Mnemosyne — Classical Greek Myth Library

Polycrates son of Aeaces, tyrant of Samos, enjoyed unbroken success in war and piracy until Amasis of Egypt, his ally, grew afraid. Amasis wrote that the gods envy continuous luck: Polycrates should cast away whatever he valued most, so that he might taste misfortune and balance his fate. Polycrates chose an emerald (or gold) signet ring, his dearest treasure, sailed out, and threw it into the deep. Days later a fisherman brought a great fish as a gift to the palace; inside it the cooks found the ring and restored it to the tyrant. Polycrates wrote the marvel to Amasis; Amasis dissolved the guest-friendship, sure that a man who could not even lose on purpose was doomed. Herodotus later narrates Polycrates’ death by crucifixion at the hands of the Persian Oroetes—fulfilling the envy of the gods. The ring episode stands alone as the proverbial tale of luck that will not be refused: the sea itself returns the sacrifice. Greek moral tradition kept it as a paradigm of *olbos* too great to last.