Der Ring des Polykrates (poem)

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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.

Synopsis

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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.

Musical setting

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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.

v t e Friedrich Schiller
Plays	The Robbers Fiesco Intrigue and Love Körner's Morning Don Carlos Wallenstein Wallenstein's Camp The Piccolomini Wallenstein's Death Mary Stuart The Maid of Orleans The Bride of Messina William Tell Die Huldigung der Künste Demetrius
Libretti	Semele
Selected poems	Ode to Joy Resignation Die Götter Griechenlandes Das verschleierte Bild zu Sais Die Teilung der Erde Xenien Der Handschuh Der Taucher Die Kraniche des Ibykus Ritter Toggenburg Der Gang nach dem Eisenhammer Der Ring des Polykrates Der Kampf mit dem Drachen Die Bürgschaft Das Lied von der Glocke Nänie Der Antritt des neuen Jahrhunderts Das Siegesfest
Selected prose works	The Criminal of Lost Honour The Ghost-Seer A magnanimous act
Selected philosophical works	The Theatre Considered as a Moral Institution Über den Grund des Vergnügens an tragischen Gegenständen Augustenburger Briefe On Grace and Dignity Über das Pathetische Kallias-Briefe On the Aesthetic Education of Man On Naïve and Sentimental Poetry Über das Erhabene
Historical works	What is universal history and why does one study it?
Journals	Wirtembergisches Repertorium Thalia Die Horen
Memorials	Berlin Chicago Columbus Milwaukee (with Goethe) Syracuse (with Goethe) Weimar (with Goethe)
Related	Johann Kaspar Schiller (father) Elisabetha Dorothea Schiller (mother) Charlotte von Lengefeld (wife) Carl Christoph von Lengefeld (father-in-law) Louise von Lengefeld (mother-in-law) Karl von Schiller (son) Ernst von Schiller (son) Emilie von Gleichen-Rußwurm (daughter) Ludwig von Gleichen-Rußwurm (grandson) Alexander von Gleichen-Rußwurm (great-grandson) Christophine Reinwald (sister) Wilhelm Friedrich Hermann Reinwald (son-in-law) Weimar Classicism Play drive Skull Friedrich Schiller (1923 film) Friedrich Schiller – The Triumph of a Genius (1940 film) Beloved Sisters (2014 film)

Synopsis

Musical setting

See also