Periander

Family: Corinthian · Role: despot of Corinth · First appears: Book 1 · §19–27

Periander, son of Kypselos, became despot of Corinth after his father had reigned for thirty years. He was a special guest-friend of Thrasybulos, despot of Miletos, and informed him of the oracle given to Alyattes. At Corinth, after Arion recounted a plot, Periander kept him under guard.

In Book 3, Periander killed his wife Melissa. When Procles told their son Lycophron that Periander had killed his mother, Lycophron treated his father as her murderer. Periander drove him from his house, barred others from receiving him, and sent him to Corcyra. He also made war on his father-in-law Procles, took Epidauros, and captured him. In time, Periander summoned Lycophron back to take supreme power; Lycophron agreed to return to Corinth as his successor.

Later, Periander asked Thrasybulos how best to govern. After Thrasybulos cut down the tallest ears of corn, Periander understood this as advice to eliminate the most eminent citizens and began abusing them. He stripped Corinthian wives of their clothing as an offering to Melissa; her apparition then revealed where a guest-friend’s deposit had been hidden. Finally, Periander arbitrated peace between the Athenians and Mytilenians, with each side retaining the territory it held.