Candaules (died c.687 BC; el, Κανδαύλης, ''Kandaulēs''), also known as Myrsilos (Μυρσίλος), was a king of the ancient Kingdom of Lydia in the early years of the 7th century BC. According to

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...

, he succeeded his father Meles as the 22nd and last king of Lydia's Heraclid dynasty. He was assassinated and succeeded by Gyges. Based on an ambiguous line in the work of the Greek poet Hipponax, it was traditionally assumed that the name ''Candaules'' meant "hound-choker" among the

Lydians The Lydians (known as ''Sparda'' to the Achaemenids, Old Persian cuneiform 𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭) were Anatolian people living in Lydia, a region in western Anatolia, who spoke the distinctive Lydian language, an Indo-European language of the ...

J. B. Bury John Bagnell Bury (; 16 October 1861 – 1 June 1927) was an Anglo-Irish historian, classical scholar, Medieval Roman historian and philologist. He objected to the label "Byzantinist" explicitly in the preface to the 1889 edition of his ''Lat ...

and

Russell Meiggs Russell Meiggs (20 October 1902 – 24 June 1989) was a British ancient historian. He did extensive research on the Roman port city of Ostia. Early life and education Meiggs was born at Balham, south London, son of William Herrick Meiggs (1866 ...

(1975) say that Candaules is a

Maeonian Lydian (𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤶𐤯𐤦𐤳 ''Sfardẽtiš'' " anguageof Sardis") is an extinct Indo-European Anatolian language spoken in the region of Lydia, in western Anatolia (now in Turkey). The language is attested in graffiti and in coi ...

name meaning "hound-choker". More recently, however, it has been suggested that the name or title ''Kandaules'' is cognate with the

Luwian The Luwians were a group of Anatolian peoples who lived in central, western, and southern Anatolia, in present-day Turkey, during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. They spoke the Luwian language, an Indo-European language of the Anatolian sub-fam ...

''hantawatt(i)–'' ("king") and probably has

Carian The Carian language is an extinct language of the Luwic subgroup of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. The Carian language was spoken in Caria, a region of western Anatolia between the ancient regions of Lycia and Lydia, ...

origin. The name or title of Candaules is the origin of the term candaulism, a sexual practice which legend attributed to him. Several stories of how the Heraclid dynasty of Candaules ended and the Mermnad dynasty of Gyges began have been related by different authors throughout history, mostly in a mythical vein. In

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

's ''Republic'', Gyges used a magical ring to become invisible and usurp the throne, a

plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelie ...

which has reappeared in numerous myths and works of fiction throughout history. The earliest story, related by

in the 5th century BC, has Candaules betrayed and executed by his wife.

Herodotus' tale of King Candaules, Gyges and the queen

According to

in '' The Histories'', Candaules believed his wife to be the most beautiful woman on Earth. Herodotus does not name the queen but later artists and writers have called her Nyssia. Candaules often told his favourite bodyguard, Gyges, how beautiful the queen was and, thinking Gyges did not believe him, urged Gyges to contrive to see her naked. Gyges initially refused as he did not wish to dishonor the queen. Nevertheless, Candaules was insistent and Gyges had no option but to obey his king. So Gyges hid in Candaules' bedroom and, when the queen entered, watched her undress. As she was getting into bed, he quietly left the room, but the queen saw him and realised what had happened. Herodotus commented: "For with the Lydians, as with most barbarian (i.e., non-Greek) races, it is thought highly indecent even for a man to be seen naked". The queen silently swore revenge for her shame. Next day, she summoned Gyges to her chamber. Gyges thought it was a routine request, but she confronted him immediately and presented him with two choices. One was to kill Candaules and seize the throne with Nyssia as his wife. The second was to be executed immediately by her trusted servants. Gyges pleaded with her to relent but she would not. He decided to take the first course of action and assassinate the king. The plan was that he should hide in the royal bedroom as before but this time from the king. After Candaules fell asleep, Gyges crept forward and stabbed him to death. Gyges married the queen as she had insisted but many Lydians did not at first accept him as their ruler. In order to prevent a civil war, Gyges offered to have his position confirmed or refused by the Delphic Oracle. He agreed that he would restore the throne to the Heracleidae if the Oracle declared against him. The Oracle supported him and his dynasty was established. The Priestess of the Shrine did add, however, that the Heraclids would have their revenge on Gyges in the fifth generation of the Mermnadae.

Modern view of the story

The story is rejected by Bury and Meiggs, who assert that the family of Candaules, although descended from

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptiv ...

himself, had become degenerate. As a result, Candaules was assassinated 687 BC by Gyges, who ushered in a new era for Lydia ruled by his own Mermnadae clan. Herodotus' version is included in

Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje (; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian poet, fiction writer, essayist, novelist, editor, and filmmaker. He is the recipient of multiple literary awards such as the Governor General's Award, the Giller P ...

's 1992 novel ''

The English Patient ''The English Patient'' is a 1992 novel by Michael Ondaatje. The book follows four dissimilar people brought together at an Italian villa during the Italian Campaign of the Second World War. The four main characters are: an unrecognisably burn ...

''. The story also figures prominently in

Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell ( ; 21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work ''A Dance to the Music of Time'', published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English. Powell' ...

's 1973 novel '' Temporary Kings'', the eleventh volume in the series ''

A Dance to the Music of Time ''A Dance to the Music of Time'' is a 12-volume ''roman-fleuve'' by English writer Anthony Powell, published between 1951 and 1975 to critical acclaim. The story is an often comic examination of movements and manners, power and passivity in Eng ...

'', in which characters discuss a fictitious portrayal of Candaules and Gyges by

Tiepolo Giovanni Battista Tiepolo ( , ; March 5, 1696 – March 27, 1770), also known as Giambattista (or Gianbattista) Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice who painted in the Rococo style, considered an import ...

Alexander von Zemlinsky Alexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky (14 October 1871 – 15 March 1942) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher. Biography Early life Zemlinsky was born in Vienna to a highly diverse family. Zemlinsky's grandfather, Anton S ...

's opera '' Der König Kandaules'' is based on the play ''Le roi Candaule'' by

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism ...

Notes

Sources

* * * *

External links

*
"Sadyattes/Myrsilus/Candaules" by Jona Lendering at www.livius.org
*

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ra ...

''King Candaules'', 1858
in the

Dahesh Museum of Art The Dahesh Museum of Art is the only museum in the United States devoted to the collection and exhibition of European academic art of the 19th and 20th century. The collection, located in Manhattan, New York City, originated with Lebanese writer ...

, New York * {{Authority control 680s BC deaths 7th-century BC murdered monarchs 7th-century BC rulers in Asia Deaths by blade weapons Heracleidae Kings of Lydia Gyges of Lydia

Herodotus' tale of King Candaules, Gyges and the queen

Modern view of the story

See also

Notes

Sources

External links