Phalanthus of Tarentum
Introduction In Greek mythology, '''Phalanthos''' (Ancient Greek: Φάλανθος) is a divine hero, the leader of the Spartan Partheniae and the founder of Taranto, Magna Graecia. He is said to have been condemned to death by the ephors. He was married to Aethra, who, while picking his lice, wept on her husband's head, because her husband's efforts have come to nothing after her husband fears an oracle tells the impossibility of his project to take control of the city. From this her husband realized the oracle (which was to hit the city when it rains, but as his wife's name was Aethra which means bright sky, her tears would be equivalent of raining bright skies), which was fulfilled, helped him conquer Tarantum.It is said that before Phalanthus reached Italy, he suffered a shipwreck in the Crisaean sea, and was brought ashore by a dolphin.inscription of Phalanthos riding a dolphin on an object, 500-473 ac
See also * Phalanthus
Sources * Strabo, Geography (VI, 3, 2-3) =** Antiochus of Syracuse (''FGrH'' 555F13) ;** Ephorus of Cumae (''FGrH'' 70F216).=== Bibliography ===*  Jean Bérard, ''La colonisation grecque de l'Italie méridionale et de la Sicile dans l'Antiquité. L'histoire et la légende'', Paris, 1957, pp.162-175. *  Marinella Corsano, « Sparte et Tarente : le mythe de fondation d'une colonie », in ''Revue de l'histoire des religions'' 196, 2, 1979, pp.113-140. *  G. Maddoli, "Falanto spartiata", in ''Mélange de l'École française de Rome'' 95, 1983, pp.555-564. *  Domenico Musti, ''Strabone e la Magna Grecia'', Padoue, 1988, pp.151-172. * Irad Malkin, ''Myth and Territory in the Spartan Mediterranean'', Cambridge, 1994*  Claudia Antonetti, "Phalanthos “entre Corinthe et Sycione”", in ''Dialogues d'histoire ancienne'' 22/1, 1996, pp.65-78* Giovanna Bonivento Pupino, Noi Tarantini Figli di Parteni, in Ribalta di Puglia nn.8-9 marzo 2003 https://www.academia.edu/11088541/Noi_Tarantini_figli_di_Parteni* Jonathan M. Hall, ''A History of the Archaic Greek World, ca. 1200-479 BCE'', Blackwell, 2007, , p111-114