Charles River Editors - The Age of Tyrants: The History of the Early Tyrants in Ancient Greece

The word turannos is not of Greek origin and in its earliest uses had none of the implications of oppression that is associated with the word tyrant today. The first known use of the term in Greek is by the poet Archilocos. Archilocos made reference to the reign of Gyges, 680-640 B.C. who had usurped the Lydian throne:

To me the possessions of Gyges rich in gold are of no concern;

Envy has not seized me, and I do not look with jealousy

On the works of the gods, nor do I passionately desire great tyranny;

Such things are far from my eyes.

A bust of Archilocos

The word, borrowed from the Lydians, meant usurper and initially was used in Greece in the same way to describe someone who had seized power for himself.

The first specific use of the term in reference to an individual Greek ruler was by the poet Alcaeus in his description of Pittakos of Mitylene. This was a particularly relevant use of the term because Pittakos was an aisymnetes , an elected tyrant. Alcaeus was himself an aristocrat, and it seems he mostly objected to the elevation of the humbly born ( kakopatrides ) Pittakos. In fact, while Alcaeus was scathing about the commoner Pittakos and describing him as splay footed, pot belled and slovenly, Pittakos was aisymnetes for 10 years before voluntarily relinquishing his office and living a further 10 years on land granted to him by a grateful city. He eventually died peacefully in 570 B.C.

As a tyrant, Pittakos seems to have been highly regarded; he was numbered amongst the Seven Sages,

Exactly when the term became more derogatory is open to debate. The earliest tyrants were often rich or charismatic, and it may have been that this connotation of extravagance or ostentation was attached to the word right from its first usage. Tyranny was not a special type of constitution, nor was it a reign of terror. A tyrant, given the unique circumstances pertaining to any particular polis, might rule directly or retain the existing political structures but exercise significant influence over how the city managed its affairs. A tyrant might be benevolent or malevolent, or both over time.

By the time of Aristotle, however, tyranny and despotism had become inextricably linked in the minds of the Greeks. In fact, tyranny came to be regarded by writers such as Plato as the worst form of constitution.

A bust of Aristotle

Marie-Lan Nguyens picture of a bust of Plato

The best known of the early tyrants are Cypselus and Periander in Corinth, Pheidon in Argos, Cleisthenes of Sicyon, Polykrates in Samos, and Peisistratus and his sons Hippias and Hipparchus in Athens. There is a general consensus amongst academics that archaic tyranny was a response to the developing city states and, typically, would involve a fringe member of the aristocracy leading a discontented population to seize power for himself. However, there is no one simple explanation for the development of tyrannies in Greek cities and, generally, they arose from a combination of factors that were quite specific to a particular situation, at a particular given time. Consequently, many tyrannies lasted, at most, a generation or two but once the conditions that had enabled a tyranny to be set up had dissipated, they eventually withered away. The exception to this general rule was Sicily, which will be discussed later on.

In Politics , one of Aristotles seminal works, the philosopher provided an explanation as to why tyrannies were short lived, listing a number of individuals and tyrannies throughout Greece in places like Sicyon, Corinth, Athens, and Syracuse. He suggests that those that lasted a reasonable period were ruled by more moderate tyrants: Of all constitutions, however, oligarchy and tyranny are the shortest-lived. The tyranny at Sicyon, that of Orthagoras and his sons, was the longest, it lasted a hundred years. The reason for this was that they treated their subjects moderately and in many respects observed the laws. Secondly, we have the tyranny of the Kypselids in Corinth which lasted seventy three years and six months, with Kypselos as tyrant for thirty years, Periander for forty and a half and Psammitichos, son of Gorgos, for three. There are the same reasons for this: Kypselos was a popular leader and continued throughout his reign without a bodyguard while Periander was more tyrant-like, but warlike too. The third was that of the Peisistradai at Athens, though this was not continuous for Peisistratus twice went into exile. As a result he was tyrant for seventeen years out of thirty three and his children for eighteen which makes the total of thirty five years. Of the rest there was the tyranny of Hieron and Gelon in Syracuse though even this did not last many years, only amounting to eighteen. Gelon was tyrant for seven years and died in the eighth, Hieron for ten and Thrasyboulos was expelled in the eleventh month. But the majority of tyrannies are all extremely short-lived.