Manes was the eponymous first king of Maeonia, and later came to be known as the first king in line of the primordial house of Lydia

Lydia

Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....

, the Atyad dynasty (see List of Kings of Lydia).

Manes was believed to be a son of Gaia

Gaia (mythology)

Gaia was the primordial Earth-goddess in ancient Greek religion. Gaia was the great mother of all: the heavenly gods and Titans were descended from her union with Uranus , the sea-gods from her union with Pontus , the Giants from her mating with Tartarus and mortal creatures were sprung or born...

 and Zeus

Zeus

In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

. Herodotus, in his account of the colonization of Tyrrhenia (Book 1:94), makes Manes the father of king Atys Later, Herodotus states (Book 4:45) that Cotys was Manes' son, and Asies his grandson for whom the Lydians believed Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 had been named. This genealogy is preserved by Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Dionysius of Halicarnassus

Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus. His literary style was Attistic — imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime.-Life:...

.

The exact relationship between the names Maeonia and Lydia, named after Lydus

Lydus

Lydus was the third king of Maeonia in succession to his father Atys. He was the third and last king of the Atyad dynasty. According to Herodotus, Maeonia became known as Lydia after Lydus's reign.-See also:*List of Kings of Lydia...

, son of Atys and grandson or great-grandson of Manes, remains a matter of debate. They may have been successive names for one country, or different parts of the same realm.

In what could be an error rather than independent tradition, Strabo

Strabo

Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...

 makes Atys, son or grandson of Manes, to be one of the descendants of Omphale

Omphale

In Greek mythology, Omphale was a daughter of Iardanus, either a king of Lydia, or a river-god. Omphale was queen of the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor; according to Bibliotheke she was the wife of Tmolus, the oak-clad mountain king of Lydia; after he was gored to death by a bull, she continued...

 and Heracles

Heracles

Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...

, the founders of the next dynasty of Tylonids (or Heraclids) — Omphale having reigned as Queen of Lydia after the death of her husband Tmolus

Tmolus

Tmolus was a King of Lydia and husband to Omphale. He is the eponymous namesake of Mount Tmolus , which lies in Lydia with the Lydian capital at its foot and Hypaepa on its southern slope...

, and Heracles having been first her slave then her husband. All other accounts place Atys and Lydus, and Tyrrhenus

Tyrrhenus

In Etruscan mythology, Tyrrhenus was one of the founders of the Etruscan Federation of twelve cities, along with his brother Tarchon. Herodotus describes him as the saver of Etruscans, because he led them from Lydia to Etruria. His name was given to the Etruscan people by the Greek. The Romans...

brother of Lydus, among the pre-Tylonid kings of Lydia.