Delphic Oracle Stories and the Beginning of Historiography: Herodotus’ Croesus Logos*

erodotus displays a special interest in beginnings and endings. It is not only the beginnings and endings of his own narratives, his logoi, to which he gave special thought, and which he shaped carefully so that they form patterns of “ring composition.”1 Within the Histories, Herodotus shows a special interest in the beginnings and endings of cities and communities, of empires and states, and, above all, of the people in power.2 Thus, although Herodotus’ underlying theme is the growing antagonism between the barbaric East and the Greek West, erupting in the Persian Wars, his interest in the changing nature of things induces him to follow patterns of beginning and ending, of growth and decay, as a general principle in history.3 From Herodotus’ perspective, King Croesus’ reign over Lydia marked both a beginning and an end: “He was the first foreigner so far as we know to come into direct contact with the Greeks, both in the way of conquest and alliance, forcing tribute from Ionians, Aeolians, and Asiatic Dorians, and forming a pact of friendship with the Lacedaemonians. Before Croesus’ time all the Greeks had been free.”4 At the same time, Croesus’ fall ends the Mermnad monarchy over Lydia. Herodotus devotes a large part of the first book of his Histories to an account of Croesus’ rise and fall.5 What is the significance of the story of this “first man” beyond his appearance as the first king to subdue Greek cities?6 What paradigmatic aspect of history did Herodotus see in the story of Croesus’ rise and fall that induced him to dedicate an extended narrative to the king of Lydia at the beginning of his