directly descended from the related Luwian language. Several groups speaking Hittite-related languages continued to exist in Asia Minor for many centuries after the Hittite Empire had passed into history. Lycia occupied a strategic position between Europe and the Near East. The Greek and Persian worlds met in Lycia, and the Lycians were heavily influenced by both. At one period Persian influence would dominate and at another, Greek, resulting in Lycian culture being an amalgam of both. Greek influence is found in Lycia from an early date. The Lycian alphabet is derived from Rhodian Greek, with borrowings from other alphabets, possibly Phoenician. The country was conquered by Harpagus in 540 BC, who was acting for the Persians. Lycia's culture was influenced by its annexation into the Persian Empire, but also by its neighbours, the Ionian Greeks. The influence of Greek culture increased after Xerxes' army was defeated at the Battle of Plataea by Greek forces in 479 BC. Kybernis, for whom the Harpy Tomb is thought to have been built, may have died as a consequence of wounds he received in the defeat of Xerxes, either at Plataea or the naval battle of Salamis. He was succeeded by Kuprlli, and then Kheriga, who took an Iranian name and appeared to be pro-Persian. After Alexander the Great's conquest of the country rapid Hellenisation took place in Lycia, and its culture became subsumed in the Greek. Mythology Lycia features heavily in Greek mythology. The Titan goddess Leto fled to Lycia after giving birth, or in order to give birth, to Apollo and Artemis. The Lycians play a part in the Iliad, under their leader Sarpedon, as allies of Troy. Bellerophon killed the fire-breathing monster Chimera which was ravaging Lycia. These stories may well not have originally been part of Lycian mythology, but may have been borrowed from the Greek. The Greek goddess Leto, for example, may have been equated with the Lycian mother goddess. Having incorporated Leto into their pantheon, the rest of the Greek stories followed naturally. Certainly, the temple to Leto was of some importance in Xanthos. It would appear that the Lycians actively encouraged this synthesis in order to promote themselves as part of the Greek family. Another story from Greek mythology concerns the origin of the name of the country. According to the myth, Lycia is named after Lycus, the son of Pandion, king of Athens. Prior to Lycus