Lydia

An ancient kingdom in western Asia Minor.

Lydia was named after Lydus and ruled by the descendants of Herakles (Heracles) for 505 years from the rule of Agron until the time of Kandaules (Candaules).

Kandaules was a vain and boastful man with a beautiful wife; his obsession with his wife’s beauty caused him to make a foolish mistake; he allowed his bodyguard, Gyges, to see his wife naked, which was an untenable breach of social morality; when Kandaules’ wife found out that she had been exposed, she forced Gyges into the no-win situation of either killing Kandaules or admitting his crime; admitting his crime would have been certain death and killing Kandaules might result in a popular revolt; Gyges chose to kill Kandaules and declare his right to rule Lydia.

Gyges proposed that the matter be left to the oracle at Delphi and he would rule or step down as the oracle commanded; the oracle proclaimed him king with the stipulation that in five generations his descendants would lose power; his descendants ruled Lydia until the time of Kroesus (Croesus) when it was reduced to a fiefdom of the Persian Empire during the reign of Xerxes; Kroesus, the fifth generation descendant of Gyges, was made into a slave of the Persian king.