Greek colonisation father of the poet Archilochus, Telesicles. The region of the Ionian Sea and that of Illyria were colonized strictly by Corinth. The Corinthians founded important overseas colonies on the sea lanes to Southern Italy and the west which succeeded in making them the foremost emporia of the western side of the Mediterranean. Important colonies of Corinth included Leucada, Astacus, Anactoreum, Actium, Ambracia, and Corcyra. The Corinthians also founded important colonies in Illyria, which evolved into important cities, Apollonia and Epidamnus. Nymphaeum, was also a Greek colony in Illyria. The first to colonise Southern Italy were the Euboeans, who with the
Ionian Sea Sea, and from Piraeus westward. Calypso Deep, the deepest point in the Mediterranean at , is located in the Ionian Sea, at . The sea is one of the most seismically active areas in the world. The name "Ionian" comes from the Greek language . Its etymology is unknown. Ancient Greek writers, especially Aeschylus, linked it to the myth of Io. In Ancient Greek the adjective "Ionios" () was used as an epithet for the sea because Io swam across it. According to the "Oxford Classical Dictionary", the name may derive from Ionians who sailed to the West. There were