Kypselus

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Kypselos ( Greek  Κύψελος , Latin Cypselus ) was a tyrant of Corinth , whose reign, according to the traditional chronology, was around 657 / 6–627 / 6 BC. Is to be set.

Swell; Origin; prophecy

The most important ancient sources reporting on Kypselos are Herodotus ( Historien 5, 92) and Nikolaos of Damascus ( The Fragments of the Greek Historians (FGrH), No. 90, F 57). Nikolaos probably based his report on the account of the Ephoros of Kyme , the comprehensive universal Greek history of which is largely lost.

Kypselos belonged, according to Herodotus maternal the oligarchy of about Corinth prevailing gender Bakchiads on. Only this family provided the Prytanen , the top official in Corinth who changes annually. Kypselus' mother, the lame Labda, married Eetion outside of her sex , who traced his family tree back to a mythical figure, the Lapith Kaineus , as ancestor. When the marriage remained childless, Eetion turned to the Delphi Oracle . Pythia foretold a descendant who would become fearful to the rulers of Corinth. Therefore the Bakchiads decided to kill the child.

The box of Kypselos ("Kypseloslade")

The legendary tradition in Herodotus goes on to explain that after the birth of Kypselus a delegation went to the house of Eetion. These men sent to murder the newborn baby asked Labda to show them her son. Labda, who knew nothing, gave the first Kypselos on the arm. Since the latter was unable to kill the baby, he passed it on to the next one. But none of the delegation could do the deed and so they left the house without having achieved anything. In front of the door they blamed each other. Now they forcibly entered the house and were determined to kill Kypselus. But Labda had overheard everything and therefore hid the newborn child in a box so that it could not be found and thus survive. Since a box was supposedly called kypsele ( κυψέλη ; actual word meaning: round [and not rectangular] container) in Corinth at that time , the child was given the name Kypselos. This narrative presents an easily understandable aetiological interpretation of the name.

Nikolaos of Damascus gives the story of Herodotus in a rationalized version. In addition, he explains that during his childhood Kypselus initially stayed in Olympia under the protection of the local deity and then in Kleonai . Pausanias lets Kypselus in turn descend from Melas, the son of Antasus.

An ark, which Pausanias had described in detail after his own inspection in the 2nd century AD, which is in the Temple of Hera in Olympia , but has now disappeared, was identified in antiquity with the box in which Kypselos is said to have been hidden as an infant. His descendants had donated the box as a Christmas present after Olympia. This so-called Kypseloslade was made of cedar wood with carvings and inlaid figures and was considered an excellent work of art in ancient times . The inscriptions on the box, which explained its relief, are attributed to Eumelos of Corinth in Pausanias .

government

After Kypselus grew up, he consulted the Oracle of Delphi. Encouraged by his divine saying, he took control of Corinth, as Herodotus only briefly suggests. In a much broader description, Nikolaos of Damascus explains that Kypselos was admired by his fellow citizens after his return from a foreign country, because he seemed courageous and, in contrast to the violent ruling Bakchiads, a friend of the people. As a polemarch he knew how to demagogically win popular favor, killed the Bakchiad Hippocleide or Patrokleide, who provided the function of prytane, and in this way won tyranny. Even Aristotle reported - probably also by Ephoros - that it was Kypselos succeeded by demagogy, in Corinth, the government usurp. He came to power around 657/656 BC. Chr.

In his histories , Herodotus only briefly recounts that Kypselus ruled violently and banished, expropriated or killed many Corinthians. On the other hand, Nikolaos of Damascus claims that Kypselus exercised a mild rule, but ordered the banishment of the Bakchiads. He also got along without his own bodyguard. In agreement with Nikolaos 'account, Aristotle and Diogenes Laertios state that it was only Kypselus' son Periander who ruled tyrannically. Diogenes Laertios also speaks after a completely unhistorical note by the Archetimos of Syracuse about an alleged meeting of the Seven Wise Men at Kypselus. Through his illegitimate sons Pylades and Echiades, Kypselus had Leukas and Anaktorion colonized; in addition, his other son Gorgos founded the city of Ambrakia as a Corinthian colony. This gave the dissatisfied Corinthians the opportunity to emigrate.

Kypselus dedicated a large golden statue of Zeus for the temple in Olympia. However, Didymos stated that this statue was rather a consecration gift from Periander. It is said that Kypselus had the Corinthians' treasury built in Delphi.

After 30 years of reign, Kypselus died and passed the rule on to his son Periander, whom he fathered with his wife Krateia. Probably around 584/583 BC The rule of the Kypseliden was replaced by the Spartans .

literature

Remarks

  1. ^ Entry into government according to Diodorus ( Bibliothḗkē historikḗ , vol. 7, fragment 7, handed down in the Chronicle of Eusebius of Caesarea ): 657 BC Chr .; Reign for 30 years (Herodotus, Historien 5, 92, 6; Aristotle , Politik Vol. 5, p. 1513 b; Nikolaos von Damascus, FGrH 90 F 57).
  2. ↑ a b Julius Miller: Kypselos 2. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XII, 1, Stuttgart 1924, column 119.
  3. ↑ a b c d Herodotus, Historien 5, 92.
  4. ↑ a b c d Nikolaos of Damascos, FGrH No. 90, F 57.
  5. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece 2, 4, 4 and 5, 18, 7 f.
  6. ^ Pausanias, Description of Greece 5, 17, 2-19, 10.
  7. ↑ Georg Lippold: Kypselos 2. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswwissenschaft (RE). Volume XII, 1, Stuttgart 1924, Col. 121 f.
  8. ↑ Aristotle, Politics, Vol. 5, p. 1310 b and 1315 b.
  9. ↑ Aristotle, Politics, Vol. 5, p. 1313 a.
  10. ↑ Diogenes Laertios, On Lives and Teachings of Famous Philosophers 1, 98.
  11. ↑ Diogenes Laertios, On the Lives and Teachings of Famous Philosophers 1: 1, 40.
  12. ↑ Strabon , Geographika 10, p. 452.
  13. ↑ Strabon, Geographika 7, p. 325; Pseudo- Skymnos , Periegesis 453 ff .; Antoninus Liberalis , Metamorphoses 4.
  14. ↑ Pseudo-Aristotle, Oikonomika Vol. 2, p. 1346 a b.
  15. ↑ Diogenes Laertios, On the Lives and Teachings of Famous Philosophers 1, 96; among others
  16. ↑ Plutarch , Septem sapientium convivium 21 and Quaestiones convivales 8, 4, 4.
predecessor Office successor
Prytanes Ruler of Corinth
657 / 6–627 / 6 BC Chr. 		Periander
personal data
SURNAME Kypselus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cypselus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Ruler of Corinth
DATE OF BIRTH 7th century BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH Corinth , Ancient Greece
DATE OF DEATH 7th century BC Chr.