Periander

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Periander, marble bust in the Vatican Museum, Rome—The Mansell Collection

(died c. 587 BC) Second tyrant of Corinth (c. 627–587). He was the son of Cypselus, founder of the Cypselid dynasty. One of the most violent of the early Greek tyrants, he killed his wife and avenged the death of his son in Corcyra by sending 300 Corcyran boys to be castrated (they managed to escape). He treated the nobility harshly but built a strong, prosperous Corinthian economy. His extensive building program included construction of the Diolkos, a portage used to transport ships across the Isthmus of Corinth.

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