Histories

Herodotus

Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).

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:

  1. That man is fortunate who steps into my house,
  2. Cypselus, son of Eetion, the king of noble Corinth [22.9083,37.9083] (Perseus) Corinth,
  3. 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.