Histories (Herodotus)
Videos
The Histories of Herodotus is considered the founding work of history in Western literature. Although it is not an impartial record, it remains one of the West's most important sources. It established
Fragment from Histories, Book VIII on 2nd-century Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2099
Edwin Long's 1875 interpretation of The Babylonian Marriage Market as described by Herodotus in Book 1 of the Histories
Nile crocodile allowing the trochilus to eat leeches in its mouth. Drawing by Henry Scherren, 1906
Scythian warriors, drawn after figures on an electrum cup from the Kul'Oba kurgan burial near Kerch (Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg)
Candaules
Videos
Candaules, also known as Myrsilos, was a king of the ancient Kingdom of Lydia in the early years of the 7th century BC. According to Herodotus, he succeeded his father Meles as the 22nd and last king
Histories (Herodotus)
…Colchis, Colchians and Medea. (1.2.2–1.2.3) The rulers of Lydia (on the west coast of Asia Minor, today modern Turkey): Candaules, Gyges, Ardys, Sadyattes, Alyattes, Croesus (1.6–7) How Candaules made his bodyguard, Gyges, view the naked body of his wife. Upon discovery, she ordered…
Candaules, King of Lydia, Shews his Wife by Stealth to Gyges, One of his Ministers, as She Goes to Bed by William Etty. This image illustrates Herodotus' tale of Candaules and Gyges.
Candaules Showing His Wife to Gyges by Jacob Jordaens, 1646