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“To me you seem to be very rich and to be king of many people, but I cannot answer your question before I learn that you ended your life well. The very rich man is not more fortunate than the man who has only his daily needs, unless he chances to end his life with all well.”
HERODOTUS, HISTORIES, BOOK 1.32; A. D. GODLEY TRANSLATION
Summary
After Alyattes died, his son Croesus became the king of Lydia. He began to expand the Lydian empire and conquered many different peoples—including Asiatic Greeks (Greeks who began setting up colonies on the Asian continent). Croesus then began preparations to conquer some of the Greek islands by building up a navy of ten thousand ships. One day, he was visited by a prominent Greek wise man1 and Croesus asked him about any news from the Greek islands. The wise man replied that they were preparing ten thousand horses to attack Sardis, the capital of the Lydian empire. Croesus, amused by this news, remarked that he hoped the Greeks would come and attack the Lydians with horses (implying the Greeks were foolish to try). The wise man responded that the Greek islanders had the same exact sentiment toward Croesus and his navy. Croesus took the wise man’s words to heart and decided to stop production of any more ships.
At the height of Croesus’ empire, many prominent men visited Sardis to see how prosperous it was. One of these men was Solon the Athenian.2 Solon had just established the laws of Athens and decided to go abroad for ten years. The Athenians had made an oath that, for ten years, no laws would be changed or abolished unless Solon approved it. Solon did not want to be bothered, or worse, coerced, into changing any of the laws, so he decided to leave Athens until the ten years were up.
When Croesus saw that Solon was visiting, he entertained him for days and showed him all the wealth and possessions he had. After doing this, Croeses asked Solon who he thought was the most fortunate man he’d every met, thinking Solon would pick him. However, Solon told him that an Athenian named Tellus was the most fortunate man he ever met. Croesus, annoyed, asked Solon why he thought this Athenian was more fortunate than him. Solon replied that Tellus came from a prosperous city, had good and noble children, saw his grandchildren born and all survive, and then died gloriously in battle and was given great honor at his funeral.
Croesus then asked Solon who he thought was the second most fortunate man he ever met, thinking he could at least get second place. Solon responded it was a pair of brothers from Argos. They had enough for their daily needs, had strong bodies, and won athletic contests. During a festival, their mother wanted to go to the temple of Hera in a cart led by a team of oxen. However, when the oxen were delayed in getting back from the field, the brothers decided to yoke themselves to the cart and take their mother to the temple. The others celebrating the festival praised the brothers and told their mother how fortunate she was to have such great sons. The mother prayed to Hera that the best thing that man could ever have would be given to her sons. Shortly after, the brothers, tired from the labor, laid down to sleep in the temple and never woke up. The Argives made statues of these brothers in their honor and dedicated them to Delphi.
Croesus was not happy at all with Solon’s answers and demanded to know why Solon never considered him as one of the most fortunate men he’s ever met. Solon responded that no one can be considered fortunate or unfortunate until after they die. A man can have great riches and prosperity, but then suffer ruin and die miserably. Another man can have only what he needs to survive, but never suffer any disasters and die happily. The poor man, in this case, is more fortunate than the rich man.
Croesus then sent Solon away on bad terms because Solon would not acknowledge his present prosperity.
Keeping Things in Perspective
I just wanted to make sure we’re all on the same page. Herodotus’ work is ultimately about the Persian War—the war between the Persian Empire and Greece—despite the many tangents. What Herodotus has been doing so far is lay down the foundations for the war. He’s been explaining why the war ultimately happened—why the Persian Empire decided to try and conquer Greece. So far we’ve learned:
The Greeks and the Asiatic non-Greeks committed aggressions against each other—namely, attacking individual city-states and stealing prominent women. In the beginning, those aggressions balanced each other out. It was tit-for-tat.
Eventually, the Greeks took their aggression further than the Asiatic non-Greeks did. When Paris of Troy kidnapped Helen, which would have “balanced out” the tit-for-tat, the Greeks responded disproportionately by sacking Troy and taking Helen back. This was unprecedented, as before this point, none of the women captured, on either side, had been returned or retaken.
The animosity between the Greeks and Asiatic non-Greeks heightened when the Heracleidae, the descendants of Heracles, were overthrown in Lydia. Worse, this new dynasty was aggressive against Asiatic Greeks (Greeks who set up colonies on the continent of Asia).
The culminates with the final king of Lydian empire, Croesus, who outright conquered many of these Greek colonies and forced them to pay tribute. He also had plans to conquer the Greek islands, but abandoned it when he was advised it would be a foolish endeavor.
Croesus’ Excuse For Empire Building
Afterward, [Croesus] made war on the Ionian and Aeolian cities in turn, upon different pretexts: he found graver charges where he could, but sometimes alleged very petty grounds of offense.
Herodotus, Histories, Book 1.26; A. D. Godley translation
This passage stood out to me because this mindset is typical of ambitious rulers and the powerful. It’s really quite interesting. A ruler or powerful person wants something, or wants a particular outcome, and will use whatever pretense they can to justify their actions. It’s rarely just “I want to conquer you because I want to build my empire” or “I’m destroying you because I want something you have.” It’s usually something like “You committed this offense, so I’m retaliating” even though that particular “offense” never bothered that powerful person before.
Recall that Heracles acted that exact way in Sophocles’ play The Women of Trachis. Heracles fell in love with a princess, but the king of that city-state refused to give her to Heracles to be his lover. Heracles then feigned being offended by something the king did, raised an army, sacked the city, killed the king, and took the princess for himself.
I also think about the Soviet Union. The Soviet government wasn’t just content with arresting people for a crime and jailing them. They had to force him to give a false statement and have it all in writing in formal documents. In some cases, the person was put in front of the public to “confess” his crimes, like in a show trial. The Soviet government was so insistent on justifications for their actions—even if they had to fabricate them. It would be comical if it hadn’t led to tens of millions of deaths.
It’s the whole: “They’re lying. I know they’re lying. They know I know they’re lying. I know they know I know they’re lying.” (I think I’m paraphrasing Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn).
Why do humans do this? Why the façade? Why the pretenses?
I think it’s because the lies are necessary. They create the reality that makes the ruler’s or powerful person’s actions normal. Just another part of life. And if those actions are normal, they aren’t abnormal. There’s no injustice or hypocrisy being committed.
Solon’s Cautionary Tale
“It is necessary to see how the end of every affair turns out, for the god promises fortune to many people and then utterly ruins them.”
Herodotus, Histories, Book 1.32; A. D. Godley translation
The story of Solon’s exchange with Croesus is one of my favorites in the Histories. I liked it so much, in fact, that I recorded myself narrating the story and posted it on YouTube years ago.
Fortune can abandon anyone, no matter how much wealth, prestige, or power someone has. Who is more fortunate: The billionaire confined to a hospital bed for the rest of his life, or the factory worker who can walk around freely and go bowling every week? The Hollywood star who’s had four or five divorces, or the metro bus driver who has been happily married for decades? Someone doesn’t have to be rich, or powerful, or influential, to have a fortunate life.
Boethius explored this in his The Consolation of Philosophy (I work I highly recommend everyone read). He went from a top advisor to Theodoric the Great, the king of the Ostragoths, to being thrown in prison under false charges. He was later tortured and executed. Boethius went from being at the top of the world (or pretty close to it), to nothing.
It was in jail that he wrote The Consolation of Philosophy, where the personification of Philosophy visits him and comforts him. She tells Boethius that all the prosperity and prestige was bestowed by Fortune. And because they were given by Fortune, they can be taken away by Fortune. Fortune is fickle and unpredictable. So much so, that Philosophy tells Boethius, “No man can ever truly be secure until he has been forsaken by Fortune.”
Well, as we’re going to find out, Croesus probably wished he had been ignored by Fortune, because when Solon met him, he was at the top of the world. Right after that visit, though, Fortune would pull the rug from right under Croesus and he would come crashing down.
That's all for the Histories, Book 1.26-33.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
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Thumbnail: Portrait of Solon Legislator and Poet of Athens by Merry Joseph Blondel, 1828. Public domain.
1Herodotus is unsure who it was. He says it was either Bias of Priene or Pittacus of Mytilene. Both of these men are considered two of the famous “Seven Sages of Greece.” These were seven men in the seventh and sixth centuries BC who were renowned for their wisdom. Fun fact: another of the Seven Sages was Thales (Thay-lees), the father of Greek philosophy and the one who coined the phrase “Know thyself.”
2Solon is another of the famous “Seven Sages of Greece.”