They came and searched, but when they did not find it, they resolved to go off and say to those who had sent them that they had carried out their orders. They then went away and said this.

Eetion's son, however, grew up, and because of his escape from that danger, he was called Cypselus, after the chest. When he had reached manhood and was seeking a divination, an oracle of double meaning was given him at Delphi [22.5167,38.4917] (Perseus) Delphi. Putting faith in this, he made an attempt on Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus) Corinth and won it.

The oracle was as follows: That man is fortunate who steps into my house,Cypselus, son of Eetion, the king of noble Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus) Corinth,He himself and his children, but not the sons of his sons. Such was the oracle. Cypselus, however, when he had gained the tyranny, conducted himself in this way: many of the Corinthians he drove into exile, many he deprived of their wealth, and by far the most he had killed.

After a reign of thirty years,655 to 625. he died in the height of prosperity, and was succeeded by his son Periander. Now Periander was to begin with milder than his father, but after he had held converse by messenger with Thrasybulus the tyrant of Miletus [27.3,37.5] (Perseus) Miletus, he became much more bloodthirsty than Cypselus.

He had sent a herald to Thrasybulus and inquired in what way he would best and most safely govern his city. Thrasybulus led the man who had come from Periander outside the town, and entered into a sown field. As he walked through the corn, continually asking why the messenger had come to him from Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus) Corinth, he kept cutting off all the tallest ears of wheat which he could see, and throwing them away, until he had destroyed the best and richest part of the crop.

Then, after passing through the place and speaking no word of counsel, he sent the herald away. When the herald returned to Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus) Corinth, Periander desired to hear what counsel he brought, but the man said that Thrasybulus had given him none. The herald added that it was a strange man to whom he had been sent, a madman and a destroyer of his own possessions, telling Periander what he had seen Thrasybulus do.