Introduction; 1. The birth of Cypselus: The 'birth-of-the-hero' story-type; 2. The birth of Cypselus: The sterility story-type; 3. Periander and Melissa: ‘the grateful dead’ and ‘the lost deposit’; 4. Periander, Melissa and Arion: Nekyomanteion Tales; 5. Periander, Crateia, Thrasybulus and Lycophron: how Periander became a sage; Conclusion; Appendix A: The Cypselids: repertorium of sources in translation; Appendix B: Family Trees of the Cypselids; Appendix C: Four Afterlives of Periander: Tracy, Weguelin, Opperman and Hermans.
Biography
Daniel Ogden is Professor of Ancient History in the University of Exeter, UK. His recent books include The Legend of Seleucus, The Dragon in the West, The Werewolf in the Ancient World, The Strix-Witch and (as editor) The Cambridge Companion to Alexander the Great.
"It is easy to recommend this work. Ogden’s breadth of research is impressive; while the core of his work focuses on a variety of legends from the Hellenistic world, an analysis of late antique and early modern myths is included to demonstrate the consistency and longevity of the myth-formula represented by Periander and Cypselus. The alignment of these varied and complex sources is demonstrated in a manner that is both clear and accessible—in particular Ogden’s matrices comparing the legends of the tyrants with other mytho-historic figures are convincingly illustrative of the author’s arguments." - Classical Journal
