Editing Ring of Gyges (section)

==The legends==
[[Gyges of Lydia]] was a historical king, the founder of the [[Mermnad dynasty]] of [[Lydia]]n kings. Various ancient works—the most well-known being ''[[The Histories of Herodotus|The Histories]]'' of [[Herodotus]]<ref>Herodotus 1.7–13</ref>—gave different accounts of the circumstances of his acquisition of power.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Smith | first1 = Kirby Flower | year = 1902 | title = The Tale of Gyges and the King of Lydia | journal = [[American Journal of Philology]] | volume = 23 | issue = 4 | pages = 361–387 | jstor = 288700 | doi = 10.2307/288700 }}</ref> All, however, agree in asserting that he was originally a subordinate of King [[Candaules]] of [[Lydia]], that he killed Candaules and seized the throne, and that he had either seduced Candaules' Queen before killing him, married her afterwards, or both.

In the recounting of the myth by [[Glaucon]] (Plato's older brother, as a character of the ''Republic''), an unnamed ancestor of Gyges<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0167%3Abook%3D2%3Asection%3D359d|author=Plato|title=Republic|at=Section 359d|lang=grc|quote={{lang|grc|τῷ [Γύγου] τοῦ Λυδοῦ προγόνῳ}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0168%3Abook%3D10%3Asection%3D612b|author=Plato|title=Republic|at=Book 10, Section 612b|translator=Paul Shorey|location=Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press|year=1969}} Socrates refers to the ring as "the ring of Gyges" ({{lang|grc|τὸν Γύγου [[wikt:δακτύλιος|δακτύλιον]]}}). For this reason, the story is simply called "The Ring of Gyges".</ref> was a shepherd in the service of the king of Lydia. After an earthquake, a chasm was revealed in a mountainside where he was feeding his flock. Entering the chasm, he discovered that it was in fact a tomb with a bronze horse containing a [[cadaver|corpse]], larger than that of a man, who wore a [[gold]]en [[Ring (jewellery)|ring]], which he then pocketed. He discovered that by adjusting the ring, he gained the power of invisibility. He then arranged to become one of the king's messengers as to the status of the flocks. Arriving at the palace, he used his new power of invisibility to seduce the queen, and with her help, murder the king, and become king of Lydia himself.