View source for Oikistes

{{Short description|Ancient Greek leader of a colonization effort}}
The '''''oikistes''''' ({{langx|el|οἰκιστής}}), often [[anglicized]] as '''oekist''' or '''oecist''', was the individual chosen by an ancient Greek [[polis]] as the leader of any new [[Greek colonization|colonization effort]]. He was invested with the power of selecting a settling place, directing the initial labors of the colonists and guiding the fledgling colony through its hard early years.<ref Name="Dillon&Garland ">{{cite book
|title= Ancient Greece: Social and Historical Documents from Archaic Times to the Death of Alexander Routledge sourcebooks for the ancient world
|last= Dillon |first= Matthew
|last2=Garland |first2=Lynda |author2-link=Lynda Garland
|year= 2010
|publisher= Taylor & Francis
|isbn= 978-0-415-47330-9
|page= 50
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vkguTquQ3igC&dq=Oikistes&pg=PA51}}</ref> The oracle is also consulted during deliberations for choosing an ''oikistes''.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=Nigel Guy|title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2006|isbn=0-415-97334-1|location=New York|pages=177}}</ref> After he is appointed and directed to found a colony, he also consults the Delphic oracle.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Raaflaub|first1=Kurt A.|title=A Companion to Archaic Greece|last2=Wees|first2=Hans van|date=2012-12-21|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-55665-8|location=|pages=|language=en}}</ref> Due to his authority, the ''oikistes'' was often accorded [[Greek hero cult|his own cult]] after his death, and his name was preserved even when all other details of the founding of a colony were forgotten.<ref>{{citation
| first = Lionel
| last = Casson
| authorlink = Lionel Casson
| title = The Ancient Mariners: Seafarers and Sea Fighters of the Mediterranean in Ancient Times
| publisher = Princeton University Press
| year = 1991
| isbn = 978-0-691-01477-7
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4Ls6MczXvBEC
| page = 68
}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Society of ancient Greece]]
[[Category:Greek colonization]]
[[Category:City founders]]
[[Category:Greek hero cult]]
{{AncientGreece-stub}}