Colaeus

Who is Colaeus?

Colaeus was an ancient Samian explorer and silver merchant from, who according to Herodotus 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 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 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.