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How did Croesus misunderstand the Delphic oracle's prediction about war with Persia?
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Greek religion
The gods on Olympus: Athena, Zeus, Dionysus, Hera, and Aphrodite. Detail of a painting on a Greek cup; in the National Archaeological Museum, Tarquinia, Italy.
Before launching his military campaign against the Persians, King Croesus of Lydia consulted the Delphic oracle to determine the outcome of the conflict. The oracle famously predicted that if he marched against the Persians, he would "destroy a great empire."12
Croesus misinterpreted this prophecy by assuming it guaranteed his victory over the rising Persian power led by Cyrus the Great. He proceeded with the invasion without considering the possibility that the "great empire" destined for destruction was his own. Ultimately, the Lydian forces were defeated, and Croesus’s kingdom was absorbed into the expanding Persian Empire, proving that the oracle’s ambiguous prediction referred to the fall of Lydia rather than the Persian state.123