The ring of Polycrates taken from the stories of Herodotus

The passage that deals with the ring of Polycrates is taken from the third book of histories.
Herodotus.
Polycrates was the tyrant of Samos, but he obtained power because of
an uprising: he had two brothers Pantagnoto and Silosonte. To have a uniform Samo
by itself killed Pantagnoto and chased away Silosonte. Policrate thus became a ruler of
that great city. After a short time, the fame of the year quickly grew in Ionia and
in ancient Greece. They knew that any battle was about to
Completing it, this would always end with a victory. Subsequently
strinse i rapporti con Amasi, king of Egypt. Polycrates was therefore a very
fortunate. But Amasi had sensed that this could also be a reason for
worry: after so much luck he would certainly have had a terrible end.
Amasi writes, in fact, a letter to Policrates saying that it is definitely better to live
alternating situations, rather than having luck in everything: as no one who had
having such fortunes had reached a happy death, on the contrary. Therefore Amasi
advice to Polycrates to get rid of an object very dear to him and Polycrates decides to
drifting at sea, once alone on his boat, his dearest ring.
However, this seal returned to his life: a smitten fisherman, having caught a
big and beautiful fish, decided to give it as a gift to someone. Before it was cooked,
The fish was cut open and inside was found the seal of Polycrates. The oil
then he explained all this in a letter that he later sent to Egypt. Amasis, reading the
letter, she understood that it was not possible to take him away from her future and thus decided to
to stay away from suffering when a terrible thing would have reached Polycrates
Calamity. The pharaoh certainly did not have all the wrongs in 522 BC, the Persian.
He, by deceiving Polycates, had him killed, crucifying him. We can
to say that the moral of this story is the proper enjoyment of good and evil in life
of a man: Polycrates was indeed very lucky and because of that he had a
undignified death for a traitor, and obviously a terrible death. Therefore, one must
to have a life that does not exceed too much in either good or bad. We find here the
concept of envy of the gods, or the envy of the gods that we can find in
The Greek text "τ ὸ θε ῖον ἐ πισταμένῳ ὡ ς ἔ στι" translates to "the divinity is envious".
The concept of μηδὲν ἄγαν "nothing in excess" was typical of Greece: if one does not
following this concept, the jealousy of the gods was provoked. The gods, in fact, wanted that
men live in a certain balance, without overdoing it too much in situations
favorable, nor in those unfavorable. We find these principles also in the dialogue between
Solon and Croesus, in which the latter considered himself the happiest man in the world, but in every
case has met a sad death. This concept also returns in the
tragedians like Aeschylus and Sophocles.
"Zeus has established this as a powerful law: only those who suffer learn." This phrase is
It deals with Agamemnon by Aeschylus, the first tragedy of the Oresteia trilogy.
Aeschylus believed that the lives of men were governed by the gods because they are
carriers of Justice, that is, of justice. And it is always the gods who impose a
hard law, but just: one learns only through suffering. Therefore the so-called
concept of πάθει μάθος: only those who suffer can redeem themselves just as it happens
In the Oresteia by Aeschylus. Orestes, insensitive to the feelings of his mother, kills her.
After the murder, however, he is pursued by the Furies, the vengeful deities of his mother.
Oreste feels guilty for having killed his mother and must be subjected to
to the judgment of the Assembly, the future Areopagus, which decides to acquit him. The Furies
they then transform into Eumenides, 'Benevolent deities'. According to Aeschylus's view,
only those who suffer must learn. This, however, is contrary to Polycrates in the stories of
Herodotus: he had never suffered a misfortune and in everything he had
completed in his life, he had been very lucky and had never suffered, at
the difference of Orestes. We also find the theme of fortune in the same Sophocles.
of happiness, particularly in Oedipus Rex. The chorus recites: "That man never of
happiness gets more than enough to delude oneself and after the illusion does not know decline.
Having your example, your fate, oh unfortunate Oedipus, nothing of mortals can I
considered happy." The famous story of Oedipus is an example of happiness and illusion. Oedipus, thus
like Polycrates, he had succeeded: having killed his father, unknowingly,
he had married Jocasta, queen of Thebes and widow of Laius, father of Oedipus. He had succeeded
then to solve the riddle of the Sphinx and in the blink of an eye he had even become
With this tragedy, Sophocles actually wanted to warn the audience so that
this always obeyed the gods: no one could consider themselves happy; concept taken back from the
the same Herodotus in the dialogue between Croesus and Solon. Oedipus was very impressed.
fortunate and happy, but he had an unhappy destiny, like the same Polycrates.
Here, of course, the concept of μηδὲν ἄγαν applies, living moderately in
how the happiness of Oedipus was all an illusion.
The concept of happiness today can certainly be said to have changed, but only in part.
most people, those who are more superficial, believe that happiness is inhabited
my materials: in the newly bought latest generation phone, in a large
villa with a swimming pool, in a ten thousand inch television, but there are few who
they give true value to the word HAPPINESS. Happiness for me is my family, the
people I love most in the world, the embrace of my brother and my mother, a
chat with my grandparents, an evening with family, laughter and joy in the eyes
of the people you love. Happiness for me is to love and be loved even more strongly,
just like a hug that crushes the ribs, but makes you feel safe. This
it is happiness for me and perhaps, for all those people who manage to go beyond
beyond material wealth, because it is not those that distinguish us
uni from the others. But happiness alone is not enough to live, it also takes a
a pinch of luck! But alas, luck is also tied to material goods: infatuated
an individual is considered lucky, but also happy, based on what they possess and
no based on what it has inside. However, luck today is a random event in the
the lives of people: the so-called 'lucky charm!' does not happen all the time. It can be
it can be presented in any situation and can be interpreted in various ways depending on
also of the person: for us young people, perhaps, luck is falling in love and taking a
Good luck at school. But we can also get lucky by winning the lottery.
We can therefore say that it varies depending on the situations and especially on the case.
I am actually interested in fortune and also in destiny, especially proverbs.
Neapolitans that our grandparents still pass down. For example, 'Come closer.'
now, I am next year.
"More things can happen in one hour than in one hundred years": this is to say that fate and
Fortunes are unpredictable. And still, 'That's how the world goes, some are born and some go down.'
This is how the world goes, some swim and some sink: luck is the same for everyone. Luck, the
Destiny, luck is unpredictable and can lead to all the proverbs, which
Even today they are our daily bread, they certainly convey the idea better.