Editing Cyrene, Libya (section)

===Foundation===
{{main|Greek colonisation}}
A [[Greek mythology|Greek myth]] first recorded by [[Pindar]] in the early fifth century BC reports that the god [[Apollo]] fell in love with the huntress [[Cyrene (mythology)|Cyrene]] and brought her to Libya, where she gave birth to a son [[Aristaeus]].{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=200}} Greek historical traditions, reported in [[Herodotus]]' ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' and in a fourth-century BC inscription found at Cyrene, say that a group of [[Crete|Cretan]] Greeks, who had been expelled from [[Sparta]] and settled on the island of [[Santorini|Thera]], founded Cyrene in 631 BC, under the leadership of [[Battus I of Cyrene|Battus I]], at the prompting of the [[Oracle of Delphi]].<ref name="Osborne">{{cite book |last=Osborne |first=Robin |year=2009 |title=Greece in the making, 1200–469 B.C. |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-415-46991-3 |oclc=488610565 |page=8}}</ref>{{sfn|Rosamilia|2023|p=19}} Some traditions say that the settlers left Thera because of a famine, others because of a civil war. Most say that the colonists first settled on an island at Aziris (east of [[Derna, Libya|Derna]]) before relocating to Cyrene.{{sfn|Rosamilia|2023|p=19}} The historicity of these narratives is uncertain, particularly the idea that Thera was Cyrene's sole "mother city." Relationships with other cities, such as Sparta<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/spar/hd_spar.htm |access-date=2021-10-16 |title=Art and Craft in Archaic Sparta |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art}}</ref> and Samos,<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=White |first=Domald |date=1975 |title=Archaic Cyrene and the Cult of Demeter and Persephone |magazine=Expedition Magazine |volume=17 |issue=4 |publisher=Penn Museum |url=https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/archaic-cyrene-and-the-cult-of-demeter-and-persephone/|access-date=2021-10-16}}</ref> mentioned in the foundation narratives, are uncertain.<ref name="Osborne"/> 

Archaeological evidence from the site, especially ceramic finds, confirm that Greek settlement began in the mid-seventh century BC. This early pottery derves from Thera, Sparta, and Samos, but also [[Rhodes]].{{sfn|Rosamilia|2023|p=18}} The initial area of habitation was a ridge stretching eastwards from the Acropolis to the [[Agora]], but the city rapidly expanded eastwards.{{sfn|Kenrick|2013|p=156}} The sanctuary of Apollo to the north of the Acropolis, of Demeter to the south, and of Zeus to the east all go back to the seventh or sixth centuries BC. Archaeological evidence shows that several other sites in Cyrenaica, such as Apollonia, [[Euesperides]], and [[Taucheira]] (modern [[Benghazi]] and [[Tocra]]) were settled at the same time as Cyrene.{{sfn|Rosamilia|2023|p=18}}