Editing Gyges of Lydia (section)

==Mythical Gyges==
Like many kings of early antiquity, including [[Midas]] of [[Phrygia]] and even the better historically documented [[Alexander the Great]], Gyges was subject to mythologizing. The motives for such stories are many; one possibility is that the [[myth]]s embodied religious beliefs or practices.<ref>Richard Seaford, ''Money and the Early Greek Mind'' (Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 114 ff., [https://books.google.com/books?id=kU6xx-DAgFgC&dq=%22the+time+of+Gyges%22&pg=PA114 limited preview.]</ref>

===Allegorical accounts of Gyges' rise to power===
[[Image:William Etty (1787–1849) – Candaules, King of Lydia, Shews his Wife by Stealth to Gyges, One of his Ministers, as She Goes to Bed – N00358 – Tate.jpg|thumb|''[[Candaules, King of Lydia, Shews his Wife by Stealth to Gyges, One of his Ministers, as She Goes to Bed]]'' by [[William Etty]].  This image illustrates [[Herodotus]]'s version of the tale of Gyges (as told by Herodotus, Gyges watched the naked queen secretly, but is seen by her as he is sneaking out of concealment). An earlier artistic treatment of the same subject, by [[Dosso Dossi]], is now in the [[Galleria Borghese]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=Ce2Fg7FIvFgC&pg=PA327]. ]]

Authors throughout ancient history have told differing stories of Gyges's rise to power, which considerably vary in detail, but virtually all involve him seizing the throne after killing the king, [[Candaules]], and marrying Candaules' widow.<ref>Her name is traditionally known as 'Nyssia', but this is not found in Herodotus. Apparently this name was supplied by the ancient historian [[Ptolemy Hephaestion]].</ref>

The main source for Gyges is Herodotus, whose account may be traced to the poet [[Archilochus of Paros]]. In this, Gyges was a [[bodyguard]] of Candaules, who believed his wife to be the most beautiful woman on Earth. He insisted upon Gyges seeing his wife disrobed and the betrayal so enraged her that she afterwards gave Gyges the choice of murdering her husband and making himself king or being put to death himself.{{sfn|Sayce|1911}}<ref>{{harvnb | Herodotus | 1975 | pp=44–45}}</ref>

Herodotus goes on to record how Gyges plied the Oracle of Delphi with numerous gifts, notably six mixing bowls minted of gold extracted from the [[Pactolus]] river weighing thirty [[Talent (measurement)|talents]]. The Oracle confirmed Gyges as the rightful king of Lydia and gave moral support to the Lydians in their conflict with the [[Ionians]]. The priestess nevertheless declared that the dynasty of Gyges would fall in the fifth generation. This prediction was later fulfilled when Gyges's fourth descendant, [[Croesus]], lost the kingdom as a result of attacking the [[Achaemenid Empire]] of [[Cyrus the Great]].<ref name="H46">{{harvnb | Herodotus | 1975 | p=46}}</ref>

In [[Plato]]'s ''[[The Republic (Plato)|Republic]]'', Gyges was a shepherd who discovered a [[Ring of Gyges|magic ring]] of invisibility, by means of which he murdered the king and won the affection of the queen.{{sfn|Sayce|1911}}<ref name="P46">{{harvnb | Plato | 1987 | pp=46–47}}</ref>

[[Nicolaus of Damascus]] supplies his own version of the story that is quite different from both Herodotus and Plato. It involves a multi-[[generational curse]] by an old King Ardys of Lydia, because his trusted advisor Dascylus was murdered by Ardys’ son named Sadyattes (or Adyattes). This Sadyattes was envious of Dascylus's growing power. The murderers were never discovered, so King Ardys issued a curse upon them.<ref>JOHN R. PORTER, [https://ugp.rug.nl/AN/article/download/24338/21788/ Nicolaus Reads Euphiletus: A Note on the Nachleben of Lysias 1.] Ancient Narrative, Volume 3 (2003), 82–87</ref> Dascylus's wife, being then pregnant, escapes to Phrygia (her home), and gives birth to a son, also named Dascylus. Later this Dascylus has a son Gyges who, as a young man arrives to Lydia and is recognized by the king for his outstanding abilities. He is appointed to the royal bodyguard. 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 kill him, Gyges assassinated Candaules in the night and seized the throne.<ref>Max Duncker, [https://books.google.com/books?id=hyoZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA419 The History of Antiquity], Volume 3. R. Bentley & son, 1879. pp. 419ff</ref>

According to [[Plutarch]], Gyges seized power with the help of Arselis of [[Milas|Mylasa]], the captain of the Lydian bodyguard, whom he won over to his cause.{{sfn|Sayce|1911}}<ref>Debra Hamel, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iaQYE2Gge7MC&pg=PA12 Reading Herodotus: A Guided Tour Through the Wild Boars, Dancing Suitors, and Crazy Tyrants of 'The History'.] JHU Press, 2012. p. 12</ref>

===Other legends about Gyges===
In the second book of [[Plato]]'s philosophical work ''[[Republic (Plato)|The Republic]]'', [[Glaucon]] recounts the story of the [[Ring of Gyges]] to [[Socrates]], using it to illustrate a point about [[human nature]]. Some scholars have suggested that Plato's story was based on a now-lost older version of the myth, while others argue that Plato invented it himself, using elements from Herodotus's story of Gyges.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Danzig |first=Gabriel |doi=10.1017/S001738350800051X |title=Rhetoric and the Ring: Herodotus and Plato on the Story of Gyges as a Politically Expedient Tale |journal=Greece & Rome |volume=55 |issue=2 |year=2008 |pages=169–192|s2cid=162212810 |quote=It is usually thought that these two stories are based on older sources, either two different versions of the story of Gyges or, as K. F. Smith argued, a single longer version of the story, which served as the source for both authors. A third possibility has also been raised: Andrew Laird has recently argued that Plato largely invented his version of the story, inspired primarily by his reading of Herodotus's version.}}</ref> It tells of a man named Gyges who lived in [[Lydia]], an area in modern Turkey. He is a [[shepherd]] for the king of that land. One day, there is an [[earthquake]] while Gyges is out in the fields, and he notices that a new cave has opened up in a rock face. When he goes in to see what is there, he notices a gold ring on the finger of a former giant king buried in the cave, in an iron horse with a window in its side. He takes the ring and soon discovers that it enables the wearer to become [[Invisibility|invisible]]. The next time he goes to the palace to give the king a report about his sheep, he puts the ring on, seduces the queen, kills the king, and takes control of the palace.

In ''The Republic'', 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. He tells Socrates:
<blockquote>
Suppose there were two such magic rings, 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 take 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.
</blockquote>
Socrates concludes, however, that a truly just man is not a slave to his appetites, so that the opportunities afforded by the ring would not tempt him to abandon his principles.

Many [[Bible]] scholars<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bøe |first=Sverre |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vettpBoVOX4C |title=Gog and Magog: Ezekiel 38-39 as Pre-text for Revelation 19, 17-21 and 20,7-10 |date=2001 |publisher=Mohr Siebeck |isbn=978-3-16-147520-7 |language=en}}</ref> believe that Gyges of Lydia is the Biblical [[Gog and Magog|Gog]], ruler of [[Magog (Bible)|Magog]], who is mentioned in the [[Book of Ezekiel]] and the [[Book of Revelation]].