Oikistes

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.^[1] The oracle is also consulted during deliberations for choosing an oikistes.^[2] After he is appointed and directed to found a colony, he also consults the Delphic oracle.^[2][3] Due to his authority, the oikistes was often accorded his own cult after his death, and his name was preserved even when all other details of the founding of a colony were forgotten.^[4]