Colaeus () was an ancient Samian

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

and silver merchant, who according to

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

(Hdt. 4.152) arrived at

Tartessos Tartessos () is, as defined by archaeological discoveries, a historical civilization settled in the southern Iberian Peninsula characterized by its mixture of local Prehistoric Iberia, Paleohispanic and Phoenician traits. It had a writing syste ...

c. 640 BC. In an era where most Greek traders were anonymous, Herodotus believed that Colaeus and Sostratus the Aeginetan were important enough to note. Colaeus was on a venture to Egypt when he was blown off course by a great storm through the Mediterranean and into the Atlantic by the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Europe from Africa. The two continents are separated by 7.7 nautical miles (14.2 kilometers, 8.9 miles) at its narrowest point. Fe ...

as far as Tartessus, south-western Spain. Tartessus had previously been unvisited by traders and Colaeus was able to obtain a cargo of metal and return it safely to Samos. Upon his return, he dedicated one tenth of his profits to his native goddess, Hera. It is widely believed that the storm was an invention by Colaeus to hide his trade route from his competitors as the rewards from the previously untapped source of metal proved immense. The

Phocaeans Phocaea or Phokaia (Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: Φώκαια, ''Phókaia''; modern-day Foça in Turkey) was an ancient Ionian Ancient Greece, Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Colonies in antiquity, Greek colonists from Phoc ...

were the first visitors of Tartessos (

(Hdt. 1.163)): Πρώτῃ δὲ Φωκαίη Ἰωνίης ἐπεχείρησε. Φωκαιέες .... καὶ τόν τε Ἀνδρίην καὶ τὴν Τυρσηνίην καὶ τὴν Ἰβηρίην καὶ τον Ταρτησσὸν οὗτοι εἰσὶν οἱ καταδέξαντες (First Ionian Phocea was involved. The Phoceans... discovered Adriatic and Tyrrenean and Iberia and Tartessos. Arriving at Tartessos they were welcomed by the Tartessian king by the name

Arganthonios Arganthonios () was a king of ancient Tartessos (in Andalusia, southern Spain) who according to Herodotus, was visited by Colaeus, Kolaios of Samos. Given the legendary status of Geryon, Gargoris and Habis, Arganthonios is the earliest documente ...

(ἀπικόμενοι δὲ ἐς τὸν Ταρτησσὸν προσφιλέες ἐγένοντο τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν Ταρτησσίων, τῷ οὔνομα μὲν ἦν Ἀργαθώνιος). Colaeus' voyage was profitable enough for him to devote the tenth of his earnings to Hera. The Phoceans built a new fortification wall for Phocaea.John Boardman, ''The Cambridge ancient history: Persia, Greece and the Western Mediterranean c. 525-479 B.C.'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 1988

References

Sources

*The role of metals in ancient Greek history By Michail Yu Treister Page 102 *The ancient explorers By Max Cary, Eric Herbert Warmington Ancient Greek explorers Ancient Samians Ancient Greek merchants Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Explorers of Europe 7th-century BC Greek people Tartessos {{explorer-stub