Gyges of Lydia
Encyclopedia
Gyges was the founder of the third or Mermnad dynasty of Lydia
n kings and reigned from 716 BC to 678 BC (or from c. 680-644 BCE ). He was succeeded by his son Ardys II
.
Authors throughout history have told differing stories of Gyges's rise to power. Gyges was the son of Dascylus
. Dascylus was recalled from banishment in Cappadocia
by the Lydian king Candaules
and sent his son back to Lydia instead of himself.
According to Nicolaus of Damascus
, Gyges soon became a favourite of Candaules and was dispatched by him to fetch Tudo, the daughter of Arnossus of Mysia, whom the Lydian king wished to make his queen. On the way Gyges fell in love with Tudo, who complained to Sadyates of his conduct. Forewarned that the king intended to punish him with death, Gyges assassinated Candaules in the night and seized the throne.
In his turn, the Lydia
n king took as his paidika Magnes, a handsome youth from Smyrna
noted for his elegant clothes and fancy korymbos hairstyle which he bound with a golden band. One day he was singing poetry to the local women, which outraged their male relatives, who grabbed Magnes, stripped him of his clothes and cut off his hair.
According to Plutarch
, Gyges seized power with the help of Arselis of Mylasa, the captain of the Lydian bodyguard, whom he had won over to his cause.
In the account of Herodotus
, which may be traced to the poet Archilochus of Paros, Candaules insisted upon showing Gyges his wife when unrobed, which so enraged her that she gave Gyges the choice of murdering her husband and making himself king, or of being put to death himself.
Finally, in the more allegorical account of Plato
(Republic, II), a parallel account may be found. Here, Gyges was a shepherd
, who discovered a magic ring
by means of which he murdered the King and won the affection of the Queen. This account bears marked similarity to that of Herodotus.
In all cases, civil war
ensued on the death of the King, which was only ended when Gyges sought to justify his ascendence to the throne by petitioning for the approval of the Oracle at Delphi.
According to Herodotus, he plied the Oracle with numerous gifts, notably six mixing bowls minted of gold extracted from the Pactolus
river weighing thirty talents— an amount which would fetch over US$13 million at 2006 prices. The Oracle confirmed Gyges as the rightful Lydian King, gave moral support to the Lydians over the Asian Greeks, and also claimed that the dynasty of Gyges would be powerful, but due to his usurpation of the throne would fall in the fifth generation. This claim was later proven true, though perhaps by the machination of the Oracle's successor. Gyges's 4th descendant, Croesus
, lost the kingdom after misunderstanding a prophecy of the later Oracle, and fatefully attacking the Persian
armies of Cyrus the Great
.
He captured Colophon, already largely Lydianized in tastes and customs and Magnesia on the Maeander
, the only other Aeolian
colony in the largely Ionian
southern Aegean
coast of Anatolia, and probably also Sipylus
, whose successor was to become the city also named Magnesia
in later records. Smyrna
was besieged and alliances were entered into with Ephesus
and Miletus
. To the north, the Troad was brought under Lydian control.
The armies of Gyges pushed back the Cimmeria
ns, who had ravaged Asia Minor
and caused the fall of Phrygia. During his campaigns against the Cimmerians, an embassy was sent to Assur-bani-pal at Nineveh
in the hope of obtaining his help against the Cimmerians. But the Assyrians were otherwise engaged, and Gyges turned to Egypt
, sending his faithful Carians
troops along with Ionia
n mercenaries to assist Psammetichus
in shaking off the Assyrian yoke.
Gyges later fell in a battle against the Cimmerii under Dugdamme
(called Lygdamis by Strabo
i. 3. 21 — who probably mistook the Greek Delta Δ for a Lambda Λ), who had previously advanced as far as the town of Sardis
. Gyges was succeeded by his son Ardys II
.
Many Bible
scholars believe that Gyges of Lydia was the Biblical figure of Gog
, ruler of Magog
, who is mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel
and the Book of Revelation
.
of Phrygia and even the more historically documented Alexander III of Macedon ("the Great"), Gyges was subject to mythologizing. The motives for such stories are many; one possibility is that the myths embody religious beliefs or practices.
In the second book of Plato
's philosophical work The Republic, Socrates encounters a man named Glaucon
who uses a mythological story to prove a point about human nature. Ultimately, Glaucon and Socrates have very different interpretations of the same tale.
The story of Gyges's ring was a well-known myth before Plato used it in his book. It told of a man named Gyges who lived in Lydia, an area in modern Turkey. He was a shepherd for the king of that land. One day, there was an earthquake while Gyges was out in the fields, and he noticed that a new cave had opened up in a rock face. When he went in to see what was there, he noticed a gold ring on the finger of a former king who had been buried in the cave. He took the ring away with him and soon discovered that it allowed the wearer to become invisible. The next time he went to the palace to give the king a report about his sheep, he put the ring on, seduced the queen, killed the king, and took control of the palace.
Plato used the story as a metaphor for the corruption caused by power. In "The Republic" Glaucon recounts the story of the Ring of Gyges to Socrates. Glaucon argues that men are inherently unjust, and are only restrained from unjust behavior by the fetters of law and society. In Glaucon's view, unlimited power blurs the difference between just and unjust men. "Suppose there were two such magic rings," he tells Socrates, "and the just [man] put on one of them and the unjust the other; no man can be imagined to be of such an iron nature that he would stand fast in justice. No man would keep his hands off what was not his own when he could safely what he liked out of the market or go into houses and lie with anyone at his pleasure, or kill or release from prison whom he would, and in all respects be like a god among men. Then the actions of the just would be as the actions of the unjust; they would both come at last to the same point."
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....
n kings and reigned from 716 BC to 678 BC (or from c. 680-644 BCE ). He was succeeded by his son Ardys II
Ardys II
Ardys II was the twenty-seventh king of Lydia, and second king of the Mermnad dynasty, the son of King Gyges of Lydia; see List of Kings of Lydia...
.
Allegorical accounts of Gyges' rise to power
Dascylus
In Greek mythology, Dascylus or Daskylos is a name that may refer to:*A king who ruled over Mysia or Mariandyne. He is presumably the eponym of the coastal city of Dascylaeum or Dascylium . The wife of Dascylus was Anthemoisia, daughter of Lycus, and he was the father of sons named Lycus,...
. Dascylus was recalled from banishment in Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
by the Lydian king Candaules
Candaules
Candaules , also known as Myrsilos was a king of the ancient Kingdom of Lydia from 735 BC to 718 BC. He succeeded Meles and was followed by Gyges...
and sent his son back to Lydia instead of himself.
According to Nicolaus of Damascus
Nicolaus of Damascus
Nicolaus of Damascus was a Greek historian and philosopher who lived during the Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his birthplace, Damascus. He was born around 64 BC....
, Gyges soon became a favourite of Candaules and was dispatched by him to fetch Tudo, the daughter of Arnossus of Mysia, whom the Lydian king wished to make his queen. On the way Gyges fell in love with Tudo, who complained to Sadyates of his conduct. Forewarned that the king intended to punish him with death, Gyges assassinated Candaules in the night and seized the throne.
In his turn, the 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....
n king took as his paidika Magnes, a handsome youth from Smyrna
Smyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
noted for his elegant clothes and fancy korymbos hairstyle which he bound with a golden band. One day he was singing poetry to the local women, which outraged their male relatives, who grabbed Magnes, stripped him of his clothes and cut off his hair.
According to Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
, Gyges seized power with the help of Arselis of Mylasa, the captain of the Lydian bodyguard, whom he had won over to his cause.
In the account of Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
, which may be traced to the poet Archilochus of Paros, Candaules insisted upon showing Gyges his wife when unrobed, which so enraged her that she gave Gyges the choice of murdering her husband and making himself king, or of being put to death himself.
Finally, in the more allegorical account of Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
(Republic, II), a parallel account may be found. Here, Gyges was a shepherd
Shepherd
A shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...
, who discovered a magic ring
Ring of Gyges
The Ring of Gyges is a mythical magical artifact mentioned by the philosopher Plato in book 2 of his Republic . It granted its owner the power to become invisible at will...
by means of which he murdered the King and won the affection of the Queen. This account bears marked similarity to that of Herodotus.
In all cases, civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
ensued on the death of the King, which was only ended when Gyges sought to justify his ascendence to the throne by petitioning for the approval of the Oracle at Delphi.
According to Herodotus, he plied the Oracle with numerous gifts, notably six mixing bowls minted of gold extracted from the Pactolus
Pactolus
Pactolus is a river near the Aegean coast of Turkey. The river rises from Mount Tmolus, flows through the ruins of the ancient city of Sardis, and empties into the Gediz River, the ancient Hermus. The Pactolus once contained electrum that was the basis of the economy of the ancient state of Lydia...
river weighing thirty talents— an amount which would fetch over US$13 million at 2006 prices. The Oracle confirmed Gyges as the rightful Lydian King, gave moral support to the Lydians over the Asian Greeks, and also claimed that the dynasty of Gyges would be powerful, but due to his usurpation of the throne would fall in the fifth generation. This claim was later proven true, though perhaps by the machination of the Oracle's successor. Gyges's 4th descendant, Croesus
Croesus
Croesus was the king of Lydia from 560 to 547 BC until his defeat by the Persians. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Hellenes, providing a fixed point in their calendar. "By the fifth century at least," J.A.S...
, lost the kingdom after misunderstanding a prophecy of the later Oracle, and fatefully attacking the Persian
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
armies of Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
.
Reign and death
Once established on the throne, Gyges devoted himself to consolidating his kingdom and making it a military power, although exactly how far the Lydian kingdom extended under his reign is difficult to ascertain.He captured Colophon, already largely Lydianized in tastes and customs and Magnesia on the Maeander
Magnesia on the Maeander
Magnesia or Magnesia on the Maeander was an ancient Greek city in Anatolia, considerable in size, at an important location commercially and strategically in the triangle of Priene, Ephesus and Tralles. The city was named Magnesia, after the Magnetes from Thessaly who settled the area along with...
, the only other Aeolian
Aeolians
The Aeolians were one of the four major ancient Greek tribes comprising Ancient Greeks. Their name derives from Aeolus, the mythical ancestor of the Aeolic branch and son of Hellen, the mythical patriarch of the Greek nation...
colony in the largely Ionian
Ionians
The Ionians were one of the four major tribes into which the Classical Greeks considered the population of Hellenes to have been divided...
southern Aegean
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
coast of Anatolia, and probably also Sipylus
Mount Sipylus
Mount Spil , the ancient Mount Sipylus , is a mountain rich in legends and history in Manisa Province, Turkey, in what used to be the heartland of the Lydians and what is now Turkey's Aegean Region....
, whose successor was to become the city also named Magnesia
Manisa
Manisa is a large city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province.Modern Manisa is a booming center of industry and services, advantaged by its closeness to the international port city and the regional metropolitan center of İzmir and by its fertile hinterland rich in...
in later records. Smyrna
Smyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
was besieged and alliances were entered into with Ephesus
Ephesus
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...
and Miletus
Miletus
Miletus was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia , near the mouth of the Maeander River in ancient Caria...
. To the north, the Troad was brought under Lydian control.
The armies of Gyges pushed back the Cimmeria
Cimmeria
Cimmeria may refer to:*Cimmeria, an ancient name of the Crimea, a peninsula in the North part of Black Sea, or the Eastern part thereof*Cimmerians, an ancient people who lived in the south of modern-day Ukraine in the 8th and 7th century BC, usually associated with the ancient Cimmeria or Crimea...
ns, who had ravaged Asia Minor
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
and caused the fall of Phrygia. During his campaigns against the Cimmerians, an embassy was sent to Assur-bani-pal at Nineveh
Nineveh
Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq....
in the hope of obtaining his help against the Cimmerians. But the Assyrians were otherwise engaged, and Gyges turned to Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, sending his faithful Carians
Carians
The Carians were the ancient inhabitants of Caria in southwest Anatolia.-Historical accounts:It is not clear when the Carians enter into history. The definition is dependent on corresponding Caria and the Carians to the "Karkiya" or "Karkisa" mentioned in the Hittite records...
troops along with Ionia
Ionia
Ionia is an ancient region of central coastal Anatolia in present-day Turkey, the region nearest İzmir, which was historically Smyrna. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements...
n mercenaries to assist Psammetichus
Psammetichus
Psammetichus or Psamtik was the name of three Egyptian pharaohs of the 26th Saite Dynasty.*Psammetichus I*Psammetichus II*Psammetichus III...
in shaking off the Assyrian yoke.
Gyges later fell in a battle against the Cimmerii under Dugdamme
Tugdamme
Tugdamme was Cimmerian king of the mid-seventh century BC.Tugdamme's legacy began sometime around 660 BCE. It seems that his first known attacks were against the Greek coastal cities in Asia Minor. In 653 BCE he began to push at the mighty Assyrian Empire during the reign of Ashurbanipal...
(called Lygdamis by 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...
i. 3. 21 — who probably mistook the Greek Delta Δ for a Lambda Λ), who had previously advanced as far as the town of Sardis
Sardis
Sardis or Sardes was an ancient city at the location of modern Sart in Turkey's Manisa Province...
. Gyges was succeeded by his son Ardys II
Ardys II
Ardys II was the twenty-seventh king of Lydia, and second king of the Mermnad dynasty, the son of King Gyges of Lydia; see List of Kings of Lydia...
.
Many Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
scholars believe that Gyges of Lydia was the Biblical figure of Gog
Gog
Gog, Gogg or Gogs may refer to:Biblical:* Gog and MagogPeople:* Anikó Góg, Hungarian triathlete* Gog or "gogledd", a person from North Wales from the Welsh word for "north"...
, ruler of Magog
Magog (Bible)
Magog, Hebrew מגוג, Greek Μαγωγ, [ ma'gog ], is the second of the seven sons of Japheth mentioned in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10. It may represent Hebrew for "from Gog", though this is far from certain....
, who is mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....
and the Book of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
.
The mythical Gyges
Like many kings of early antiquity, including MidasMidas
For the legend of Gordias, a person who was taken by the people and made King, in obedience to the command of the oracle, see Gordias.Midas or King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for his ability to turn everything he touched into gold. This was called the Golden touch, or the...
of Phrygia and even the more historically documented Alexander III of Macedon ("the Great"), Gyges was subject to mythologizing. The motives for such stories are many; one possibility is that the myths embody religious beliefs or practices.
In the second book of Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
's philosophical work The Republic, Socrates encounters a man named Glaucon
Glaucon
Glaucon son of Ariston, was the philosopher Plato's older brother. He is primarily known as a major conversant with Socrates in Republic, and the interlocutor during the Allegory of the Cave...
who uses a mythological story to prove a point about human nature. Ultimately, Glaucon and Socrates have very different interpretations of the same tale.
The story of Gyges's ring was a well-known myth before Plato used it in his book. It told of a man named Gyges who lived in Lydia, an area in modern Turkey. He was a shepherd for the king of that land. One day, there was an earthquake while Gyges was out in the fields, and he noticed that a new cave had opened up in a rock face. When he went in to see what was there, he noticed a gold ring on the finger of a former king who had been buried in the cave. He took the ring away with him and soon discovered that it allowed the wearer to become invisible. The next time he went to the palace to give the king a report about his sheep, he put the ring on, seduced the queen, killed the king, and took control of the palace.
Plato used the story as a metaphor for the corruption caused by power. In "The Republic" Glaucon recounts the story of the Ring of Gyges to Socrates. Glaucon argues that men are inherently unjust, and are only restrained from unjust behavior by the fetters of law and society. In Glaucon's view, unlimited power blurs the difference between just and unjust men. "Suppose there were two such magic rings," he tells Socrates, "and the just [man] put on one of them and the unjust the other; no man can be imagined to be of such an iron nature that he would stand fast in justice. No man would keep his hands off what was not his own when he could safely what he liked out of the market or go into houses and lie with anyone at his pleasure, or kill or release from prison whom he would, and in all respects be like a god among men. Then the actions of the just would be as the actions of the unjust; they would both come at last to the same point."
Influence on modern works
- Théophile GautierThéophile GautierPierre Jules Théophile Gautier was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, art critic and literary critic....
wrote a story entitled "Le roi Candaule" (published in 1844), which was translated by Lafcadio HearnLafcadio HearnPatrick Lafcadio Hearn , known also by the Japanese name , was an international writer, known best for his books about Japan, especially his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories, such as Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things...
.
- "Tsar Kandavl" or "Le Roi Candaule" is a Grand ballet with choreography by Marius PetipaMarius PetipaVictor Marius Alphonse Petipa was a French ballet dancer, teacher and choreographer. Petipa is considered to be the most influential ballet master and choreographer of ballet that has ever lived....
, and music by Cesare PugniCesare PugniCesare Pugni was an Italian composer of ballet music, a pianist and a violinist. In his early career he composed operas, symphonies, and various other forms of orchestral music. Pugni is most noted for the ballets he composed while serving as Composer of the Ballet Music to Her Majesty's Theatre...
, with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, based on the Herodotus version. It was first presented by the Imperial BalletMariinsky BalletThe Mariinsky Ballet is a classical ballet company based at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in the 18th century and originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet is one of the world's leading ballet companies...
in St. Petersburg, Russia, at 1868, with Henriette D'or as Queen Nisia, Felix Kschessinsky as King Candaules/Tsar Candavl, Lev IvanovLev IvanovLev Ivanovich Ivanov was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer and later, Second Balletmaster of the Imperial Ballet....
as Gyges and Klavdia Kantsyreva as Claytia.
- "Le Roi Candaule" is also the title of a comedy by Henri MeilhacHenri MeilhacHenri Meilhac , was a French dramatist and opera librettist.-Biography:Meilhac was born in Paris in 1831. As a young man, he began writing fanciful articles for Parisian newspapers and vaudevilles, in a vivacious boulevardier spirit which brought him to the forefront...
and Ludovic HalévyLudovic HalévyLudovic Halévy was a French author and playwright. He was half Jewish : his Jewish father had converted to Christianity prior to his birth, to marry his mother, née Alexandrine Lebas.-Biography:Ludovic Halévy was born in Paris...
, loosely based on the ancient tale and presenting light sketches of ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
ian life in the 1860s and 1870s.
- German playwright Friedrich Hebbel's 1856 tragedy "Gyges und sein Ring" ("Gyges and his Ring").
- In the novel The English Patient, and the film made on its basis, Count Almásy (himself a disciple of Herodotus), falls in love with a married woman (Katherine Clifton) as she reads Herodotus' version of the Gyges story aloud around a campfire. The story is harbinger of their own tragic path.
- In the novel Hyperion by Dan SimmonsDan SimmonsDan Simmons is an American author most widely known for his Hugo Award-winning science fiction series, known as the Hyperion Cantos, and for his Locus-winning Ilium/Olympos cycle....
, one of the four evil constructs created by the Core and named by Councillor Albedo is called Gyges.
- One of the chapters in Robertson DaviesRobertson DaviesWilliam Robertson Davies, CC, OOnt, FRSC, FRSL was a Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor. He was one of Canada's best-known and most popular authors, and one of its most distinguished "men of letters", a term Davies is variously said to have gladly accepted for himself...
' novel Fifth BusinessFifth BusinessFifth Business is a 1970 novel by Canadian novelist, playwright, critic, journalist, and professor Robertson Davies. It is the first installment of the Deptford Trilogy and is a story of the life of the narrator, Dunstan Ramsay...
is called "Gyges and King Candaules". The protagonist, scholar Dunstan Ramsay; his lifelong "friend and enemy", the tycoon Percy "Boy" Staunton; and Staunton's wife Leola who had been Ramsay's childhood sweetheart are throughout the book compared with, respectively, Gyges, King Candaules and the Queen of Lydia. In particular, in one scene where Staunton insists upon showing Ramsay nude photos of his wife, Ramsay tells him the ancient story as a warning (which Staunton ignores).
- Critics such as Steve Bonta consider the magic ringMagic ringA magic ring is a ring, usually a finger ring, that has magical properties. It appears frequently in fantasy and fairy tales. Magic rings are found in the folklore of every country where rings are worn, and they endow the wearer with a variety of abilities, including invisibility, the granting of...
which plays a major role in the books of TolkienJ. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
to be considerably inspired by the Ring of Gyges. Gyges' ring had been in the possession of an ancient king, came into the hands of its later holder when he descended into a cave, conferred the power of invisibility on its holder, enabled him to gain great power but also induced him to ruthless and immoral behaviour. The same is true of the magic ring in Tolkien's The HobbitThe HobbitThe Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
and The Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the RingsThe Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
. Plato's use of the Ring of Gyges as a metaphor for the corruption caused by power fully applies to Tolkien's work.
- In 1990 Frederic RaphaelFrederic RaphaelFrederic Michael Raphael is an American-born, British-educated screenwriter, and also a prolific novelist and journalist.-Life and career:...
published "The Modern I, A Myth Revised", a retelling of the story of Lydia, King Candaules and Gyges.
Sources
- Nos ancêtres de l'Antiquité, 1991, Christian SettipaniChristian SettipaniChristian Settipani is the Technical Director of an IT company in Paris and a genealogist and historian.He has a Master of Advanced Studies degree from the Paris-Sorbonne University and is currently preparing his doctoral thesis, while he often gives lectures to students undergraduates at the...
, p. 152