Page:History of Greece Vol III.djvu/239

 GYGES. 223 however, we acquire from Xanthus, the distribution of Lydia Into two parts, Lydia proper and Torrhebia, which he traces to the two sons of Atys, Lydus and Torrhebus ; he states that the dialect of the Lydians and Torrhebians differed much in the same degree as that of Doric and Ionic Greeks. 1 Torrhebia appears to have included the valley of the Kai'ster, south of Tmolus, and near to the frontiers of Karia. With Gyges, the Mermnad king, commences the series of ag- gressions from Sardis upon the Asiatic Greeks, which ultimately ended in their subjection. Gyges invaded the territories of Mi- letus and Smyrna, and even took the city, probably not the cita- del, of Kolophon. Though he thus, however, made war upon the Asiatic Greeks, he was munificent in his donations to the Grecian god of Delphi, and his numerous as well as costly offerings were seen in the temple by Herodotus. Elegiac compositions of the poet Mimnermus celebrated the valor of the Smyrnasans in their battle with Gyges. 2 We hear also, in a story which bears the impress of Lydian more than of Grecian fancy, of a beautiful youth of Smyrna named Magnes, to whom Gyges was attached, and who incurred the displeasure of his countrymen for having composed verses in celebration of the victories of the Lydians over the Amazons. To avenge the ill-treatment received by this youth, Gyges attacked the territory of Magnesia (probably Mag- nesia on Sipylus) and after a considerable struggle took the city. 3 How far the Lydian kingdom of Sardis extended during the reign of Gyges, we have no means of ascertaining. Strabo alleges that the whole Troad 4 belonged to him, and that the Greek settlement of Abydus on the Hellespont was established by the Milesians only under his auspices. On what authority this statement is made, we are not told, and it appears doubtful, especially as so many legendary anecdotes are connected with tho name of Gyges. This prince reigned (according to Herodotus) tliirty-eight years, and was succeeded by his son Ardys,who reign- ed forty-nine years (about u. c. 678-629). We learn that he 1 Xanthi Fragm. 1, 2; Dionvs. Halik. A. R. i, 28; Stcphan. Byz. T, Tcp- Wpof. The whole genealogy given by Dionysius is probably borrowed from Xanthus, Zeus, Manes, Kotys, Asies and Atys, Lydus and Torrhebus. 3 Nikolans Damasc. p. 52, ed. Orelli. 4 Strabo. xiii, p. 59tt
 * Herod, i, 14; Pausan. ix, 29, 2.