The Last King of Lydia

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The personalities of the two men couldn’t be more different and I think that is a compliment to the writing. Almost all the characters and their stories can be found in Herodotus: Solon, Cyrus, Harpagus, Adrastus and the rest. By taking on the might of the Persian Empire in the quest for even more wealth, Croesus meets his match in Cyrus of Persia, an expert military strategist. But then all his riches could not remove the spear from his dying elder son's chest; could not bring his mute younger son to speak; could not make him as wise as his own chief slave; could not bring his wife's love back; could not prevent his army from being torn apart and his kingdom lost.

He is depicted as a naive and inexperienced military strategist, which he certainly was not because he conquered Ionian cities (Ephesus, etc.He is entirely isolated from real life and the necessities of rule, living like a pampered and passive child with his servants and commanders taking the role of parents. To base a novel on the life of Croesus king of Lydia might appear to be easier, I suggest, than it actually is. Ancient mythology seems to be enjoying a surge in popularity of late, with a plethora of books, movies and games based on these ancient legends and fabled heroes.

He comes to realize that his power has limits because "It's a difficult thing, having one's happiness depend on those one cannot control" -- like his son's guaranteed well-being. Set in the Eastern Mediterranean in the 6 th century BCE, this novel, as the name suggests, follows the life of Croesus (the last king of Lydia, in present-day Turkey). In some ways Cyrus can be seen as the inventor of the concept of leaving people alone to worship as they please: “permissively plural,” as Cyrus’s theory is jokingly described by a slave in the novel.Leach successfully summons up scenes of army camps, vast cities, treasuries and pyres with relatively few words, leaving space for understanding the actions, reactions and motivations of the utterly believable characters. Like any good philosopher, Leach doesn’t answer the big questions he asks, but his exploration and hints are the more interesting as a result.

This is a book without large set piece battles or gallons of blood and core but studies the human psyche and emotions.This book probably isn’t for everyone, but it has forced me to re-examine my own perception of life and the meaning *waves hand around randomly* of it all. I will only discuss general aspects of the book rather than specific plot points and therefore consider it a spoiler-free review. He secured the throne after a struggle with a half-Greek half-brother, and completed the subjugation of the Greek cities on the Asia Minor coast.

I would also question whether there is such a close relationship between a king and a slave (Croesus and Isocrates, Cyrus and Croesus), it is just too good to be true. By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Solon disagrees, stating that it can only be truly known that a man is happy by how he meet his death.

I can't claim any expert knowledge on the historical accuracy and I suspect Leach occasionally allows a few modern perspectives to infiltrate the minds of his characters, but for me that is forgivable. Croesus is supposed to be king of an impressive empire, but I didn’t feel as though the story centred me in that empire of vast distances and countless people. In fact, for many of the same reasons, I thought the book compared favorably to another recent fabulistic treatment of semi-mythological classical Greek material, Madeline Miller's "Song of Achilles," a lovely re-telling of the Iliad.