Colaeus
Encyclopedia
Colaeus was an ancient Samian explorer and silver merchant from, who according to Herodotus
(Hdt. 4.152) was the first Greek to arrive at Tartessos
circa 640 B.C. He was richly endowed by the city's king Arganthonios
and returned him to Greece.
In an era where most Greek traders were anonymous, Herodotus believed that Colaeus and Sostratus the Aegintean 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 straights of Gibraltar 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. Many Phocaeans followed Colaeus' voyage and profited enough to build a new fortification wall for Phocaea.
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
(Hdt. 4.152) was the first Greek to arrive at Tartessos
Tartessos
Tartessos or Tartessus was a harbor city and surrounding culture on the south coast of the Iberian peninsula , at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. It appears in sources from Greece and the Near East starting in the middle of the first millennium BC, for example Herodotus, who describes it as...
circa 640 B.C. He was richly endowed by the city's king Arganthonios
Arganthonios
Arganthonios was a king of ancient Tartessos .This name, or title, appears to be based on the Indo-European word for silver and money *arģ-, found in Celtiberian arkanta, Old Irish airget, Latin argentum, Sanskrit rajatám. Tartessia and all of Iberia was rich in silver. Similar names Arganthonios...
and returned him to Greece.
In an era where most Greek traders were anonymous, Herodotus believed that Colaeus and Sostratus the Aegintean 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 straights of Gibraltar 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. Many Phocaeans followed Colaeus' voyage and profited enough to build a new fortification wall for Phocaea.
Sources
- The role of metals in ancient Greek history By Michail Yu Treister Page 102 ISBN 9004099174
- The ancient explorers By Max Cary, Eric Herbert Warmington