Talk:Pytheas
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[edit] Some other views
from article, left by User:62.242.195.178. Should be checked for accuracy and incorporated if necessary. —Charles P. (Mirv) 06:00, 2 Mar 2005 (UTC)
Rather than editing wholesale the above I would like to give a slightly different and less certain story line. First and foremost we do not know exactly when Pytheas lived. The later 4th Century BC is for certain but 380-310 BC is only a guess based on nothing at all. There is no certainty about Pytheas discovering the midnight sun, polar ice or the aurora. He certainly discovered the British Isles, and commented on the tides, although we do not know whether this was in Iberia (Spain) or the British Isles. Apart from About the Ocean he seems to have made another work, Periodos ghs, About the Earth. The quote from Strabo above is somewhat less strange than it seems at first. It rather refers to the appearance of the sea as a lung, breathing, a concept well known in Greek science from the 6th Century BC. It is possibly but not necessarily about the Polar Sea. In many respects, especially the general context of Pytheas' journey, it would fit better with the tidal waters on the Dutch, German and Danish coasts known as the Wattensee. The land described as agricultural is in "the chilly zone", not necessarily Thule. Actuially the description and especially the mentioned plants fit better with northwestern Jutland. Abalus is also probably not Helgoland but somewhere in northwestern Denmark. That he visited the Baltic has interestingly become more likely lately. Danish researchers have dated a meteoritic crater to 400/370 BC, placed on Saaremaa. This may be the place where the sun went to bed according to Pytheas.
- According to a theory first proposed by Lennart Meri, it is possible that Saaremaa was the legendary Ultima Thule, first mentioned by ancient Greek geographer Pytheas, whereas the name "Thule" could have been connected to the Estonian language word tule ("(of) fire") and the old folk poetry of Estonia, which depicts the birth of the crater lake in Kaali, Saaremaa. Cheers,--3 Löwi 20:04, 27 February 2006 (UTC)
[edit] The problem with the "Wikipedia" article
Hi, people. By now everyone interested in Pytheas has seen the problem. It is a good article, no doubt. But, it is far from being the last word on Pytheas and his voyage of exploration; moreover, it represents only one point of view. The trouble is, it is copied from the Internet with permission. As soon as anyone edits it, it is not the same article and the same permissions may not apply. But, how can anyone make it better or add to it or provide ancient sources or do anything at all without editing it? That's the problem. We read that Pytheas probably didn't enter the Baltic. He probably did. We get some minimal identifications of lands he encountered, one of which is Helgoland. Others views are possible and there are other identifications to be made. As for Thule, its location has been batted about for quite a long time with no resolution.
In summary this article is like those in the Encyclopedia Britannica, it represents one point of view and can't be changed. It doesn't seem to me that is Wikipedia-like. First we quote an article entire and then we link to it.
Anyway, there is it. Anyone got any thoughts or suggestions? As it stands now, I'd have to put Pytheas material in other articles.Dave 16:39, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
- No, you are wrong, if the author agrees to putting it here, he also agrees to use under gfdl - so just go ahead and change away --Echosmoke 01:45, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] British Isles
The article states: He is quoted as referring to the British Isles as the "Isles of the Pretani." There's some confusion at Talk:British Isles over the origin of that term, and whether it always included Ireland. Nobody has been able to supply a reference for Pytheas' coining (or alleged coining) of the term. As far as I can see, he is supposed to have referred to Ireland separately, and that otherwise he's referring, at most, to the islands inhabited by the Pretani. I suspect a form of begging the question is at play here. Anyone like to step up?
Nice article, by the way. Could do with illustrations. I don't really see the difficulties over editing caused by the with-permission use of original material from another website.--Shtove 16:00, 10 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Tin
Tin was probably obtained from Devon as well as Cornwall, as in Medieval times. There is evidence of tin trading from Mount Batten near Plymouth, Devon in early times. David horsey 16:18, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Citing
Anything we know is claims of pytheas and claims of others about pytheas. As such only they should be portrayed unless its circumstancial, then we should use "it is therefore plausible to assume..." and such. Anything else is POV! --Echosmoke 01:49, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
