire if he ought to attack the Persians.
The messengers who were despatched to make trial of the oracles were given the
following instructions: they were to keep count of the days from the time of their leaving
Sardis, and, reckoning from that date, on the hundredth day they were to consult the
oracles, and to inquire of them what Croesus the son of Alyattes, king of Lydia, was doing
at that moment. The answers given them were to be taken down in writing, and brought back
to him. None of the replies remain on record except that of the oracle at Delphi. There,
the moment that the Lydians entered the sanctuary, and before they put their questions,
the Pythoness thus answered them in hexameter verse:-
I can count the sands, and I can measure the
ocean;
I have ears for the silent, and know what the dumb
man meaneth;
Lo! on my sense there striketh the smell of a
shell-covered tortoise,
Boiling now on a fire, with the flesh of a lamb, in a
cauldron--
Brass is the vessel below, and brass the cover above
it.
These words the Lydians wrote down at the mouth of the Pythoness as she prophesied, and
then set off on their return to Sardis. When all the messengers had come back with the
answers which they had received, Croesus undid the rolls, and read what was written in
each. Only one approved itself to him, that of the Delphic oracle. This he had no sooner
heard than he instantly made an act of adoration, and accepted it as true, declaring that
the Delphic was the only really oracular shrine, the only one that had discovered in what
way he was in fact employed. For on the departure of his messengers he had set himself to
think what was most impossible for any one to conceive of his doing, and then, waiting
till the day agreed on came, he acted as he had determined. He took a tortoise and a lamb,
and cutting them in pieces with his own hands, boiled them both together in a brazen
cauldron, covered over with a lid which was also of brass.
Such then was the answer returned to Croesus from Delphi. What the answer was which the
Lydians who went to the shrine of Amphiarans and performed the customary rites obtained of
the oracle there, I have it not in my power to mention, for there is no record of it. All
that is known is that Croesus believed himself to have found there also an oracle which
spoke the truth.
After this Croesus, having resolved to propitiate the Delphic god with a magnificent
sacrifice, offered up three thousand of every kind of sacrificial beast, and besides made
a huge pile, and placed upon it couches coated with silver and with gold, and golden
goblets, and robes and vests of purple; all which he burnt in the hope of thereby making
himself more secure of the favour of the god. Further he issued his orders to all the
people of the land to offer a sacrifice according to their means. When the sacrifice was
ended, the king melted down a vast quantity of gold, and ran it into ingots, making them
six palms long, three palms broad, and one palm in thickness. The number of ingots was a
hundred and seventeen, four being of refined gold, in weight two talents and a half; the
others of pale gold, and in weight two talents. He also caused a statue of a lion to be
made in refined gold, the weight of which was ten talents. At the time when the temple of
Delphi was burnt to the ground, this lion fell from the ingots on which it was placed; it
now stands in the Corinthian treasury, and weighs only six talents and a half, having lost
three talents and a half by the fire.
On the completion of these works Croesus sent them away to Delphi, and with them two
bowls of an enormous size, one of gold, the other of silver, which used to stand, the
latter upon the right, the former upon the left, as one entered the temple. They too were
moved at the time of the fire; and now the golden one is in the Clazomenian treasury, and
weighs eight talents and forty-two minae; the silver one stands in the corner of the
ante-chapel, and holds six hundred amphorae. This is known because the Delphians fill it
at the time of the Theophania. It is said by the Delphians to be a work of Theodore the
Samian, and I think that they say true, for assuredly it is the work of no common artist.
Croesus sent also four silver casks, which are in the Corinthian treasury, and two lustral
vases, a golden and a silver one. On the former is inscribed the name of the
Lacedaemonians, and they claim it as a gift of theirs, but wrongly, since it was really
given by Croesus. The inscription upon it was cut by a Delphian, who wished to pleasure
the Lacedaemonians. His name is known to me, but I forbear to mention it. The boy, through
whose hand the water runs, is (I confess) a Lacedaemonian gift, but they did not give
either of the lustral vases. Besides these various offerings, Croesus sent to Delphi many
others of less account, among the rest a number of round silver basins. Also he dedicated
a female figure in gold, three cubits high, which is said by the Delphians to be the
statue of his baking-woman; and further, he presented the necklace and the girdles of his
wife.
These were the offerings sent by Croesus to Delphi. To the shrine of Amphiaraus, with
whose valour and misfortune he was acquainted, he sent a shield entirely of gold, and a
spear, also of solid gold, both head and shaft. They were still existing in my day at
Thebes, laid up in the temple of Ismenian Apollo.
The messengers who had the charge of conveying these treasures to the shrines, received
instructions to ask the oracles whether Croesus should go to war with the Persians and if
so, whether he should strengthen himself by the forces of an ally. Accordingly, when they
had reached their destinations and presented the gifts, they proceeded to consult the
oracles in the following terms:- "Croesus, of Lydia and other countries, believing
that these are the only real oracles in all the world, has sent you such presents as your
discoveries deserved, and now inquires of you whether he shall go to war with the
Persians, and if so, whether he shall strengthen himself by the forces of a
confederate." Both the oracles agreed in the tenor of their reply, which was in each
case a prophecy that if Croesus attacked the Persians, he would destroy a mighty empire,
and a recommendation to him to look and see who were the most powerful of the Greeks, and
to make alliance with them.
At the receipt of these oracular replies Croesus was overjoyed, and feeling sure now
that he would destroy the empire of the Persians, he sent once more to Pytho, and
presented to the Delphians, the number of whom he had ascertained, two gold staters
apiece. In return for this the Delphians granted to Croesus and the Lydians the privilege
of precedency in consulting the oracle, exemption from all charges, the most honourable
seat at the festivals, and the perpetual right of becoming at pleasure citizens of their
town.
After sending these presents to the Delphians, Croesus a third time consulted the
oracle, for having once proved its truthfulness, he wished to make constant use of it. The
question whereto he now desired an answer was- "Whether his kingdom would be of long
duration?" The following was the reply of the Pythoness:--
Wait till the time shall come when a mule is
monarch of Media;
Then, thou delicate Lydian, away to the pebbles of
Hermus;
Haste, oh! haste thee away, nor blush to behave like
a coward.
Of all the answers that had reached him, this pleased him far the best, for it seemed
incredible that a mule should ever come to be king of the Medes, and so he concluded that
the sovereignty would never depart from himself or his seed after him. Afterwards he
turned his thoughts to the alliance which he had been recommended to contract, and sought
to ascertain by inquiry which was the most powerful of the Grecian states.
