Gygēs

Gygēs, king of Lydia (c.685–c.657 BC); he founded the dynasty of the Mermnadae by killing the king Candaules (called Myrsilus by the Greeks). According to Herodotus he was the favourite officer of Candaules who, being proud of his wife's beauty, insisted that Gyges should see the queen naked while remaining himself hidden. The queen, however, sensed his presence, and later summoned Gyges to offer him the choice of dying himself or murdering the king and taking the kingdom, with her as his queen. He chose the latter course. Plato in Republic, book 2, tells the story that Gyges won the queen and the kingdom by means of a magic ring of invisibility, to illustrate the view that men are not virtuous when they need not fear the consequences of their actions. ‘Gyges' ring’ subsequently became proverbial, as did ‘the riches of Gyges’. He reputedly sent rich gifts to Delphi in gratitude for an oracle which established his right to the throne. He was the first Lydian king to try to extend his rule over the Greek cities of the Ionian coast.