Greek Bithynia Astakos

Astakos [AΣΤΑΚΟΣ], a member of the Delian League, was founded in Bithynia by Megaresians and Athenians, according to Strabo, while Stephen of Byzantium reports a foundation myth involving Astakos, son of Poseidon and the nymph Olbia. The traditional date of the foundation is 712/1 BC, the year of the 17th Olympiad. Diodorus Siculus, on the other hand, reports that the Athenians, engaged in battle against Potidea, founded the city in Propontis in 435 BC. Zipoetes I, king of Bithynia, tried twice to absorb Astakos into his kingdom but was defeated in 315 BC by Antigonos Monoophthalmos, while in 301 he was successful, but the city was destroyed. Nicomedes I, son of Zipoetes, founded a new city on the same territory and named it Nicomedia in his honour. This became the capital of Bithynia and one of the largest cities of the eastern empire. The hero Astakos was according to myth the son of Poseidon and the nymph Olbia, and the founder and eponym of the city of Astakos in Bithynia. During the reign of Nikomedes I, Nikomedia was founded nearby to replace Astakos, and the cult to the hero was moved to the new city.