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Polycrates' Ring (German : Der Ring des Polykrates) is a lyrical ballad written in June 1797 by Friedrich Schiller and first published in his 1798 Musen-Almanach annual. It is about how the greatest success gives reason to fear disaster. Schiller relied on the accounts of the fate of Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, in Herodotus' Histories , Book III.
The ballad is set at the court of Polycrates, where he is visited by Pharaoh Amasis II. Polycrates boasts of his victories while Amasis reminds him of the instability of fortune and prosperity, fearing the divine punishment carried by hubris. All the pharaoh's premonitions soon prove to be erroneous, which only leads him to assume the worst. He advises Polycrates to throw away whatever he valued most in order to escape a reversal of fortune. Polycrates, pondering, follows the advice and throws his most valuable ring into the sea. The next day, a fisherman offers him a large fish and Polycrates' cook discovers the ring inside of it. Amasis, horrified, breaks off their friendship and leaves him right away.
A comic parody of the ballad by the Austrian playwright Heinrich Teweles (1856–1927) became the libretto of the Korngold opera Der Ring des Polykrates , written in 1913/14.
Amasis II or Ahmose II was a pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the successor of Apries at Sais. He was the last great ruler of Egypt before the Persian conquest.
Cambyses II was the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 530 to 522 BC. He was the son and successor of Cyrus the Great and his mother was Cassandane.
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendship with the already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. They frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics, and Schiller encouraged Goethe to finish works that he had left as sketches. This relationship and these discussions led to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism. They also worked together on Xenien, a collection of short satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe challenge opponents of their philosophical vision.
Apries is the name by which Herodotus and Diodorus designate Wahibre Haaibre, a pharaoh of Egypt, the fourth king of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. He was equated with the Waphres of Manetho, who correctly records that he reigned for 19 years. Apries is also called Hophra in Jeremiah 44:30.
Polycrates, son of Aeaces, was the tyrant of Samos from the 540s BC to 522 BC. He had a reputation as both a fierce warrior and an enlightened tyrant.
The Seal of Solomon is the signet ring attributed to King Solomon in medieval mystical traditions, from which it developed in parallel within Islamic and Jewish mysticism and in Western occultism. It is the predecessor to the Star of David, which became the symbol of the Jewish people in modern times.
Psamtik III was the last Pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt from 526 BC to 525 BC. Most of what is known about his reign and life was documented by the Greek historian Herodotus in the 5th century BC. Herodotus states that Psamtik had ruled Egypt for only six months before he was confronted by a Persian invasion of his country led by King Cambyses II of Persia. Psamtik was subsequently defeated at the Battle of Pelusium, and fled to Memphis where he was captured. The deposed pharaoh was carried off to Susa in chains, and later committed suicide.
Weimar Classicism was a German literary and cultural movement, whose practitioners established a new humanism from the synthesis of ideas from Romanticism, Classicism, and the Age of Enlightenment. It was presumably named after the city of Weimar, Germany, because the leading authors of Weimar Classicism lived there.
"The Fish and the Ring" is an English fairy tale collected by Joseph Jacobs in English Fairy Tales. This tale has several parallels in the literature and folklore of various cultures.
Ladice or Ladice of Cyrene was a Greek Cyrenaean princess and was a member of the Battiad dynasty. She married the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Amasis II. When Amasis died in 526 BC, she returned from Egypt back to Cyrene.
The Battle of Pelusium was the first major battle between the Achaemenid Empire and Egypt. This decisive battle transferred the throne of the Pharaohs to Cambyses II of Persia, marking the beginning of the Achaemenid Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt. It was fought near Pelusium, an important city in the eastern extremes of Egypt's Nile Delta, 30 km to the southeast of the modern Port Said, in 525 BC. The battle was preceded and followed by sieges at Gaza and Memphis.
Violanta, Op. 8, is a one-act opera by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The libretto is by the Austrian playwright Hans Müller-Einigen. It is Korngold's second opera, written when he was seventeen years old.
Der Ring des Polykrates, Op. 7, is a one-act opera by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The libretto, written by Leo Feld and reworked (unattributed) by the composer's father Julius Korngold, is based on a drama by Heinrich Teweles.
"Der Handschuh" is a ballad by Friedrich Schiller, written in 1797, the year of his friendly ballad competition with Goethe. Other ballads written that year include Schiller's "Der Gang nach dem Eisenhammer", "Die Kraniche des Ibykus", "Der Ring des Polykrates", "Ritter Toggenburg", "Der Taucher", and Goethe's "Die Braut von Korinth", "Der Gott und die Bajadere", "Der Schatzgräber (Goethe)", "The Sorcerer's Apprentice".
"Der Taucher" is a ballad by Friedrich Schiller, written in 1797, the year of his friendly ballad competition with Goethe.
Der Ring des Polykrates may refer to:
Der Gang nach dem Eisenhammer is a ballad written by Friedrich Schiller, as part of his 1797 ballad competition with Goethe.
Phanes of Halicarnassus was a wise council man, a tactician, and a mercenary from Halicarnassus, serving the Egyptian pharaoh Amasis II. Most of what history recounts of Phanes is from the account of Herodotus in his grand historical text, the Histories. According to Herodotus, Phanes of Halicarnassus was "a resourceful man and a brave fighter" serving Amasis II on matters of state, and was well connected within the Egyptian pharaoh's troops. Phanes of Halicarnassus was also very well respected within the military and royal community of Egypt.
Polycrates may refer to:
Balladenjahr refers to the year 1797 in the history of German literature, in which many of the best-known ballads of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller originated within a few months, such as Goethe's "Der Zauberlehrling" and Schiller's "Der Ring des Polykrates", "Der Taucher", "Der Handschuh", "Der Gang nach dem Eisenhammer", "Ritter Toggenburg", and "Die Kraniche des Ibykus".