# Solon — The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories character guide

> Solon in The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0048-croesus-and-solon

## Snapshot

The Athenian lawgiver who visits a glittering court and offers its king a truth worth more than all his treasure: count no man happy until he dies.

## Who they are

Solon arrives at Croesus's palace, tours the storerooms of gold, and refuses to flatter, insisting that a life must be judged whole and its ending known before it can be called blessed. His calm refusal to be impressed is the story's quiet provocation. He matters because his words lodge in Croesus's memory and return, unbidden, at the pyre, turning a proverb into a rescue.

## In the story

### [Croesus and Solon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/croesus-and-solon)

The Greek philosopher who teaches Croesus that no man should be called happy until his death.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters/solon
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters