A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

PYTHEAS. PYTHEAS. 627
war, B. C. 322, he joined Antipater (Plut. Dem. west of the inhabited world was a promontory of the
27), and had thus the satisfaction of surviving his Ostidamnii, called Calbion, and that islands lay to
great enemy Demosthenes. His hostility to De- the west of it, the furthest of which named
mosthenes is frequently mentioned by the ancient Uxisama was a three days' sail (Strab. i. p. 64).
writers, who have preserved many of his jests Strabo treats all this as the pure invention of
against the great orator. He is said to have been Pytheas. 2. He further related that he visited
the author of the well-known saying, that the ora- Britain, and travelled over the whole of the island
tions of Demosthenes smelt of the lamp. (Aelian, as far as it was accessible; and he said that it was
V.H. vii. 7; Plut. Demn. 8; comp. Athen. ii. p. 40,000 stadia in circumference. As to Thule and
44, f.) The titles of two of the orations of Pytheas those distant parts he stated that there was neither
are preserved by Harpocration, rIpos ri'v'PeriL$v earth, sea, nor air, but a sort of mixture of all
daroAoyla (s... ypapiov), and KaT''AeitLtavros these, like to the mollusca, in which the earth and
(s. v.. dvOvuia). Two short extracts from his ora- the sea and every thing else are suspended, and
tions are given in Latin by Rutilius Lupus (i. 11, which could not be penetrated either by land or by
14). (Comp. Ruhnken, ad Rutil. Lup. i. 11; sea. The substance like the mollusca Pytheas
WVestermann, Geschichte der Griech. Beredtsanzkeit, had seen himself, but the other part of the account
~ 54.) he gave from hearsay (Polyb. ap. Sleab. ii p. 104).
5. Boeotarch of Thebes, was, next to Critolaus, Pytheas made Thule a six days' sail from Britain;
the chief instigator of the Achaeans to undertake he said that the day and the night were each six
the fatal war against the Romans, which destroyed months long in Thule (Strab. i. p. 63; Plin. H. N.
for ever the liberties of Greece. He was put to ii. 77). 3.. He spoke of a people called Guttones,
death by Metellus at the beginning of B. c. 146. bordering upon Germany, and dwelling upon a
(Polyb. xl. 1, 3; Paus. vii. 14. ~ 6, vii. 15. ~ 10.) gulf of the sea called Mentonomon, in a space of
PY/THEAS (MlvOeas), of Massilia, in Gaul, a 6000 stadia. He added that at the distance of a
celebrated Greek navigator, who sailed to the day's sail there was an island named Abalus, to
western and northern parts of Europe, and wrote which amber was brought by the waves in spring;
a work containing the results of his discoveries. We that the inhabitants used it instead of firewood,
know nothing of his personal history, with the ex- and sold it to the neighbouring Teutoni. Timaeus
ception of the statement of Polybius that he was a gave credit to this account, but called the island
poor man (ap. Strab. ii. p. 104). The time at which Basilia. (Plin. II. N. xxxvii. 11.)
he lived cannot be determined with accuracy. The credibility of the statements of Pytheas was
Bougainville (M1m. de l'Acad. des Inscr. vol. xix differently estimated by the ancient writers. Erap. 143) maintained that he lived before Aristotle, tosthenes and Hipparchus refer to them as worthy
but the passage on which he relied (Arist. Met. of belief; but other writers, especially Polybius
ii. 5.) is not sufficient to warrant this conclusion. and Strabo, regard them as of no value at all. PoVossius (de Historicis Graecis, p. 125, ed. Wester- lybius says that it is incredible that a private man,
mann) places him in the time of Ptolemy Philadel- and one who was also poor, could have undertaken
phus, but this is certainly too late a date. As he such long voyages and journeys (ap. Strab. ii. p.
is quoted by Dicaearchus, a pupil of Aristotle (Strab. 104); and Strabo, on more than one occasion, calls
ii. p. 104) and by Timaeus (Plin. H. N. xxxvii. him a great liar, and regards his statements as
11), he probably lived in the time of Alexander mere fables, only deserving to be classed with those
the Great, or shortly afterwards. of Euhemerus and Antiphanes (Strab. i. p. 63, ii.
The works of Pytheas are frequently referred to p. 102, iii. pp. 148, 157,158). Most modern writers,
by the ancient writers. One appears to have borne however, have been disposed to set more value
the title Inepl -roi',KnEavOg (ev Tre? 7rEpi Troi upon the narrative of Pytheas. In reply to the ob-'qKEavov, Geminus, Elem. Astron. in Petav. Ura- jection of Polybius it has been urged that he may
nol. p. 22), and the other to have been called a have been sent on a voyage of discovery by the
IHpiprAovs (Marcianus, in Geogr. Min. vol. i. p. Massilians, at the public expence, in order to become
63, ed. Husdon), or as it is termed by the Scho- acquainted with the country from which the Carliast on Apollonius Rhodius (iv. 761), ris 7rspioaos. thaginians procured amber. There seems no reason
That he gave an account of the north-western to doubt that he did go on a voyage to the northern
coasts of Europe is evident from Strabo, who refers parts of Europe; but the reasons for his undertakto his statements respecting Iberia, Gaul, and other ing it must be left in uncertainty. It would appear
countries (Strab. i. p. 64, ii. p. 75, iii. p. 158, iv. from the extracts which have been preserved from
p. 195). It would appear from Pytheas' own his works, that he did not give simply the results
statement, as related by Polybius (ap. Strab. ii. of his own observations, but added all the reports
p. 104), that he undertook two voyages, one in which reached him respecting distant countries,
which he visited Britain and Thule, and of which he without always drawing a distinction between what
probably gave an account in his work On the Ocean; he saw himself and what was told him by others.
and a second, undertaken after his return from his His statements, therefore, must be received with
first voyage, in which he coasted along the whole caution and some mistrust. It is equally uncertain
of Europe from Gadeira (Cadiz) to the Tanais, and how far he penetrated. Some modern writers have
the description of which probably formed the subject regarded it as certain that he must have reached
of his Periplus. Some modern writers, however, Iceland in consequence of his remark that the day
maintain that the passage in Strabo may be inter- was six months long at Thule, while others have
preted to mean that Pytheas undertook only one supposed that he advanced as far as the Shetlanld
voyage; but we think that the words are scarcely Islands. But either supposition is very improbable,
susceptible of such an interpretation. and neither is necessary; for reports of the great
The following are the principal particulars which length of the day and night in the northern
ancient writers have preserved from the works of parts of Europe had already reached the Greeks.
Pytheas. 1. He related that at the extreme before the time of Pythecas. There has been likess 2