“Yet here I sit and guzzle wine of Kyros.”

–Conan to Tito regarding the drink he is enjoying, The Hour of the Dragon

A peculiarity of the Conan pastiches is that a number of places which are not immediately tied to a particular country are generally placed in the Lands of Shem. Akbitana, Ghaza, Sabatea, and Kyros are all dumped in the Shemite wastebasket, and while it’s easy to understand some placements, I can’t help but feel that the five places are suffering from dislocation.

The first of these I’m looking at will be Kyros. It isn’t even clear whether this is a place at all: I could imagine Kyros being the name of the vineyard’s family, or even a brand name. Kyros is a popular family name among Greeks. However, the phrase “wine of Kyros” indicates that it is indeed a place name: referring to a person would result in a more possessive “Kyros’ Wine,” while a brand would probably be “Kyros Wine.”

As with a few Howard names, Kyros is rather deceptive. The name is most assuredly Greek: it is a term for “master,” and is itself a translation of Cyrus–as in Cyrus the Great, one of the first great men of history. There is also Kyros of Constantinople, the Orthodox Patriarch during the time of Justinian II. However, the fact that wine of Kyros appears to be of a particular quality–being something of a wine connoisseur, Conan would know–casts doubt on a Persian allusion, as I’m not aware of Persian wine being of special historical esteem.

A closer match would be the large Greek island of Chios. Immediately, the assonance of Kyros to Chios is noticeable. More importantly, Chios was one of the largest exporters of Greek wine in the classical period. Chian wine was considered among the finest wines in the world, the Chateau Margaux of antiquity. Hundreds of Chian amphorae have been excavated in Athens, indicating its popularity, despite being one of the most expensive vintages. Hellenic scholars like Hermippus attest to its quality, and Roman-era luminaries Plutarch, Pliny, Strabo, Galen, and Athenaios also praise Chian wine.

Howard’s familiarity with those classical figures indicates the very likely possibility he came upon Chios and its wine there, but there are also references by his favourite authors. Edgar Allan Poe, in “Shadow–A Parable,” contains the following phrase:

“Over some flasks of the red Chian wine, within the walls of a noble hall, in a dim city called Ptolemais, we sat, at night, a company of seven.”

So we have an idea to the “what” of Kyros, now how about the “where”? For the reasons above, I don’t think it’s in Shem: Cyrus seems to be a red-herring of a sort. The climate necessary for wine growth restricts it to warmed parts of the continent, though since even Nemedia has vineyards, earth was generally warmer during the Hyborian Age. Since Conan is in Messantia in The Hour of the Dragon, that would indicate Kyros was close enough to deliver the wine without it spoiling: either in Argos itself, or the the nearby nations of Zingara, Aquilonia, Ophir or Koth. There is no indications that Kyros is in Aquilonia: the name doesn’t fit, even with the non-Latin names Tanasul and Shamar. Zingara can be ruled out, given that the feud between it and Argos makes trade between the nations somewhat unlikely. Though Corinthia’s name is certainly of Greek origin, it’s too far away from Argos: even wine from the westernmost tip of Corinthia would have to travel about 1500 miles to Messantia.

That leaves Ophir and Koth. Both kingdoms have the climate and accessibility necessary. Kyros complements the various Kothic city names in the stories–Khorshemish, Korveka, and the former Kothic provinces Khauran and Khoraja–but the betrayal of Koth twenty years ago may still sting in the memory of Argos. Ophir then seems like a good bet, with certain Greco-Roman names of people (Theteles, Chelkus, Moranthes, Amalrus) sufficiently similar to support a placement in Ophir.

There’s always another possibility: Kyros is an independent city-state, like Yaralet or the unnamed city of “Rogues in the House.” Howard noted that there was a series of “buffer states” along the Corinthian-Zamorian border in his letter to Miller, though he didn’t explicitly depict them on either of his maps: is there any reason not to suppose that Kyros could occupy its own tiny pocket-realm somewhere near Argos, bypassing the political barriers that may prevent lucrative trade? Like Khauran and Khoraja, it could have been a successful breakaway state, but in the west instead of east of Koth. The war with Prince Almuric must have caused incredible upheaval in the country, and the new state may be allied to Argos as a matter of self-protection.

Then again, perhaps the simplest explanation is the best: Kyros is an Argossean city. Though Argos bears more relation to the maritime Italian kingdoms than to the Greeks, that’s not to say there’s no Hellenic influence at all (as the very name of the nation attests).

Overall, Kyros is very difficult to place. I can see a case to be made for a placement in or around Argos, Koth and Ophir, and have doubts about a placement in Zingara, Corinthia, Aquilonia, or the Shemite meadows. My personal opinion is leaning towards a city-state on the crossroads of Ophir, Koth and Argos: the best of all worlds, as it could be all three and none at the same time. Being a border city, it’s likely to have changed hands several times in the tides of expansion of war. The Greek name even suggests an age of great antiquity: Kyros also complements Acheron and Python, hinting that Kyros could have started out as an Acheronian city before that nation’s fall.

It seems that this is going to remain one of the great mysteries of the Hyborian Age, and although I might be frustrated at an inability to place a marker on a map, perhaps it’s for the best. After all, the Hyborian Age was an age of myth: why shouldn’t there be a little mystery left in it?