Pytheas
Pytheas (in ancient Greek: Πυθέας, Pythéas) was a Greek explorer from Masalia, an ancient Greek colony founded by the Phocians (now modern Marseilles), who undertook an extraordinary sea voyage reaching very northern areas of Europe sometime in the last third of the 4th century BCE. c.
He is the first Mediterranean navigator who traveled the seas of northern Europe and provided news about the peoples who inhabited its coasts, as well as scientific observations. Polybius and Strabo, who collect some of the few data that are known about his journey, considered him, however, as a fabulator.
Journey of Pytheas
On his journey he left Masalia, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, passed by Cape Sagrado, and Cape Cabeo, where the ostimnios lived (in the Brittany peninsula). He next reached Great Britain and, beyond, discovered a distant land which he called Thule. To this day, experts debate whether Tule would be Iceland, one of the Faroe Islands, or even a part of Norway.Heading tirelessly north, he crossed the Arctic Circle, until the icebergs stopped him from going any further.
Strabo collects information from Pytheas indicating that the inhabitants of the areas close to the glacial zone ate millet, herbs, wild fruits, roots, and that they had a drink made of grain and honey. He also mentioned that, due to the weather conditions, they had to thresh the grain indoors.
From Thule, he returned to Brittany, sailed along the coast of the Netherlands and Germany and, a day's sail from the Metuonis estuary, where the Goton tribe lived, he reached an island called Abalus where he observed the amber trade. He then returned safely to the port of Masalia. Once back, enriched with the merchandise obtained, he wrote a book recounting his trip in detail and objectively, Over the Ocean (Περί τοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ), this being one of the considered journeys of antiquity, predecessors of the current courses.
Objectives of the trip
Regarding the purposes of the trip, there are historians who believe that they were mainly scientists, to try to verify some of the theories that arose in their time; others, however, advocate economic purposes related to the tin or amber trade. On the other hand, it has also been suggested that the journey of Pytheas could have been carried out at the request of Alexander the Great with a view to a possible conquest expedition to areas from Western Europe.
It is speculated that his trip could have been made due to a temporary oversight of the blockade of the Strait of Gibraltar by the Carthaginians between 306 and 310 BC. C., due to his fights with the Greeks of Sicily. Others suppose that he crossed the place in night navigation, in 325 a. C. Until then the Carthaginians controlled the strait, preventing it from being crossed in order to defend their colonies and hide the route to the tin production centers, which they monopolized from their colony of Gadir. Therefore, the only route to obtain tin (the main component of bronze), which was supposedly produced in mines in northern Europe, without trading it with the Carthaginians, was to cross all of Gaul by land through what is known as the tin route.
Some scholars, such as Bruno Luiselli, however, believe that, to avoid the blockade to which the Carthaginians would have subjected the Strait of Gibraltar, his journey would have started in the Bay of Biscay, where he would have arrived by land or river.
Achievements
Pytheas was one of the most scientific navigators of antiquity. He determined the precise position of the north celestial pole (which does not coincide exactly with the polar star), he calculated the latitude of his city, (Marseille), with a minimum of error (43º3'N instead of the real 43º17'N). On his voyage he made observations of the sun that helped later geographers identify parallels of latitude. He was the first to observe the midnight sun, the northern lights and to link the phases of the moon with the tides.
For several centuries, everything known about the Nordic regions (Britain, Ireland, Great Britain, and the North Sea) derived from the information he provided. He recorded the local name for the British Isles in Greek, Πρεττανική (Prettanikḗ), which later derived in the texts of the historian Diodorus in Pretannia, and later, Britannia.
According to Adolfo J. Domínguez Monedero, until the voyage of Pytheas the Greeks were unaware of the fact that Iberia is a peninsula.
Consideration of later authors
Because of the accounts of "strange" events that appear in his writings, many ancient sages dismissed his teachings as absurd, even as they gave credence to even stranger legends and news. Among those who called him a liar Polybius, Artemidorus and Strabo are found. However, among his defenders there were scholars of no lesser consideration, such as Timaeus, Hipparchus, Eratosthenes or Posidonius. Although none of Pytheas's writings have been preserved in their entirety, a good part of his ideas have reached the present day thanks to the continuous polemics that were held for his cause.
The island of Tule mentioned by Pytheas became a subject of great fame among the authors of antiquity. Among them, Antonio Diogenes wrote a novel entitled Wonders beyond Tulle. On the other hand, the return path made by Pytheas through the lands of northern and western Europe was a new geographical framework that some authors chose it as the return path of the mythical expedition of the Argonauts.
Eponymy
- The lunar crater Pytheas carries this name in his memory.
- The asteroid (22283) Pytheas also commemorates its name.
Sources on his writings
The main sources that partially recovered the writings of Pytheas are:
- Diodoro
- Pliny the Old
- Strabon
- Marciano
- Apolonium of Rhodes
- Gémino de Rodas
- Polibio