Pytheas of Massalia
fl. c. 350 B.C.
Greek Astronomer, Geographer, and Explorer
Pytheas of Massalia was the first Greek to undertake an extended voyage in the North Atlantic, possibly visiting Iceland. He was certainly the first to circumnavigate Britain, first todocument the midnight sun, and first to write on British ethnography. He was also the first to record the connection between the tides and the Moon.
Almost nothing of Pytheas's life or motivation for his voyage are known. He was from the Greek colony of Massalia (modern Marseilles, France), which was an important trading center in the western Mediterranean. Tradition has it he was an exceptional astronomer and geographer, having accurately established the latitude of Massalia. He would thus have been a valuable member on any voyage of discovery, especially an expedition conducted under official auspices for the purpose of obtaining information to enhance Massaliote commerce.
Pytheas presented the results of his voyage in a general treatise of geography titled On the Ocean (Peri Okeanou). Though no longer extant, 18 ancient writers (from 300 B.C. to A.D. 550) directly drew upon or referred to it. From these scattered sources, Pytheas's route and discoveries have been reconstructed.
The voyage is widely thought to have occurred sometime between 350 and 290 B.C. However, the Carthaginians controlled the Pillars of Heracles (Straits of Gibraltar) during this period and strictly monitored traffic through the straits. Therefore, it is commonly believed Pytheas could only have sailed into the Atlantic while Carthage was distracted by its war with Syracuse during the years 310 to 306 B.C.
Having passed through the Pillars into the Atlantic, Pytheas followed the coast of Iberia to the mouth of the Adour River. Here he determined he was at the same latitude as Massalia but only 400 miles (644 km) away. He thus discovered Iberia is a peninsula. Continuing northward and crossing the English Channel, he located the famous Cornish tin mines at Bolerium (Land's End, Cornwall). Pytheas then traveled along the eastern littoral of the Irish Sea until he reached the northern tip of Scotland. Here, he encountered the gale-enhanced tidal displacements of Pentland Firth, which separate the mainland from the Orkney Islands.
Pytheas made his most famous discovery next. He learned of a large island to the north. Known as Thule, it was 6 days away, situated on the edge of the frozen sea. Pytheas also stated that Thule had 19 hours of sunlight in summer and claimed that further north was a region of semicongealed water—possibly referring to the combination of ice sludge and fog found near drift ice. Thule has variously been identified as Iceland, the Shetlands, the Faeroe Islands, and Norway, but its location remains cloaked in controversy. Regardless, it seems certain Pytheas ventured at least as far as 62°N, where 19-hour days occur.
Pytheas finally turned south and completed his circumnavigation of Britain. He may also have penetrated the Baltic Sea and traveled as far as Prussian Samland near the Vistula River, which was the primary source of amber for the Mediterranean. By the time he returned home, Pytheas, even by conservative estimates, had traveled over 7,500 miles (12,070 km).
Pytheas's astronomical observations contributed significantly to the development of mathematical geography. Eratosthenes (c. 275-c. 194 B.C.) accepted Dicaearchus's (fl. 326-296 B.C.) line running from the Pillars of Heracles to Rhodes and expanded it into a series of parallels for measuring latitude. He relied on Pytheas's measurements to determine the northern parallels. Hipparchus (c. 190-c. 120 B.C.) similarly relied on the Massaliote's observations in establishing his own system of projected parallels. Pytheas also correctly described Britain as triangular, accurately estimated its circumference at 4,000 miles (6,400 km), and approximated the distance from northern Britain to Massalia at 1,050 miles (1,690 km), slightly less than the actual distance of 1,120 miles (1,800 km).
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