Leontes as a tyrant

The conspicuous lack of background information on Leontes' character may support the idea that Leontes is a tyrannical leader. Because we have no indication that he is truly a good friend, or a good leader, we may conclude that he is a treacherous, evil man throughout the play. The one contradiction may lie in Polixenes' speech about their youth together, wherein they were described as completely innocent. At the end of this speech however, we learn that they can no longer claim innocence. Furthermore, in the first scene, we are immediately confronted with the idea of poison (sleepy drinks), which is precisely what Leontes plans to use in his murder of his former friend.