Tyrant

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Hello and welcome to Your Greek Word On A Sunday, a weekly, bite-size podcast for anyone curious on language, etymology and connections. I am your host, Emmanuela Lia and wherever you are in the world, if you want to entertain your brain for a few minutes, this is the podcast for you. Let's Go! 

In Ancient Greece there was a form of government that peaked around the 6th and 7th century BC and saw many Greek states under it. One man that wasn't voted to rule but rather placed into power by his followers ignoring the public vote. A man that was popular and rich enough to not be challenged. He would assign high government officials that were family members, raise taxes for the majority of the population and make sure every decision was for the sake of his own profit. They were also extremely vain , some would benefit their states by backing the arts or building useful institutions but that was only because the competition with other states was high. And of course, they would pass on the ruling to their sons. There is no historical evidence that any Greek state had one family rule for more than three generations and although they loved to be called 'King' , Greek law had Kings abide to it, something these rulers completely ignored. The title word took a very nasty turn after Plato and Aristotle wrote about them and cemented the meaning that followed in Latin and spread across the world. A self-serving monarch that governs in vanity and greed is a ΤΥΡΑΝΝΟΣ/TYRANT

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