Atys (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

: Ἄτυς) is a legendary figure of the 2nd millennium BC who is attested by

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...

to have been an early king of

Lydia Lydia ( Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkish pro ...

, then probably known as Maeonia. He was the son of

Manes In ancient Roman religion, the ''Manes'' (, , ) or ''Di Manes'' are chthonic deities sometimes thought to represent souls of deceased loved ones. They were associated with the '' Lares'', '' Lemures,'' '' Genii'', and ''Di Penates'' as deities ( ...

and the father of

Lydus Lydus ( Ancient Greek: Λυδός), a son of Atys and Callithea, grandson of Manes, and brother of Tyrrhenus or Torybus, is a legendary figure of the 2nd millennium BC who is attested by Herodotus to have been an early king of Lydia, then prob ...

, after whom the Lydian people were later named. Herodotus recounts that Maeonia was beset by severe famine during Atys' reign. To help them endure hunger, the Maeonians developed various expedients including

dice Dice (singular die or dice) are small, throwable objects with marked sides that can rest in multiple positions. They are used for generating random values, commonly as part of tabletop games, including dice games, board games, role-playing ...

knucklebones Knucklebones, also known as scatter jacks, snobs, astragalus, tali, dibs, fivestones, jacks, or jackstones, among many other names, is a game of dexterity played with a number of small objects that are thrown up, caught, and manipulated in va ...

and

ball game This is a list of ball games and ball sports that include a ball as a key element in the activity, usually for scoring points. Ball games Ball sports fall within many sport categories, some sports within multiple categories, including: *Bat-and- ...

s. The idea was that they would eat every other day only. On the interim days when they fasted, they would play games all day to distract their minds from hunger. Herodotus says they lived like that for eighteen years. Eventually, Atys decided to halve the population, one half to remain in Maeonia and the other half to leave and found a colony elsewhere. Lots were drawn and Atys appointed himself to stay while one of his sons,

Tyrrhenus In Etruscan mythology, Tyrrhenus (in el, Τυῤῥηνός) was one of the founders of the Etruscan League of twelve cities, along with his brother Tarchon. Herodotus describes him as the saviour of the Etruscans, because he led them from Lydia t ...

, led the colonists to

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

where they settled and became known as

Tyrrhenians Tyrrhenians (Attic Greek: ''Turrhēnoi'') or Tyrsenians ( Ionic: ''Tursēnoi''; Doric: ''Tursānoi'') was the name used by the ancient Greeks authors to refer, in a generic sense, to non-Greek people. While ancient sources have been interp ...

. The native Greco-Lydian historian

Xanthus Xanthus (; grc, Ξάνθος, ''Xanthos'', "yellow, blond") or Xanthos may refer to: In Greek mythology * Xanthos (King of Thebes), the son of Ptolemy, killed by Andropompus or Melanthus *Xanthus (mythology), several figures, including gods, men, ...

, who wrote in Ionian Greek slightly after Herodotus on the history of Lydia known as Lydiaca (Λυδιακά), though his work survives only in fragments, also affirmed that King Atys was father to two sons, Lydus and Torubus, who he says parted company, splitting the Maeonian nation into two, Lydians and "Torubians". Atys was claimed by

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...

and to have been a descendant of

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

and

Omphale In Greek mythology, Omphale (; Ancient Greek: Ὀμφάλη) was queen of the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor. Diodorus Siculus provides the first appearance of the Omphale theme in literature, though Aeschylus was aware of the episode. The Gree ...

, ''

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

''
5.2.2

Notes

References

* *

, '' The Histories'' with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920.
Online version at the Topos Text Project.Greek text available at Perseus Digital Library
*

, ''Geography'', Editors, H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A., London. George Bell & Sons. 1903
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
Kings of Lydia Kings in Greek mythology {{Greek-myth-stub hu:Atüsz

See also

Notes

References