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Candaules
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right|thumb|250px|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 (died c.717 BC; , Kandaulēs), also known as Myrsilos (Μυρσίλος), 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 of Lydia's Heraclid dynasty. He was assassinated and succeeded by Gyges.

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Candaules.jpg
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Commons category
King Candaules
date of birth
0800-01-01
name in native language
Κανδαύλης
date of death
0760-00-00
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Article

6 sections
Contents
  • Herodotus's tale of King Candaules, Gyges and the queen
  • Modern view of the story
  • See also
  • Notes
  • Sources
  • External links

right|thumb|250px|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 (died c.717 BC; , Kandaulēs), also known as Myrsilos (Μυρσίλος), 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 of Lydia's Heraclid dynasty. He was assassinated and succeeded by Gyges.

Based on an ambiguous line in the work of the Greek poet Hipponax, it was traditionally assumed that the name Candaules meant "hound-choker" among the Lydians. J. B. Bury and Russell Meiggs (1975) say that Candaules is a Maeonian name meaning "hound-choker". More recently, however, it has been suggested that the name or title Kandaules is cognate with the Luwian hantawatt(i)– ("king") and probably has Carian origin. The name or title of Candaules is the origin of the term candaulism, a sexual practice which legend attributed to him.

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