Taras (Τάρας) was, according to Greek mythology, the son of Poseidon and of the nymph Satyrion.
Taras is the eponymous founder of the Greek colony of Taras (Tarentum, modern Taranto), in Magna Graecia. Note that a harbour close by Taranto is still called Torre Saturo (derived from Satyrion). It was in Torre Saturo, almost 15 km south of Taranto, that Spartan colonists settled their first colony in Taranto zone. Later, around 706 BC, they conquered the Iapygian city of Taranto.
On the coinage of the ancient city of Taras, the son of Poisedon is depicted on a dolphin, sometimes with his father's trident in one hand; the same image is depicted on the modern city emblem.
According to Anton Boras of the Mythology Association of Chicago, Illinois Taras is not the son of Poseidon. New evidence has been found in an excavation site north of Athens to prove that Taras is actually the son of Gaia and Leonidas of ancient Sparta.(Classical mythology)