Who is gyges

We can freely share information that would otherwise be censored in certain countries. In the case of the social uprisings, we can post and share riveting videos leading to positive social change. In contrast, anonymity can be used as Isaacson argues- a tool for injustice. When given a ring, a shepherd named Gyges becomes invisible and anonymous. Through his invisibility he seduces a queen, kills her king, and takes over the kingdom.

Plato argues that the Ring of Gyges- invisibility and anonymity- is the only barrier between a just and an unjust person. He argues that we would all be unjust if we had a cloak of anonymity. Injustice is far more profitable. We are only just because it is necessary.

I believe that it does not take anonymity to be unjust. 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.

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.

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 , the only other Aeolian foundation 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 [3] 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 Cimmerians , 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 circa BC in the hope of obtaining his help against the barbarians. But the Assyrians were otherwise engaged, and Gyges turned to Egypt , sending his faithful Carians troops along with Ionian mercenaries to assist Psammetichus in shaking off the Assyrian yoke circa BC.

Gyges later fell in a battle against the Cimmerii under Dugdamme called Lygdamis by Strabo i. Gyges was succeeded by his son Ardys. Like many kings of early antiquity, including Midas 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. When he was able to speak, he pleaded with the queen not to force him to have to make such a horrendous choice. He chose that he himself should live. There was no way Gyges could be released from the choice, no possible escape: either he must die or Candaules.

The queen gave a dagger to Gyges and hid him behind the same door where he had spied on her. While Candaules was asleep, Gyges stole up from behind the door and killed him with the dagger. And now Gyges possessed both the wife and the kingdom.

Thus ends Herodotus story. He goes on to inform us that Gyges was confirmed as king by the oracle of Apollo at Delphi; once he had established himself as king, he sent many fine offerings of silver to Delphi and also of gold, of which six golden bowls are the most noteworthy.

In this way, the family of the Mermnadae deposed the family of the Heracleidae. The Pythian priestess, however, prophesied that, in the fifth generation from Gyges, the Heracleidae would exact vengeance. About the Book. Instructor Resources. Student Resources. An Oratorio for Washington.

Herodotus Polycrates. Keats Homer.