Solon and Croesus

Croesus was the king of Lydia, famous for his enormous wealth and the ruler who subdued most of the nations west of the river Halys (Herodotus, Histories 1.6, 1.28). Solon was the Athenian lawgiver, counted among the Seven Sages of Greece (Pausanias 10.24.1). The meeting between them in Sardis is told by Herodotus. Its message is Solon’s warning that no one should be called happy before the end of his life, and Croesus’ fall shows that Solon was right. Plutarch notes that some thought chronology proved the visit fictitious, but he defends the story because it is so well known and suits Solon’s character (Plutarch, Solon 27.1).

The Meeting

Herodotus tells that after Croesus had subdued the nations west of the Halys, all the sages of Greece then alive came to Sardis, which was at the height of its prosperity. Among them was Solon the Athenian. After making laws for the Athenians at their request, he went abroad for ten years, saying that he wished to see the world, so that he could not be compelled to repeal any of his laws; the Athenians were bound by solemn oaths to keep whatever laws he made for ten years (Herodotus, Histories 1.29).

Solon visited Amasis in Egypt and then Croesus in Sardis. Croesus entertained him in the palace, and on the third or fourth day told his attendants to show Solon around his treasures, pointing out all that was great and blessed (Herodotus, Histories 1.30.1).

The Happiest Man in the World

When Solon had seen everything, Croesus told him that he had heard much of his wisdom and travels, and asked whom he considered the most fortunate man he had seen. He asked in the belief that he himself was the most fortunate of men; but Solon, offering no flattery and keeping to the truth, answered, “O king, Tellus the Athenian” (Herodotus, Histories 1.30.2–3).

Croesus was amazed, and asked how. Solon replied that Tellus lived in a prosperous city, had good and noble children, and saw children born to all of them and all surviving. His life was prosperous by Greek standards, and his death was most glorious: when the Athenians were fighting their neighbours at Eleusis, he came to help, routed the enemy and died finely, and the Athenians buried him at public expense where he fell (Herodotus, Histories 1.30.4–5).

Croesus then asked who came next, fully expecting to take second prize. Solon named Cleobis and Biton. They were of Argive stock, had enough to live on, and great bodily strength, and both had won prizes in athletic contests. At a festival of Hera in Argos their mother had to be taken to the temple by a team of oxen, but the oxen had not come back from the fields in time, so the young men put the yoke on their own shoulders and drew the wagon, with their mother riding on it, for five miles until they reached the temple. She was overjoyed at the feat and at the praise, and prayed to the goddess to give her sons the best thing that can befall a man. After sacrificing and feasting, the youths lay down to sleep in the temple and never rose again. The Argives dedicated statues of them at Delphi as the best of men (Herodotus, Histories 1.31).

The Moral of the Story

Croesus was vexed and asked whether Solon despised his happiness so much that he did not rate him even as highly as common men. Solon replied that Croesus was asking about human affairs, and that the divine is grudging and troublesome to us. He set the limit of a man’s life at seventy years, and said that of all the days in them no one brings anything like another: “man is entirely chance.” Croesus seemed to him very rich and king of many, but Solon could not say whether he was fortunate until he knew that he had ended his life well. The very rich man is not more fortunate than the man with only his daily needs, unless he chances to end his life with all well; and one should look to the end of every matter, for the god gives many people a glimpse of fortune and then ruins them utterly (Herodotus, Histories 1.32).

These words did not please Croesus. He sent Solon away without any regard, thinking him a great fool for ignoring present good and telling him to look to the end of every matter (Herodotus, Histories 1.33).

The Subsequent Fate of Croesus

After Solon left, Herodotus says, divine retribution fell heavily on Croesus, “as I guess, because he supposed himself to be blessed beyond all other men.” He dreamed that his son Atys, the best of his two sons (the other was mute), would be killed by a spear of iron (Herodotus, Histories 1.34). Croesus kept Atys away from war after the dream, but a Phrygian of the royal house named Adrastus, son of Gordias, who had come to Sardis to be purified after accidentally killing his brother, was a guest in his house. When a great boar ravaged the fields of Mysia, Atys was allowed to join the hunt with Adrastus as his guard. Adrastus missed the boar with his spear and hit the son of Croesus (Herodotus, Histories 1.35–43). Croesus did not blame Adrastus, whom he held an unwilling instrument of a god, and after burying his son Adrastus killed himself at the tomb (Herodotus, Histories 1.45).

After two years of mourning, Croesus was roused by the growth of the Persian power under Cyrus and decided to attack it (Herodotus, Histories 1.46). He asked the oracles, and the two oracles he trusted, Delphi and Amphiaraus, gave the same answer: that if he sent an army against the Persians he would destroy a great empire (Herodotus, Histories 1.53.3). He did cross the Halys, and the empire he destroyed was his own. After a siege of fourteen days the Persians took Sardis, and Croesus, who had reigned fourteen years, was brought to Cyrus (Herodotus, Histories 1.86.1).

Cyrus built a pyre and put Croesus on it, bound in chains, with fourteen Lydian boys beside him. As Croesus stood on the pyre, it came to him that Solon had spoken with a god’s help when he said that no one living is fortunate, and after a long silence he groaned and called the name “Solon” three times. Cyrus heard, and had interpreters ask whom he was calling. Croesus told them how Solon the Athenian had come and seen all his wealth, and spoken as if he despised it (Herodotus, Histories 1.86.2–5).

When the interpreters told Cyrus, he relented. He saw that he was burning alive a man who had been as fortunate as himself, feared retribution, and thought how nothing is stable in human affairs. He ordered the fire put out, but they could not master it. Then, the Lydians say, Croesus called on Apollo, and out of a clear, windless sky clouds gathered and a violent rain put out the fire (Herodotus, Histories 1.86.6–1.87.2). Cyrus took Croesus down from the pyre, set him beside him and treated him with great consideration; Croesus afterwards became his adviser (Herodotus, Histories 1.88–90). The Pythia later told the Lydians that Croesus had paid for the crime of an ancestor of the fifth generation, who had killed his master and taken his kingdom (Herodotus, Histories 1.91.1).

Solon and Croesus Sources

The story is told by Herodotus, Histories 1.29–45 (Solon’s visit, Atys and Adrastus), 1.46–53 (the oracles), 1.84–91 (the fall of Sardis and the pyre). Plutarch, Solon 27, gives a later version and discusses the chronology. For Solon among the Seven Sages see Pausanias 10.24.1.

See Also: Croesus, Cleobis, Hera, Apollo