Pytheas Research Articles

On chronology of the First Germanic Sound Shift (Lex Rask – Grimm)

This contribution analyzes the geographical name Θούλη, first recorded by Pytheas of Massalia in the period 330-325 BCE and mediated especially by Polybius, Strabo, Pliny and Procopius. Björn Collinder (1935/1936) designated this term as the earliest datable document of the Germanic Lautverschiebung. He also offered an appealing etymology, explaing the toponym on the basis of Old Norse þaularvágr “winding creek”, i.e. a place especially characteristic of the West Norwegian coast with its winding fjords. In the present study an alternative etymology by Torp is also analyzed, interpreting the toponym as a wooded place with regard to Old Norse þollr m. “tree, fir-tree, pine-tree”, and the witness of Procopius of Caesarea on the exceedingly large forests in Thule [‘The Gothic War’ VI.15]. Independently of whether either of the solutions of Collinder or Torp is correct, around 330 BCE the First Germanic Sound Shift should already have been operating.

PYTHEAS OF MASSALIA'S ROUTE OF TRAVEL

This paper analyses two issues regarding Pytheas of Massalia's voyage to the Arctic. A new approach, using information found in the fragments of Eratosthenes' Geography, supports assertions that Pytheas exited the Mediterranean sailing via the Strait of Gibraltar, and that Thule, the most distant locale reached, should be identified with Norway.

Crates of Mallos and Pytheas of Massalia: Examples of Homeric Exegesis in Terms of Mathematical Geography

Crates of Mallos, a Hellenistic grammarian and geographer, is known to have combined Homeric exegesis and mathematical geography into a comprehensive world-view. His views appear to have influenced a tradition of map-making, as evidenced by an unusual late antique map that locates parts of Odysseus’s voyage from Aeaea to Hades according to Crates’ geography. This essay elucidates Crates’ geographical accounts of the Homeric Laestrygonians and of the constellation Draco and his understanding of the arctic circle in light of the map and of earlier geographers, particularly Pytheas of Massalia, who similarly incorporated Homeric references into his theorizing about the fixed arctic circle.

Pytheas - C.F.C. Hawkes: The eighth J.L. Myres lecture. Pytheas: Europe and the Greek Explorers. A lecture delivered at New College, Oxford on 20th May 1975. Revised and amplified. Pp. 46; 10 maps. Oxford: Blackwell, 1977. Paper, £2.

Pytheas - C.F.C. Hawkes: The eighth J.L. Myres lecture. Pytheas: Europe and the Greek Explorers. A lecture delivered at New College, Oxford on 20th May 1975. Revised and amplified. Pp. 46; 10 maps. Oxford: Blackwell, 1977. Paper, £2. - Volume 30 Issue 1

Pytheas: Europe and the Greek Explorers

Pytheas: Europe and the Greek Explorers

Pytheas in Britain

Pytheas in Britain

Pytheas, the Discoverer of Britain

Pytheas, the Discoverer of Britain