Pytheas

Pytheas was an ancient Greek explorer, geographer, and writer who lived around the late 4th century BC. He came from the city of Massalia, known today as Marseille in southern France. At that time, Massalia was a Greek trading city on the Mediterranean Sea. Pytheas is known for making a long sea journey beyond areas familiar to most Greeks. His travels took him into the Atlantic Ocean and far north into Europe.

Pytheas wrote about his journey in a book called On the Ocean. The book does not survive today, but later writers quoted parts of it. From these quotes, historians know some details of his travels. Pytheas sailed past the Strait of Gibraltar, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. He visited the coasts of western Europe, including parts of modern Spain, France, and Britain.

One of Pytheas’s most important journeys was to Britain. He described Britain as an island and wrote about its shape and size. This was unusual at the time, because many Greeks did not clearly understand Britain’s location. Pytheas also wrote about the tides there. Tides are the regular rising and falling of sea levels. He linked tides to the Moon, which was an early scientific idea.

Pytheas also reported traveling to a place he called Thule. Thule was described as a land far to the north, where summer days were very long and the sea sometimes looked thick or frozen. Scholars still debate where Thule was located. Some suggest northern Scotland, Iceland, or Norway. Pytheas also described the Arctic Circle, a region where the Sun does not set for part of the summer.

During his travels, Pytheas observed climate, geography, and local peoples. He described cold weather, long winters, and unfamiliar plants. He also wrote about amber, a hardened tree resin found on northern coasts. Amber was valuable in ancient trade. His descriptions helped expand Greek knowledge of Europe beyond the Mediterranean world.

Some ancient writers doubted Pytheas’s reports. Writers such as Strabo criticized him and believed his stories were exaggerated. Even so, later research has shown that many of Pytheas’s observations were accurate. Although his original work is lost, Pytheas remains important as one of the earliest explorers to describe northern Europe and Arctic regions in detail.