Despite the crazy costumes used in this painting, there is a serious philosophical question behind it: what is happiness?<\/p>\n
You may have heard the phrases “rich as Croesus” or “richer than Croesus” and wondered what they meant. Croesus\u00a0was the King of Lydia (in what is now modern-day Turkey) in the 6th century BC and was renowned in the ancient world for his wealth.<\/p>\n
The central figure wearing the extraordinary feathered crown\u00a0in this painting is Croesus and the older man on the right is Solon, an Athenian statesman. According to the ancient historian Herodotus, Croesus and Solon debated the subject “which man is happy?”. Croesus believed that his wealth secured his happiness,\u00a0but Solon advised\u00a0him, “Count no man happy until he be dead”, meaning that real happiness is fickle. \u00a0The bottom half of the painting is missing, but it represented a pile of riches that Croesus is pointing at.<\/p>\n
Croesus dismissed Solon’s\u00a0advice, but found his wealth could not shield him from the premature death\u00a0of his son Atys (the young boy in the picture) and the loss of his kingdom to the Persian king Cyrus the Great. Croesus was said to have only acknowledged the wisdom of Solon whilst waiting to be executed by Cyrus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Despite the crazy costumes used in this painting, there is a serious philosophical question behind it: what is happiness? You may have heard the phrases “rich as Croesus” or “richer than Croesus” and wondered what they meant. Croesus\u00a0was the King of Lydia (in what is now modern-day Turkey) in the 6th century BC and was … Continue reading Croesus and Solon<\/span>