Mnemosyne — Classical Greek Myth Library

When Solon of Athens visited Croesus at Sardis, the king asked who was the happiest of men, expecting his own name. Solon named Tellus first, then—as second—the Argive brothers Cleobis and Biton. Their mother was a priestess of Hera; the oxen were late to draw her wagon to the goddess’s festival temple. The young men yoked themselves under the yoke and dragged her the forty-five stadia to the Heraion. There the people blessed the mother’s fortune in such sons; she stood before the image and prayed that Hera give Cleobis and Biton whatever is best for a human being. After the sacrifice and feast the brothers lay down in the temple and did not rise: the goddess had taken their lives in sleep—death as the finest gift. The Argives dedicated statues of them at Delphi, which Herodotus says still stood in his day. The tale is a piety legend: filial strength, festival duty, and a divine answer that redefines happiness as a timely, honored end rather than long wealth. It anchors Solon’s warning to Croesus that no living man should be called blessed until he has finished life well.