Overview

According to Herodotus, King Candaules wanted to share the sight of his wife's beauty with his friend Gyges. It didn't turn out well. The Queen spied Gyges as he retreated and called for him next morning. She gave him a choice: either he kills the king or himself. Choosing wisely, Gyges quickly became king. In Gerould's modernization of the Gyges myth, Candaules is an official in a land where war has been going on for so long that the orphans have started to have children. Gyges is his "native" driver, and Nyssia is his bored shoe-collecting wife. One day, Candaules gets a telegram saying he should "show your wife's private parts to the natives," and the scheme to do just that leads to chaos and revolution.