Melancholy

Melanchros ( ancient Greek Μέλαγχρος , † towards the end of the 7th century BC) was a ruler of Mytilene on Lesbos . According to ancient tradition, he was the first τύραννος Μυτιλήνης týrannos Mytilḗnēs ("Tyrant of Mytilene").

Melanchros may have belonged to the powerful Kleanaktid family. "After the overthrow of the Penthilids, the old royal family, there were ongoing clashes between the noble families in Mytilene [...]". "The last king Penthilus was once murdered here and the nobility exercised energetic rule until, after lengthy friction with the demos, the finally brutal power of the sexes was overthrown by the demagogue Melanchros [...] by force." That meant a resetting of the nobility in the state administration. The sharpest opposition to the new regime rallied around Pittakos , who, along with Kikis and Antimenidas, the brothers of Alcaios , violently overthrew Melanchros. After the fall of Melanchro, the internal arguments on Lesbos seem to have calmed down for the time being. But soon Myrsilus rose to be the next tyrant of Mytilene.

literature

Elke Stein-Hölkeskamp : Melanchros. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 7, Metzler, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-476-01477-0 , Sp. 1168.

Remarks

↑ Loretana de Libero : The archaic tyranny. Steiner, Stuttgart 1996, p. 315.
↑ Elena Pallantza: The Trojan War in Post Homeric literature up to the 5th century BC. Chr. (= Hermes single inscriptions. Volume 94). Steiner, Stuttgart 2005, p. 17.
^ Gustav Friedrich Hertzberg : History of Hellas and Rome. Grote, Berlin 1879, p. 102 ( digitized version ); Wilhelm Schmid : Classical Period of Greek Literature (= Handbook of Classical Studies . 7th section, 1st volume). 6th edition, edited by Wilhelm Schmid with the assistance of Otto Stählin . CH Beck, Munich 1912, p. 195 ( digitized version ): “The tyrant Melanchros and his successor Myrsilos, who were put on the shield by democracy”.
↑ Viktor Steffen: The political crisis in Mytilene in the time of the poet Alkaios. In: Oktawiusz Jurewicz, Heinrich Kuch (ed.): The crisis of the Greek polis. Görlitzer Eirene-Tagung 1967. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1969, pp. 7-10, here: p. 8.

personal data
SURNAME	Melancholy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Tyrant of Mytilene
DATE OF BIRTH	7th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	7th century BC Chr.
Place of death	Mytilene

[1] Loretana de Libero : The archaic tyranny. Steiner, Stuttgart 1996, p. 315.

[2] Elena Pallantza: The Trojan War in Post Homeric literature up to the 5th century BC. Chr. (= Hermes single inscriptions. Volume 94). Steiner, Stuttgart 2005, p. 17.

[3] Gustav Friedrich Hertzberg : History of Hellas and Rome. Grote, Berlin 1879, p. 102 ( digitized version ); Wilhelm Schmid : Classical Period of Greek Literature (= Handbook of Classical Studies . 7th section, 1st volume). 6th edition, edited by Wilhelm Schmid with the assistance of Otto Stählin . CH Beck, Munich 1912, p. 195 ( digitized version ): “The tyrant Melanchros and his successor Myrsilos, who were put on the shield by democracy”.

[4] Viktor Steffen: The political crisis in Mytilene in the time of the poet Alkaios. In: Oktawiusz Jurewicz, Heinrich Kuch (ed.): The crisis of the Greek polis. Görlitzer Eirene-Tagung 1967. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1969, pp. 7-10, here: p. 8.