Travelling in the opposite direction of Alexander the Great

It is 330 BC when Alexander is marching through the heartland of Persia. That same year, a very little known Greek merchant named Pytheas started an astonishing voyage of his own in the opposite direction. There was much more happening on planet earth than Alexander’s campaign in the east.

This Pytheas made such name and fame that contemporaries and authors ended up moving his story to the lands of myths and legends that were discussed in belief and unbelief for centuries.

Our merchant from Massilia (modern Marseilles, France) was also known as a skilled navigator, mariner and astronomer. His treatise On the Ocean, unfortunately, has not survived but has been quoted extensively throughout antiquity by people like Diodorus, Eratosthenes, Strabo, Polybius and Pliny the Elder. Each one of them interpreted and judged Pytheas in his own way, often reaching contradictory conclusions. Truth and fantasy went hand in hand and were so intertwined that nobody will ever be able to get to the bottom of the fact, I’m afraid.

Pytheas’ book was a kind of maritime log loaded with astronomical, geographic, biological, oceanography and ethnological observations that still catch the attention of modern scholars. The log also contained practical information with descriptions of the coastal landmarks and even astronomical notes.

The travel account was written in Greek around 325 BC. At that time, Nearchus was sailing from the Indus to the Persian Gulf to be reunited with Alexander who had survived his death march through the Gedrosian Desert.

Pytheas traveled through uncharted territory as well. Besides, we can only speculate about the route he took from his home town Massilia. After sailing through the Pillars of Hercules (modern Strait of Gibraltar), he then proceeded along the Atlantic coastline of Spain and France. He probably crossed the English Channel somewhere in French Brittany. Britain was a well-known source for tin, amber and gold that was exported via Gaul to the Mediterranean world. 

Once in Britain, the intrepid navigator probably continued along the coast of Wales and onward to Scotland. Here Pliny mentions Pytheas’ arrival at the Orcades Islands, north of Britain. These islands are generally recognized as the Orkney Islands.

More challenging was his route onward that is thought to have taken him as far north as Iceland and the Arctic Ocean where the giant Hyperboreans from Greek mythology lived. Modern scholars do not agree about Iceland, which Pytheas called Thule as mentioned by Strabo, but believe that the merchant reached Norway instead. In any case, he experienced the nearly continuous daylight typical at this high latitude during the summer months. 

Just one day sailing out of Thule, he reached what he called the “Congealed Sea” – a way to tentatively describe the frozen Arctic Ocean. Strabo describes the place as a sea lung, where neither earth, water, nor air existed but where all things were suspended together.

On his way back, Pytheas may have traveled down the east coast of Britain, past “Kantion” which may refer to the Kentish peninsula. There is evidence that he continued along the northern coastline of Europe, maybe meeting the Germanic people and perhaps venturing to Heligoland (Helgoland), a valuable source of amber. Some scholars argue that Pytheas sailed to the Baltic Sea as far as the Vistula River, now in Poland. It is not known when he arrived back in Massilia, but it is generally accepted that it was before 320 BC when his book was first cited by the writer Dicaearchus, a student of Aristotle.

It makes me wonder whether Alexander was aware of this travel expedition when he planned his own conquest of the western Mediterranean and the territories beyond. Julius Caesar likely used the book to acquire information about Britain and further northern areas. Copies of Pytheas’ work probably sat on the shelves of the great libraries of Alexandria and Pergamon where it could and would be studied freely.

Whatever ancient and/or modern scholars may think of Pytheas, we cannot dismiss the fact that he went on a journey to explore the world by direct observation, not unlike the young British young men who went on the Grand Tour in the 18th century.