CRESUS. Croesus (ruled 560-545 B.C.) was the last king of Lydia and was famous for his wealth. Cyrus, king of Persia who defeated Croesus, ordered his death by fire. As Croesus mounted the pyre, he called on Solon, the great Athenian statesman, and Cyrus, impressed, spared his life (Herodotus, Histories I.29-90).

The rich Cresus, wretched in servitude, appears on the walls of Venus's oratory, KnT 1946-1949, illustrating that riches cannot rival Venus. The Monk narrates the story of Cresus's death to show how Fortune assails the thrones of the proud, MkT 2727-2766. Chaucer's immediate source may have been RR 6489-6622, which relates Croesus's dreams of Jupiter and Phoebus. Chauntecleer tells of Cresus's warning dream: he dreamed that he sat on a tree, which meant that he would be hanged, NPT 3138-3140. Cresus has an avisioun or warning dream that he would die on the gibbet, HF I.104-106. Lady Philosophy tells that when Cresus was led to the pyre to be burnt, after Cyrus had defeated him, the rain came down and saved him, Bo II, Prosa 2.58-63, illustrating the way Fortune works. [Phanye]

Cresus, the French variant, appears once initially, HF I.105; and five times in medial positions, KnT 1946; MkT 2727, 2728, 3759; NPT 3138.