Greek
Aegis
Aegis (Αἰγίς)
Shaken, it raises storms and sends enemy armies fleeing in terror.
ArmorFirst recorded c. 750 BCE
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Photograph: An Etruscan gold ring of the late fourth or early third century BCE. Letters are punched in dots across the front of the wide gold band.
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2,908 × 2,492 PX2908×2492
ArchiveGreek · Jewel
Ring of Gyges
Ring of Gyges
Turning the bezel inward makes its wearer invisible.
- Owner
- The shepherd Gyges
- Maker
- Unknown
- First record
- Plato, Republicc. 375 BCE
- Gallery
- Greek
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
In Plato's Republic, Glaucon tells the story of Gyges, a shepherd of Lydia. In a chasm opened by an earthquake, Gyges found the corpse of a giant lying in a bronze horse and took a gold ring from its finger.
Gyges discovered that when he turned the bezel of the ring toward his palm, he became invisible. With this power he entered the palace, seduced the queen, killed the king and became ruler of Lydia.
Glaucon asks: would not even a just man commit injustice if he owned such a ring? In reply Socrates argues for the value of justice itself.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows Gold ring(Etruscan, late 4th or early 3rd century BCE), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
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