List of people mentioned in Herodotus, Book One

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Roman copy (2nd century AD) of a Greek bust of Herodotus from the first half of the 4th century BC.

This article presents a list of people whom Herodotus (c.484–c.425 BC) mentioned in Book One of his major work The Histories. Herodotus presented his theme as "recording the achievements of both our own (Greek) and other peoples; and more particularly, to show how they came into conflict".[1] Structurally, The Histories is sub-divided into nine books, each of which is sometimes named after one of the nine Muses. The work contains numerous digressions but the theme is constant. Although Herodotus' references range from the Trojan War of the 2nd millennium BC to the Peloponnesian War in his own lifetime, the essential scope of the entire work is a record of events from the reign of Cyrus the Great (c.553–c.529 BC) to the defeat of Xerxes I in 479 BC. Book One ends with the death of Cyrus.

Some of the people named by Herodotus are legendary, or at least semi-legendary. Dates and places are given where known and notes are provided to indicate the role and/or importance played by each person in The Histories. Page numbers are those in the Burn/de Sélincourt edition published by Penguin Books in 1975, based on de Sélincourt's 1954 translation.

Key[edit]

Legend
Key Description
Book Book number (Roman numeral) and page number of The Histories (Penguin 1975 edition) in which the person is first mentioned.
Name The name of the individual as given by Herodotus.
State Individual cities were in effect city-states and so a city or a country is appropriate.
Lifetime Birth and death dates are given if known; otherwise a timespan in which the person flourished.
Role, events and notes A brief summary of what the person was or did, according to Herodotus, with optional clarification.
Other sources Other books which verify the Herodotus reference. Some of the more obscure references may be unique to Herodotus.

List[edit]

Book Name State Lifetime Role, events and notes Other
sources
I. 41 Herodotus Halicarnassus c.484–c.425 BC Herodotus began by introducing himself and stating his theme of showing how the Greeks and "other peoples" (principally the Persians) came into conflict. [2]
I. 41 Io Argos legendary Daughter of Inachus. Herodotus says she was seized by Phoenician sailors and taken to Egypt. In wider legend, Io was beloved by Zeus and became the mother of Epaphus, aka Apis, the legendary Egyptian ruler who founded Memphis. [3][4]
I. 41 Inachus Argos legendary King of Argos and father of Io. In wider legend, he was the first-ever Argive king and a river was named after him. [4]
I. 42 Europa Tyre legendary Daughter of Agenor, the Phoenician king of Tyre. Seized by Cretan sailors as revenge for the abduction of Io and taken to Crete. Other legends hold that she was abducted by Zeus and became the mother of Minos. [5]
I. 42 Medea Colchis legendary Daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis. Abducted by Greek sailors as further revenge for the abduction of Io. In other legends, Medea is a sorceress who encounters Jason and the Argonauts, falling in love with Jason. [6][7]
I. 42 Paris Troy legendary Son of Priam, King of Troy. His abduction of Helen, Queen of Sparta, was the catalyst of the Trojan War. [8]
I. 42 Priam Troy legendary King of Troy through the Trojan War. [8]
I. 42 Helen of Troy Sparta legendary Queen of Sparta who was abducted by Paris. The Trojan War was waged because the Greek states united against Troy to return her to Sparta. [8]
I. 43 Maeonians Lydia 2nd millennium BC The Homeric name for the Lydian people in the 2nd millennium. Herodotus says they were known as Maeonian until they took the name Lydian from Lydus. [9]
I. 43 Atys Lydia 2nd millennium BC King of the Maeonians and father of Lydus. [10]
I. 43 Lydus Lydia 2nd millennium BC Succeeded his father Atys as king of the Maeonians and gave his name to the country and its people. His line continued until the time of Agron. [10]
I. 43 Heracles Thebes legendary Mentioned here only as the father of Alcaeus of Lydia and founder of the Heracleidae. [11]
I. 43 Iardanus Lydia legendary Mentioned re his slave-girl with whom Heracles had an affair. [12]
I. 43 Alcaeus Lydia legendary Son of Heracles and a first generation member of the Heracleidae (Heraclids). His mother may have been Omphale. Herodotus asserts that Alcaeus' great-grandson Agron was the first of the Heracleidae to reign at Sardis as king of Lydia. According to Diodorus Siculus, Alcaeus had the alternative name of Cleolaus. See also: List of kings of Lydia. [12]
I. 43 Belus Lydia semi-legendary Son of Alcaeus. Not to be confused with the Assyrian Belus. [10]
I. 43 Ninus Lydia semi-legendary Son of Belus and grandson of Alcaeus. Not to be confused with the Assyrian Ninus. [10]
I. 43 Agron Lydia semi-legendary Son of Ninus, grandson of Belus and great-grandson of Alcaeus. The first Heraclid to rule in Sardis. [10]
I. 44 Myrsus Lydia 8th century BC Heraclid king of Lydia who was also known as Meles. Mentioned briefly as the father of Candaules. [13]
I. 43 Candaules Lydia 8th to 7th century BC Known as Myrsilos by the Greeks. The last Heraclid king of Lydia. [9]
I. 44 Nyssia Lydia 8th to 7th century BC The wife of Candaules and Gyges. Unnamed by Herodotus who tells the story of her exposure to Gyges by Candaules. [13]
I. 43 Mermnadae Lydia c.687–c.546 BC Mentioned as the family of Croesus. The Mermnads succeeded the Heraclids as kings of Lydia. The Mermnad line was Gyges, Ardys, Sadyattes, Alyattes and Croesus. [9]
I. 44 Dascylus Lydia 8th century BC Briefly mentioned as the father of Gyges. [13]
I. 44 Gyges Lydia reigned c.687–c.652 BC First Mermnad king of Lydia, having killed Candaules. [14]
I. 45 Archilochus Paros c.680–c.640 BC His poems survive as fragments and one of these, which Herodotus calls his Satires, is a source for the "wealth of Gyges". [15]
I. 46 Ardys Lydia reigned c.652–c.603 BC King of Lydia who was the son of Gyges. Waged continuous war against the Cimmerian invaders who at one point captured Sardis except for its citadel. [16]
I. 46 Sadyattes Lydia reigned c.603–c.591 BC King of Lydia who was the son of Ardys and the father of Alyattes. Began the war against Miletus which was continued by Alyattes. [17]
I. 43 Alyattes Lydia reigned c.591–560 BC King of Lydia and the father of Croesus. Drove out the Cimmerians and eventually resolved the war against Miletus. Made war on Cyaxares of Media. [18]
I. 43 Croesus Lydia 595–c.546 BC
reigned 560–546 BC 		Introduced as king of all the peoples to the west of the river Halys and (contradicting what is written about Sadyattes and Alyattes) as the first foreigner known to have made direct contact with Greek communities in terms of either conquest or alliance. Croesus overran mainland Aeolis, Doris and Ionia, all of which paid him tribute. He later made a pact of friendship with Sparta. [19]
I. 46 Pythia (priestess of the Delphic Oracle)
I. 46 Cypselus
I. 46 Eëtion
I. 46 Gordias
I. 46 Midas
I. 46 Cyaxares
I. 46 Deioces
I. 70 Syennesis Cilicia early 6th century King of Cilicia who negotiated peace between Lydia and Medea after the solar eclipse on 28 May 585 [20]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Herodotus 1975, p. 41
  2. ^ Bury & Meiggs 1975, pp. 251–252
  3. ^ Hammond & Scullard 1970, p. 549
  4. ^ a b Locke & Savill 1976, p. 208
  5. ^ Locke & Savill 1976, pp. 153–154
  6. ^ Locke & Savill 1976, pp. 140–141
  7. ^ Hesiod (1914) [c.700 BC]. Evelyn-White, Hugh G. (ed.). "Theogony, lines 963–1002". Perseus. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  8. ^ a b c Bury & Meiggs 1975, pp. 42–44
  9. ^ a b c Bury & Meiggs 1975, p. 82
  10. ^ a b c d e Herodotus 1975, p. 43
  11. ^ Locke & Savill 1976, p. 141
  12. ^ a b Diodorus Siculus. Bibliotheca Historica, Book 4.31.5.
  13. ^ a b c Herodotus 1975, p. 44
  14. ^ Bury & Meiggs 1975, pp. 82–83
  15. ^ Aristotle 1999, pp. 93–95
  16. ^ Bury & Meiggs 1975, p. 83
  17. ^ Herodotus 1975, p. 46
  18. ^ Bury & Meiggs 1975, pp. 142–143
  19. ^ Bury & Meiggs 1975, pp. 143–145
  20. ^ Grote 1847, pp. 311–312

Sources[edit]

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