According to the Greek Mythology of the shores of the river Imvrassos the goddess Hera was born and the goddess was bathing in the river�s waters, that�s why the river was also called Parthenios. It was also in this place where Hera fist made love with Zeus.

The first settlers of Samos were Hisieis from the promontory Hision of Asia Minor and Astipalaians. Kares, Leleges as well as Pelasgoi were the first inhabitants of Samos as in most of the island of the Aegean Sea.

The Argonaut Agaios is considered to be the founder of the town of Samos and the one who introduced the cult of Hera and the cultivation of the vine.
According to Apollonios of Rhodes, Agaios was not a settler but a Samian and son of the god Poseidon.

The myth of Agaios

The sons of Agaios were Agapinor, who became king of the Arcadians and fought on the Trojan War and Samos who ruler in Samos.

With the end of the Trojan War Ionians under the leadership of Proklis and Temvrionas colonized Samos. Paphsanias makes references to another wave of settlers coming from Phliouda of Peloponnisos under the leadership of Ippasos, the mythical ancestor of the Samian philosopher Pythagoras.

From scientific research and the excavations on the hill of Kastro in Pythagorio, it is safe to say that Samos was inhabited as early as the Neolithic era.
In the area of Iraion a settlement of the Procycladitic period was discovered. This settlement was the prime town of the island during the early Age of Bronze 3rd millennium BC.

The oldest trace of the cult of Hera belong to the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium BC
And this is the reason why Samos was also called Partheneia and Imvrassia in the honor of the river where the goddess was born. Thanks to its rich vegetation the island was also called Anthemis, Fillas, Kiparissia, Melamphilos, Drioussa, Dorissa, Stephani and Parthenoaroussa. The name Samos was given to the island due to its mountainous terrain and it originates from a prehellenic or Phoenician word that means high ground.

The city of Samos, today�s Pythagorio becomes one of the most important cities of Ionia along with Militos and Ephessos. Around 600 BC the Samian colonized Amorgos, Thrace, Cilicia and they had developed important trade relation with Egypt.
In the city of Naphkratin on the Nile�s delta the Samian had a whole quarter of the city. Before the end of the 7th century BC Samian had reached the mythical Tartisso, beyond the Heraklian Columns, today�s Gibraltar.
The 525 BC Samian mercenaries settle the oasis Baharigia between Egypt and Libya and the 531 BC Samians found Dikaiarhia, today�s Poutzoli on the gulf of Naples.

During the rule of Polikratis (538 or 532 - 522 BC) the development of commerce and artisan trades along with the built of a war fleet rendered Samos a sea power �first of all Greek and Barbarian cities� according to Herodotus.
Typical was the new type of ship Samaina, which combined the requirement for storage space with revolutionary elements of a fast sea vessel.

Herodotus wrote that he admired Samos for three amazing construction feats - marvels - that he visited during his visit to the island. These were:

• Ephpalinos Tunnel a water reservoir with an underground tunnel of 1036 meters in length. It was part of an extensive water distribution system for the ancient city of Samos, which had a population of 150000 people and according to other historical sources 300000 inhabitants.
• The "land within the sea", the ancient port of Pythagorio, which is considered the oldest manmade port in the world.
• Heraion, the temple of Hera, �the richest and biggest temple of all Greek temples�.

The economic development brought the development of science and art. World-renowned personalities of science and art who originated from Samos were:

• The philosopher, mathematician and musician Pythagoras (580-500 BC). A personality with many interests, who combined mathematically the cosmological beliefs of Orpheus and gave functions and qualitative characteristics to numbers. He introduced the Orphipythagoria mysteries. He shaped the Pythagorean School of philosophy. The systemization of and the development of the eight-string music render Pythagoras as a true inventor of music. He introduced music for therapeutical reasons.
• The astronomer and mathematician Aristarhos the Samian (390-330 BC) he was the first to make reference to the solar system and calculated distances between celestial bodies. He was the first to teach about the movement of Earth around its axis and around the sun.
• The philosopher of the senses Epikouros lived in Samos throughout his childhood and teenage years.
• The famous sculptors and architects Rikos and Theodoros, father and son. They invented techniques and machines of construction and they designed the temple of Hera, which was used as a model for the construction of the temple of Artemis in Ephessos, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
• The sculptor Genelaos who created the famous group of statues of Genelaos
• The painters Timotheos whose work the Sacrifice of Iphigenia was found on a fresco in Pompeii, Savrias the fist who used in this works the technique of light shadow, Kalliphon, Theon and Parissios.
• The epic poet Hirilos (5th century BC) with his dramatized work the epic Perses, he glorified the victory of the sea battle of Salamis.
• The musician Irophili writer of the book ����� ������, ������ ��� �������� and invented the triangular shape lira.
• The musician Vathilos, whose statue was dedicated to Iraio by Policratis.
• Kallistratos who invented the 24-letter alphabet
• The astronomer, philosopher, military commander, politician and analyst Melissios
• The engineer Mandoklis who built the bride in Hellespond for the Persian king Darius, in 513 BC.
• The sculptor Pythagoras. Son of a Samian family, he was born in Rigio of Italy. The famous Iniohos, charioteer, of Delphi is considered to be one of its masterpieces.

• The great engineer Ephpalinos from Megara who built the Ephpalinos Tunnel
• The doctor Dikomidis from Krotonas.
• The greatest creator of myths Aisopos from Sardis, by other sources he originated from Samos. He wrote the instructional Myths.

1st Persian War

The great influence and power of Samos was deem as dangerous to the Athenian hegemony and using the conflict between Samos and Militos the Athenians placed Samos under siege for nine months 440-439 BC. Amongst the Athenian general who took part in the siege were Perikles, Sophokles and Thoukididis. The surrender of Samos brought the demolition of its walls, the surrender of the fleet and huge war compensations. Samos never really recovered after that.

The Peloponnesian Wars