Colophon (city)
| Κολοφών (Ancient Greek) | |
Colophon is located to the right of the center on this map of ancient Ionia.
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 Shown within Turkey
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| Location | Değirmendere Fev, Izmir Province, Turkey |
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| Region | Ionia |
| Coordinates | 38°06′32″N 27°08′30″E / 38.10889°N 27.14167°ECoordinates: 38°06′32″N 27°08′30″E / 38.10889°N 27.14167°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Cultures | Greek, Roman |
| Associated with | Xenophanes, Antimachus, Mimnermus |
Colophon (/ˈkɒləfɒn/;Ancient Greek: Κολοφών) was an ancient city in Ionia. Founded around the turn of the first millennium BC, it was likely one of the oldest of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. In ancient times it was located between Lebedos (120 stadia to the west) and Ephesus (70 stadia to its south). Today the ruins of the city can be found south of the town Değirmendere Fev in the Menderes district of Izmir Province, Turkey.
The city's name comes from the word κολοφών, "summit", which is also the origin of the bibliographic term "colophon", in the metaphorical sense of a 'crowning touch', as it was sited along a ridgeline. The term colophony for rosin comes from the term colophonia resina, that is, resin from the pine trees of Colophon, which was highly valued for the strings of musical instruments.
According to Apollodorus and Proclus, the mythical seer Calchas died at Colophon after the end of the Trojan War. Strabo names Clarus as the place of his death, which would later be a cult center in the territory of Colophon. An oracle had it that he would die when he would meet a better seer than himself. As Calchas and the other heroes on their way home from Troy came upon the seer Mopsus in Colophon, the two competed in their mantic qualities. Calchas couldn't equal Mopsus' skills as a seer, being a son of Apollo and Manto, so he died.
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