Pytheas

PYTHEAS, of Marseille (Massilia), Greek navigator and geographer, was probably contemporary with Alexander the Great ; his work is lost, and we are left in the dark as to its form and character, but the various titles under which it is quoted (e.g., rijs ireplobos, or Ta. repi 7-6 12Keavol)) point to a geographical treatise, in which Pytheas had embodied the results of his observations, rather than to a continuous narrative of his voyage.

Some modern writers supposed Pytheas to have been sent out, at public expense, by the republic of Massilia; but there is no ancient authority for this, and Polybius states that he had under taken the voyage in a private capacity and with limited means. All that we know concerning the voyage of Pytheas is contained in a brief passage of Polybius cited by Strabo, according to which Pytheas had not only visited Britain, but had "travelled all over it on foot," and estimated its circumference at more than 40,000 stadia (4,000 geographical miles). To this he added the account of Thule (which he placed six days' voyage north of Britain) and the adjoining regions. After this he visited "the whole of the coasts of Europe" (i.e., those bordering on the ocean) as far as the Tanais. Some modern writers suppose that he made two differ ent voyages ; but this is improbable ; the expressions of Polybius imply that his explorations in both directions, first towards the north and afterwards towards the east, formed part of the same voyage.

The countries visited by Pytheas, were previously unknown to the Greeks and were not visited again for two centuries. Hence some of the later Greek geographers altogether disregarded his statements, and treated his voyage as a fiction. In modern times a critical examination has been more favourable and the tendency of modern critics has been to exaggerate the value of Pytheas's work. Speculation has dealt chiefly with his "Thule," believed differently to be Norway, Iceland, or the Shetlands ; and "Cas siterides" (Tin islands, perhaps St. Michael's mount in Cornwall).

Pytheas had one special merit;

he was a good astronomer, and was one of the first to fix latitudes. His calculations of the length of the longest day at four different points in the neighbourhood of Britain are probably based on native reports. If these figures (16, 17, 18 and 19 hours) are to be pressed, they would refer to, say, Ushant (48° N.), Flamborough Head Tarbet Ness in Ross (58°) and the northernmost Shetlands (ea's). Pytheas was also the first among the Greeks to arrive at any correct notion of the tides, and to note their connection with the moon, and their periodical fluctuations. Other observations concerning the manners and customs of the inhabitants of remote northern regions prove that he had himself visited them. Among these are the gradual disappearance of various kinds of grain as one ad vanced northward ; the use of fermented liquors made from corn and honey ; and the habit of threshing out corn in barns, instead of on open threshing-floors as in Greece and Italy.

The fragments of Pytheas have been collected by Arvedson (Uppsala, 1824), and by Fuhr (De Pythea massiliensi, Darmstadt, 1835). Of the numerous treatises on the subject, see Ukert, "Bemerkungen fiber Pytheas," in vol. i. of his Geog. d. Griechen u. Romer, pp. 298-309, which contains an excellent summary of all that is known concerning Pytheas; Sir George C. Lewis, Historical Survey of the Astronomy of the Ancients, pp. 466-480 (London, 1862) ; Sir Edward H. Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, vol. i. ch. xv. § 2 (1883) ; C. I. Elton, Origins of English History, cf. especially app. i. pp. 400, etc. (1882) ; Hugo Berger, Geschichte der wissenschaftlichen Erdkunde der Griechen, pt. 3 (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1903). An elaborate investigation of the subject will be found in Miillenhoff, Deutsche Alterthumskunde, i. 211-497 (1870). See also Sir Clements Markham's paper, "Pytheas, the Discoverer of Britain," in the Geographical Journal (June 1893) and H. F. Tozer, History of Ancient Geography, pp. 152-164 (Cam bridge, 1897).