Colaeus ( el, Κωλαῖος) was an ancient Samian

explorer Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

and silver merchant, who according to

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known for ...

(Hdt. 4.152) arrived at

Tartessos Tartessos ( es, Tarteso) is, as defined by archaeological discoveries, a historical civilization settled in the region of Southern Spain characterized by its mixture of local Paleohispanic and Phoenician traits. It had a proper writing system ...

c. 640 BC. In an era where most Greek traders were anonymous, Herodotus believed that Colaeus and

Sostratus the Aeginetan Sostratos of Aegina ( el, Σώστρατος ὁ Αιγινήτης), son of Laodamus, is reported by Herodotus as a famous merchant in the sixth century BC Hellenic world - indeed to have gained "the biggest profit any Greek trader we have reliab ...

were important enough to note. Colaeus was on a venture to Egypt when he was

blown off course To be blown off course in the sailing ship era meant be to diverted by unexpected winds, getting lost possibly to shipwreck or to a new destination. In the ancient world, this was especially a great danger before the maturation of the Maritime Sil ...

by a great storm through the Mediterranean and into the Atlantic by the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaism, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to ...

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: Φώκαια, ''Phókaia''; modern-day Foça in Turkey) was an ancient Ionian Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia. Greek colonists from Phocaea founded the colony of Massalia (modern-day Marseille, in F ...

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 (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