Adrastus (2)Adrestos

The son of Gordius and the grandson of king Midas.

Adrastus accidentally killed his brother and was banished from Phrygia by his father; he went to Lydia as a supplicant and was absolved of his blood-guilt by the king of Lydia, Kroesus (Croesus).

Kroesus had a dream that his son, Atys, was going to die on the point of an iron spear and became very protective of Atys; when Atys went to nearby Mysia to help rid that country of a rampaging wild boar, Kroesus ordered Adrastus to accompany Atys as his guardian and protector; during the hunt, Adrastus accidentally killed Atys with his iron spear just as the dream had predicted.

When he returned to Lydia, Adrastus confessed his guilt but Kroesus said that Atys’ death was the will of the Immortals and that Adrastus was not to blame.

Adrastus believed that the accidental murder of his brother and Atys was nothing less than a curse and, to forestall any further innocent bloodshed, he committed suicide by cutting his own throat over Atys’ grave.

Although his name is more properly rendered as Adrestos, it is almost always translated as Adrastus.

• Histories, book 1, chapters 34-45