Gyges and his ring

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Gyges and his ring is a tragedy in five acts by Friedrich Hebbel . It was written in 1854, published in 1856 and premiered in Vienna on April 25, 1889, long after Hebbel's death in 1863. The plot is based on the ancient myth of Gyges , who rises to king of Lydia through a magical ring and wins the wife of his predecessor Kandaules . Hebbel is based on the tradition of the myth by Plato , Herodotus and Cicero .

The text is written in blank verse . The setting is the palace of Kandaules, the duration of the action is two days.

action

The Greek Gyges lives at the court of the Lydian king Kandaules as his friend and favorite. He gives Kandaules a magical ring that he once found in a burial chamber: if you wear the ring and turn the stone forward, you become invisible.

Kandaules is very proud of the beauty of his wife Rhodope, who, however, does not reveal herself to anyone unveiled. He persuades Gyges to use the ring to sneak into her bedchamber unnoticed so that he can convince himself of her beauty. However, Rhodope notices noises, and Kandaules is just barely able to prevent Rhodope from noticing the intruder.

Gyges immediately fell in love with the for him inaccessible Rhodope, regrets his deed and leaves the king's court. For Rhodope, his disappearance is a confirmation of his deed. She feels so degraded and defiled that she demands Gyges' death as an atonement, which her husband refuses. She sends out a slave to bring Gyges back. When the latter reveals to her that the secret entry into the bedroom was with Kandaules 'consent (and in his presence), she no longer demands Gyges' death, but Gyges should kill Kaudaules, whereupon she wants to marry him - that would be her disgrace with blood washed up and no one would have seen her undressed who was not entitled (through marriage) to do so. If Gyges refused, Rhodope would kill himself.

Gyges agrees. In order to save Rhodope's life, and also because he sees the shame of his deed, Kandaules also agrees to a duel and is slain by Gyges. The piece ends with the wedding ceremony in the temple of Hestia . Rhodope marries Gyges, who thereby also inherits Kandaules' royal crown. But Rhodope stabs himself to death in the temple.

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