Periander biography sample

Pericles' reputation in ancient tradition was complex. As one of the Seven Wise Men, he was renowned for his saying, "Consider everything. Initially benevolent, Pericles transformed after consulting with the Milesian tyrant Thrasybulus. Thrasybulus advised him to eliminate potential rivals by destroying the city's most prominent figures. Accused of murdering his wife in a fit of rage, Pericles stripped the Corinthian women of their clothing while they were gathered at a temple.

His son, Lycophron, severed ties with him after learning of his mother's death. Pericles conquered Epidauros, where his father-in-law conspired against him, and exiled his son. Pericles established colonies, including Potidaea, Kerkyra, and Ambracia. Periander adopted measures that benefitted commerce. Diogenes Laertius recounts a legend about his death, that he did not want others to know where he was buried.

He afterwards ordered four more to go in pursuit of the two, kill them and bury them; again, he dispatched a larger number in pursuit of the four. Having taken these measures, he himself encountered the first pair and was slain. Periander was said to be a patron of literature, who both wrote and appreciated early philosophy. He is said to have written a didactic poem 2, lines long.

Diogenes Laertius recounts some adages by him: Tyrants who intend to be safe should make loyalty their bodyguard, not arms. Pleasures are transient, honours are immortal. Be moderate in prosperity, prudent in adversity.

Periander biography sample

Be the same to your friends whether they are in prosperity or in adversity. Whatever agreement you make, stick to it. Correct not only the offenders but also those who are on the point of offending. Periander is referenced by many contemporaries in relation to philosophy and leadership. Most commonly he is mentioned as one of the Seven Sages of Ancient Greecea group of philosophers and rulers from early Greece, but some authors leave him out of the list.

Some scholars have argued that the ruler named Periander was a different person from the sage of the same name. Neanthes of Cyzicus makes the same assertion, adding, that the two men were cousins to one another. He killed his wife in a fit of jealousy, and when he realised what he had done he was filled with remorse and had intercourse with her corpse.

He surveilled his subjects, and if he suspected someone of being a threat he had them executed. When on of his sons was killed in Corcyra he had of the leading families sons shipped to Lydia as a gift. He told the Lydians the boys were to be eunuchised, but they were spared his grim destiny. Periander, The Tyrant of Corinth. He killed his wife Melissa listening to slanders of his concubines, discovering later that the stories were wrong.

This incident made the younger of his two sons with Melissa, Lykophron, to alienate from him and finally was sent to Corkyra. Periander tried to bring him back but Lykophron only accepted to rule Corinth, when his father promised him, that he would come to stay in Corkyra, in his place. The Corkyreans didn't like this idea and they killed Lykophron.