# Cleon — Pericles character guide

> Cleon in Pericles by William Shakespeare.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Cleon O Dionyza, Cleon O, exeunt Cleon, Till cruel Cleon, savage Cleon, wicked Cleon, Cleon Heavens

**First appearance:** 0005-act-i-scene-iv

## Snapshot

Governor of famine-struck Tarsus who owes Pericles his city, then lets his wife's jealousy poison his gratitude.

## Who they are

Cleon first appears as a ruler whose people are starving, saved when Pericles arrives with grain and asks nothing in return. He accepts Marina as a ward and raises her alongside his own daughter, but his authority shrinks beside Dionyza's ambition. His failure to protect the child he promised to keep turns a story about rescue into one about how easily a weak man's silence becomes complicity.

## Relationships

### [Marina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters/marina)

_rivalry_

Cleon, entrusted with Marina's care, grows jealous of her virtues and orders her murder.

### [Pericles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters/pericles)

_friendship_

Cleon is initially a friend and host to Pericles, but later betrays him by harming Marina.

### [Leonine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters/leonine)

_professional_

Cleon hires Leonine as his servant to carry out the murder of Marina.

### [Leonine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters/leonine)

_professional_

Cleon hires Leonine as his servant to carry out the murder of Marina.

### [Pericles](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters/pericles)

_friendship_

Cleon is initially a friend and host to Pericles, but later betrays him by harming Marina.

### [Marina](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters/marina)

_rivalry_

Cleon, entrusted with Marina's care, grows jealous of her virtues and orders her murder.

## In the story

### [Scene IV: The Relief of Tarsus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/chapters/act-i-scene-iv)

Governor of Tarsus, despairing over the city's famine and initially suspicious of the arriving ships.

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-i)

Mentioned as the intended caretaker for the infant in Tarsus.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/chapters/act-iii-scene-iii)

Accepts responsibility for Marina's upbringing, recalling Pericles' aid to Tarsus.

### [Scene III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-iii)

Horrified by the murder of Marina, he laments the deed and fears Pericles' reaction, but is ultimately swayed by Dionyza's pragmatism.

### [Scene IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-iv)

Shows Pericles the tomb of Marina, complicit in the deception.

### [Scene I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/chapters/act-v-scene-i)

Mentioned as the cruel king who, with his wife, sought to murder Marina.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters/cleon
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/pericles_se/characters