THE NATURE OF THE GODS 143
Yet there are parts of the myth that perhaps may be true. Despite chrono-
logical problems, Solon could have met Croesus, although not at the time
Herodotus imagines;^10 Croesus may have had a son who died young. But the
mythographer and historian Herodotus could never be satisfied with this pro-
saic truth alone. His stories (wrought with exquisite art) must illustrate a dif-
ferent level of emotional and spiritual truth that illuminates character and elu-
OTHER LEGENDARY FOLKTALES IN HERODOTUS:
GYGES, ARION, AND POLYCRATES
There are many other important and entertaining mythical legends, with folktale mo-
tifs, in Herodotus' History; although the choice is difficult, we single out three other
examples.
Candaules, king of Lydia, continually boasted that his wife was the most beautiful
woman in the world. He wanted to convince his favorite bodyguard, Gyges, that this
claim was no exaggeration and so he arranged that Gyges should see his wife naked,
without her knowledge. She, however, became aware of the great insult (it is most
shameful among the Lydians for even a man to be seen naked). In revenge, she plot-
ted with Gyges, who was forced to kill Candaules and win the throne and the queen
for himself (1. 10-13).^11
Arion, a lyre-player and poet, was credited with the introduction of the dithyramb,
a choral song associated with the god Dionysus. His story is not unlike that of Diony-
sus and the pirates (p. 296); he was threatened by robbers in a boat and was rescued
from death in the sea by a dolphin, on whose back he was conveyed safely to land
(1. 23-24).
Finally, an episode in the life of Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, echoes dramatically
the Herodotean philosophy found in the legend of Solon and Croesus. Polycrates, like
Croesus, continued to attain vast wealth and great power. His friend, king Amasis of
Egypt, expressed troubled concern to Polycrates that his unbridled successes might
eventually lead to disaster, since divinity is jealous of prosperity untempered by mis-
fortune. He advised the tyrant to cast far away his most valued and prized posses-
sion, so that it might never appear again among human beings. Polycrates chose a
beloved work of art, a precious gold ring with an emerald. He himself in a boat threw
it way out into the sea and went home to weep at his loss. Five or six days later, a
fisherman came proudly to the palace and presented to the tyrant a magnificent fish
that he had caught. As the fish was being prepared for dinner, the ring of Polycrates
was found in its belly. When Amasis learned what had happened to Polycrates he
realized that one cannot help another avoid what is fated and that Polycrates' life
would not end well because he had found what he had tried to cast away forever.
Indeed, Polycrates ultimately was murdered by a villainous Persian named Oroetes
(3. 39-40ff ).