Periander Tyrant of Corinth

One of the great mysteries in history is the inclusion of Periander of Corinth among the Seven wise men of Greece. His story, the way Diogenes Laertius tells it, defies the standard view we have of wisdom. It begins by telling us that Periander had two sons from his beloved wife. However,

after some time, in a fit of anger, he killed his wife by throwing a footstool at her, or by a kick, when she was pregnant, having been egged on by the slanderous tales of concubines, whom he afterwards burnt alive.

This episode is followed by the banishment of Periander’s son, who was sent into exile to Korfu: Periander recalled his son on the eve of his own death, so that he could take over the tyranny, but the citizens of Korfu killed him. In rage, Periander decided to castrate the Corcyrans who fell in his hands. Aristippus accused Periander of incest, while Ephorus recorded that he promised to set up a golden statue, if he won the chariot race in Olympia, but then, as he lacked the necessary amount of gold, he despoiled the women of all the ornaments which he had seen them wearing at some local festival. He was thus enabled to send the votive offering.

After giving such proves of his wisdom, Periander did not want his burial place to be known. He therefore devised a cunning plan:

He ordered two young men to go out at night by a certain road which he pointed out to them; they were to kill the man they met and bury him. He afterwards ordered four more to go in pursuit of the two, kill them and bury them; again, he dispatched a larger number in pursuit of the four. Having taken these measures, he himself encountered the first pair and was slain.

For all his deeds, Diogenes Laertius affirms he was remembered by the Corinthians with the following epitaph:

In mother earth here Periander lies,
The prince of sea-girt Corinth rich and wise.

Now, as I have in great esteem the wisdom of the ancients, I feel puzzled everytime I recall this story, the life of Periander tyrant of Corinth.