In Plato’s Republic, long before J.R.R. Tolkien dreamed up the One Ring, a philosopher named Glaucon posed a deeply unsettling question about human nature. He told the story of a humble shepherd who discovers a golden ring that grants him the power of absolute invisibility—and immediately uses it to commit the ultimate acts of betrayal. The story of Gyges strips away the illusions of human righteousness, asking whether our morality is genuine, or merely a performance for the crowd.
