Periandros

His father was Kypselos, who was a tyrant in Corinth. After his death, Periandros took over the autocracy (tyranny) in Corinth in 627 BC. He married the daughter of the autocrat of Epidaurus, Proklea (Lysida). He called her Melissa. He had two sons, the elder Kypselos being incapable of ruling because of his feeble-mindedness and the younger Lycophron dying during Periander's lifetime.

During his reign, Corinth achieved its greatest economic and political prosperity. The main reason was that Periandros was a skilled warrior. He was able to build a strong navy and expanded the Corinthian ports to this end.

Among other things, he raised agriculture, crafts and trade and introduced a new monetary system. He planned to excavate the Isthmus (Isthmus of Corinth), but this proved too difficult, so he built a stone ramp across the Isthmus, which was used to pull ships across the land. This prevented the ships from having to circumnavigate the Peloponnese peninsula and reduced their sailing time. At the same time, they avoided the dangers of this circumnavigation. He did not levy any special taxes and was content with those that came from the markets and ports. He even set up a council to watch the ratio of expenditure to income.

Furthermore, Periandros founded new colonies (on the west coast of Greece on the way to Italy) and maintained friendly relations with Lydia and with Egypt.

After his death, his relative Psammetichos took over the government, but was assassinated in 583 BC. Tyranny was then replaced by an oligarchy (rich merchants and industrialists made the decisions).

There are many stories about his life:

• For example, his mother was said to have fallen in love with him and had sex with him in secret.
• He is also said to have turned brutal and violent government into a tyranny and surrounded himself with three hundred bodyguards. He forbade citizens from owning slaves and spending time in idleness, and always found work for everyone.
• He had his pregnant wife put to death by throwing a stool at her. This was said to be due to a fit of rage over gossip from his female bedmates, whom he subsequently had burned.
• He was to banish his son Lycophron to Kerkyra because Lycophron couldn't bear to hear that Periandros had killed his mother. In his old age, Periandros asked him to return, but they failed to do so. So they agreed that Periandros would go to Kerkyra and Lycophron would rule in Corinth. However, the inhabitants feared that Periandros would rule them, so they killed Lycophron. Periandros then sent the 300 sons of the leading men of Kerkyra to Sardis to be castrated and become eunuchs out of revenge. On the island of Samos, however, the sons were freed by the locals and sent home.

Modern historians have questioned the credibility of ancient accounts that make Periander out to be a violent monster. They say he was no saint, but he was certainly not as cruel as he is said to have been.