| Cypselus | |
|---|---|
| Tyrant of Corinth | |
| Reign | 657–627 BC |
| Predecessor | Bacchiadae |
| Successor | Periander |
| Born | before 670 BC Corinth |
| Died | 627 BC Corinth |
| Consort | Cratea |
| Issue |
|
| Greek | Κύψελος |
| House | Cypselid |
| Father | Eëtion |
| Mother | Labda |
| Religion | Greek polytheism |
Cypselus (Ancient Greek:Κύψελος,Kypselos) was the firsttyrant ofCorinth in the 7th century BC.
With increased wealth and more complicated trade relations and social structures,Greekcity-states tended to overthrow their traditional hereditarypriest-kings; Corinth, the richest archaicpolis, led the way.[1] Like thesignori of late medieval and Renaissance Italy, thetyrants usually seized power at the head of some popular support. Often the tyrants upheld existing laws and customs and were highly conservative as to cult practices, thus maintaining stability with little risk to their own personal security. As inRenaissance Italy, acult of personality naturally substituted for thedivine right of the former legitimate royal house.
After the last traditional king of Corinth,Telestes, was assassinated byArieus andPerantas, there were no more kings; insteadprytanes taken from the former royal house of theBacchiadae ruled for a single year each. Cypselus, the son ofEëtion and a disfigured woman namedLabda, who was a member of the Bacchiad family, the ruling dynasty, usurped power, became tyrant and expelled the Bacchiadae.[2]
According toHerodotus the Bacchiadae heard two prophecies from theDelphic oracle that the son of Eëtion would overthrow their dynasty,[3] and they planned to kill the baby once it was born; however, Herodotus says that the newborn smiled at each of the men sent to kill it, and none of them could go through with the plan. An etiological myth-element, to account for the name Cypselus (cf. κυψέλη,kypsele, "chest") accounted how Labda then hid the baby in a chest, and when the men had composed themselves and returned to kill it, they could not find it. (Compare the infancy ofPerseus.) ThecedarChest of Cypselus, richly worked with mythological narratives and adorned withivory andgold, was a votive offering atOlympia, wherePausanias gave it a detailed description in his 2nd century AD travel guide.[4]
When Cypselus had grown up, he fulfilled the prophecy. Corinth had been involved in wars withArgos andCorcyra, and the Corinthians were unhappy with their rulers. At the time, around 657 BC, Cypselus waspolemarch, thearchon in charge of the military, and he used his influence with the soldiery to expel the Bacchiadae. He also expelled his other enemies, but allowed them to set upcolonies in northwesternGreece. He also increased trade with the colonies inItaly andSicily. Some accounts suggest that he was so popular among the people of Corinth and its army that he never required a personal bodyguard.[5][6]
He ruled for thirty years and in 627 BC was succeeded as tyrant by his sonPeriander, who was considered one of theSeven Sages of Greece. The treasury Cypselus built atDelphi was apparently still standing in the time ofHerodotus.Cypselus' second son Gorgus became tyrant of the Corinthian colonyAmbracia, followed after his death by his sonPeriander of Ambracia. Another known Cypselid from Ambracia was named Archinus, whose wife later marriedPeisistratus of Athens.[7] While some consider him a tyrant as well,[8] the sources are not definite, and there is no reason to believe Ambracia had any Cypselid tyrants other than the aforementioned two.[9] Cypselus' other grandson by Gorgus wasPsammetich, who followed the sage Periander as the last tyrant of Corinth.