GYGES

This article appears in Volume V12, Page 751 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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GYGES , founder of the third or Mermnad dynasty of Lydian kings, he reigned 687652 B.C. according to H. Gelzer, 6go657 B.C. according to H. Winckler. The chronology of the Lydian kings given by Herodotus has been shown by the Assyrian

inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS (from Lat. inscribere, to write upon)

to be about twenty years in excess. Gyges was the son of Dascylus, who, when recalled from banishment in Cappadocia by the Lydian king Sadyattescalled Candaules " the Dog-strangler " (a title of the Lydian Hermes) by the Greekssent his son back to

Lydia

LYDIA

instead of himself. Gyges soon became a favourite of Sadyattes and was despatched 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 Sadyattes of his conduct. Forewarned that the king intended to punish him with death, Gyges assassinated Sadyattes in the night and seized the throne with the help of Arselis of Mylasa, the captain of the Carian bodyguard, whom he had won over to his cause. Civil war ensued, which was finally ended by an appeal to the oracle of Delphi and the confirmation of the right of Gyges to the crown by the Delphian god. Further to secure his title he married Tudo. Many legends were told among the Greeks about his rise to power. That found in Herodotus, which may be traced to the poet Archilochus of Paros, described how " 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. Plato made Gyges a shepherd, who discovered a magic ring by means of which he murdered his master and won the affection of his wife (Hdt. i. 8-14; Plato, Rep. 359;

Justin

JUSTIN (JUNIANUS JUSTINUS)

i. 7; Cicero, De off. iii. g). Once established on the throne Gyges devoted himself to consolidating his kingdom and making it a military power. The Troad was conquered,

Colophon

COLOPHON

captured from the Greeks, Smyrna besieged and alliances entered into with Ephesus and Miletus. The

Cimmerii

CIMMERII

, who had ravaged

Asia

ASIA

Minor

, were beaten back, and an embassy was sent to Assur-bani-pal at Nineveh (about 65o B.c.) in the

hope

HOPE, ANTHONY
HOPE, THOMAS (c. 1770-1831)

of obtaining his help against the barbarians. The Assyrians, however, were otherwise engaged, and Gyges turned to

Egypt

EGYPT

, sending his faithful Carian troops along with Ionian mercenaries to assist Psammetichus in shaking off the Assyrian yoke (66o B.C.). A few years later he fell in battle against the

Cimmerii

CIMMERII

under Dugdamme (called Lygdamis by Strabo i. 3. 21), who took the lower town of Sardis. Gyges was succeeded by his son Ardys.
See Nicolaus Damascenus, quoting from the Lydian historian Xanthus, in C. Muller, Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum, iii.; R. Schubert, Geschichte der Konige von Lydien (1884) ; M. G. Radet, La Lydie et le monde grec au temps de Mermnades (18921893) ; H. Gelzer, " Das Zeitalter des Gyges " (Rhein. Mus., '875); H. Winckler, Altorientalische Forschungen, i. (1893) ; Macan's edition of Herodotus. (A. H. S.)

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