Periander

*"You’ve made a cuckold of me."*
―**King Periander** to his wife **Electra** in *Past is Prologue*.
**King Periander** was king of Cornith before he was killed by his wife Electra.

## History

Earlier in his reign, he took Electra in as his consort and trophy wife. Periander was not a good husband to Electra. He was cold and demeaning towards her. His actions prompted her to have an affair with Zeus.

Unbeknown to Electra however, she was expecting both Periander and Zeus's children. Electra learned of her pregnancy from Apollo. Apollo unsuccessfully tries to protect Electra and the unborn Heron from Hera's wrath, however Hera (in guise of a crow), learns about her husband's affair with Electra and the existence of Heron and returns to Olympus and enlists the Oneiori to appear in King Periander's dreams to inform him that one of Electra's kids wasn't his. Periander is initially unsure if his dreams were true, but once Heron is born, he immediately realizes that he isn't his son and plans to execute him and Electra as punishment for her infedelitiy. However Zeus arrives in the form of an eagle and attacks Periander to save his mistress and son. Periander is then killed by his wife. As Zeus pressures Electra to flee with Heron, Electra is initially reluctant as she doesn't want to leave her other son behind. But Zeus tells Electra that her other child is better off in the palace. Zeus however underestimated the greed of Periander's brother, Acrissius who attempted to assassinate his nephew as soon as he Acrissius became his nephew's regent. Acrissius dropped his nephew off a cliff in order to become King of Cornith and to ensure that his firstborn child succeeds him as ruler. Unknown to Acrissius however, his nephew survived the fall and was taken in by Ariana.

## Personality

Periander was not a good king or man while he was still alive. As King of Cornith, he was a tyrannical ruler, earning him the title "The Tyrant of Cornith." Periander had no qualms using force and threat upon his subjects to get them to do his bidding, as he forced Electra to marry him while he controlled Ariana through intimidation. Periander was also an abusive husband towards Electra as he showed no affection towards her and was cold and demeaning during their interactions. Periander was also irresponsible and hypocritical as when he discovered that Heron was the product of an affair Electra had with another man (Who was actually Zeus), he planned to have both his wife and bastard son executed as punishment for Electra's disloyalty as his wife when he failed to be a loyal husband towards her. However, he was joyful when Electra bore his own son. After his inspection of Seraphim confirmed that he was his true father, Periander declared that his son would "be a lion."

## Physical Appearance

Periander has brown eyes and hair similar to Seraphim's. He also possesses a bronze tanned skin in a darker shade than his wife Electra's.

## Relationships

### Electra

*Periander is very abusive towards Electra.*

### Heron

Due to receiving dreams from the Oneari that hinted the true parentage of one of Electra's then-unborn sons wouldn't be his, Periander immediately grew suspicious of Electra. Periander then revealed his suspicions to Electra and warned her that if she bears a child that isn't his, he'll kill that child along with Electra as punishment. When Electra went into labor, Periander immediately inspected Seraphim's eye color to see if it matches his own (As Electra's eyes also matched Perianders). When Seraphim's eye color was discovered to match both his parents, Periander deduced that Seraphim was his son and is elated by this. However, Periander's joy was cut short when Arianna revealed that Electra was giving birth to another baby with a different placenta. This served as confirmation for the King that one of his wife's children wasn't his. Following Heron's birth, Periander was unsure which of his wife's kids were his. So he immediately inspected Heron, and when Periander found that Heron's eyes were an electric blue (Which didn't match Electra's nor Periander's), The King immediately realized that Heron wasn't his and subsequently condemned both Heron and his mother to death as punishment for his wife's infidelity. The reason why Periander's hatred extends to Heron is that even though Heron himself didn't anger Periander personally, He represented Electra's unfaithfulness to him [Periander], and Periander was well aware that having Heron killed for who his father is would harm Electra emotionally. However, before Periander could carry out his plans, A storm breaks out of nowhere, and Zeus arrives in his eagle form and rescues Heron from Periander's clutches. When Periander and his men charge Zeus, he reveals his true form as King of the Gods. Upon seeing that Zeus's eyes were the same shade of blue as Heron's, Periander realizes that Zeus is Heron's biologicals father. However, this doesn't discourage Periander from recapturing Heron and attempting to throw him off a ledge. If anything, Periander's newfound knowledge of Heron's relationship with the King of the Gods fuels his determination to kill Heron. However, Electra catches on and stabs Periander in his right eye before he can throw Heron out of the window.

### Zeus

*When Periander attemts to kill Heron and Electra Zeus arrive to stop him and his men, showcasing their emnity in spite of Zeus being the king o f Olympus.*

### Seraphim

When Electra went into labor, Periander was summoned to witness the birth of his son and stepson. Knowing that one of his wife's children may not be his, he inspected Seraphim by determining his eye color matched both his consort's and his own to determine which of Electra's kids was his. When Seraphim eye color was revealed to match his on and Electra's

Periander is relieved that he is the father to Electra's firstborn. He immediately declares that his son "will be a lion!".

However, Periander's joy was short-lived when Electra gives birth to Heron. After examining the newborn Heron, Periander realizes that Heron wasn't his son.

### Ariana

Little interaction is shown between Periander and Ariana. However, there was no doubt Ariana didn't get along with the King while he was still alive as Ariana was shown to be submissive and wary towards him. However, she still felt obligated to protect Seraphim even after Periander had been killed, clearly not wanting to extend her hatred towards the former King's heir.

### Acrissius

Acrissius was presumably Periander's younger brother, though they likely had a poor relationship as Acrissius seized the chance to become king after his brother's death by attempting to murder his nephew, showing he likely had no love or sincere respect for his brother when Periander was alive, as Periander likely threatened and cowed Acrissius into submission as he did all his subjects.

## Trivia

* Periander is a historical figure, and was the Second Tyrant of the Cypselid dynasty that ruled over ancient Corinth. Periander's rule brought about a prosperous time in Corinth's history, as his administrative skill made Corinth one of the wealthiest city states in Greece. Several accounts state that Periander was a cruel and harsh ruler, but others claim that he was a fair and just king who worked to ensure that the distribution of wealth in Corinth was more or less even. He is often considered one of the Seven Sages of Greece, men of the 6th century BC who were renowned for centuries for their wisdom.