PYTHEAS, l'explorateur que PERSONNE ne croit

Most people think of maritime exploration as beginning with caravels, Columbus, Vespucci, and Cook, overlooking earlier great explorers.

During the Middle Ages, Europeans often preferred land travel across Europe, Anatolia, and the Middle East for crusades rather than sailing, suggesting they lacked confidence in their maritime abilities.

Ancient explorers were as capable as their later successors and undertook significant journeys without waiting for the Age of Exploration.

The series will showcase explorers from antiquity and the Middle Ages who demonstrated remarkable maritime courage and discovery.

Between 325 and 300 BC, Pytheas was a Greek scholar of about fifty years old living in Massalia (modern-day Marseille), a prosperous Mediterranean trading city.

• Massalia was founded around 600 BC by Greeks from Phocaea in Asia Minor • It was an important western Mediterranean trading hub allied with Rome and on good terms with Carthage • Later called Massilia during Roman times

Pytheas was a man of letters and sciences who abruptly decided to undertake an expedition northward despite having limited personal fortune.

Pytheas' original writings did not survive; we know about his journey through fragments and references in works by Polybius, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder.

• City authorities may have commissioned the expedition to learn about northern trade routes • Celtic tin production was essential for Greek bronze manufacturing • Baltic amber was highly valued for Greek jewelry • Direct Atlantic trade could bypass Carthaginian Mediterranean control

Along the Atlantic coast, through the Baltic, and returning via rivers to the Black Sea, establishing entirely new commercial pathways.

Crossing the Columns of Hercules (Strait of Gibraltar) was necessary, which was controlled by Carthage, though Massalia's good relations allowed passage.

Some suggest he portaged his ship through the Loire or Gironde to avoid the Strait, though this seems unlikely given simpler alternatives available.

Pytheas transformed his commercial journey into a genuine scientific expedition, conducting extensive observations and measurements.

• Described Britain (Bretannikè) with triangular shape and estimated perimeter • Calculated latitude compared to Massalia • Documented climate and geography • First Greek scientist to systematically study the island

Documented various British peoples including Britons, Welsh, and others, studying their language, customs, political systems, and trade, particularly tin production in Cornwall near Mount Saint Michael.

His descriptions and measurements were remarkably accurate for the period and tools available to him.

Continued northward past the Orkney Islands, possibly reaching Iceland or Norway, venturing into previously undocumented territories.

• Described an island six days sailing north of Britain near the 'solidified sea' (ice floes) • Named this place Thule, which became a legendary boundary of the world in antiquity and medieval times • Likely corresponds to Shetland, Iceland, or Norway

First person to describe the phenomenon of nearly continuous daylight, observing nights lasting only a few hours near the summer solstice in northern regions.

Documented the formation of sea ice, describing it as a 'sea lung' or 'sea of jellyfish'—referring to what modern English speakers call 'pancake ice'—a soft, semi-solid formation between water and ice.

Investigated the phenomenon of tides, which did not occur in the Mediterranean, and appears to have been the first to recognize their correlation with lunar phases.

• Studied Earth's axis and the sphericity of the globe • Calculated latitudes with remarkable precision using a gnomon—a simple wooden stick whose shadow was measured • Results showed advanced understanding of geometry and measurement

After his journey, likely returning via the Irish Sea to Massalia, many people called him a liar because his discoveries seemed implausible to those who viewed the Mediterranean as the world's center.

His report likely discouraged Massalian merchants from pursuing northern trade due to the journey's complexity, preventing a man ahead of his time from receiving recognition for describing real but apparently implausible phenomena.

A visionary explorer whose scientific discoveries were genuine but rejected by contemporaries who lacked the worldview to comprehend them.

Faced disbelief not because he lied, but because his descriptions of phenomena like midnight sun, pack ice, and distant lands contradicted prevailing Mediterranean-centric worldviews.

Two additional episodes on ancient and medieval explorers are forthcoming, with viewer suggestions welcome for future explorer subjects.

• Collaboration with Fred from Herodot'com channel • Available on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as notabenemovies • Continued exploration of ancient maritime achievements