Listed 3 sub titles with search on: Biographies for wider area of: "MARSEILLE Town FRANCE" .
MASSALIA (Ancient city) FRANCE
380 - 310
Pytheas was a navigator and explorer from Massilia (Marseilles), who
was the first Greek to visit and describe the British Isles, and the Atlantic
coast of Europe. The merchants of Massilia wanted to find a sea route to the source
of amber, which was used for jewelry. In 320 BC Pytheas sailed out of the Mediterranean
Sea into the Atlantic Ocean. He travelled along the European northern coast, all
around Britain and possibly as far north as Iceland.
His writings reveal also a scientific interest; he observed that the
Pole star is not at the true pole and that the moon affects the tides.
This text is cited July 2003 from the Hyperhistory Online URL below.
Sea farer from Massalia (today's Marseille) who lived in the 4th century
BC.
Pytheas described a journey along the Atlantic coast of Europe up
to the south coast of Brittany
and the island Thule in the north. Thule was supposedly Scandinavia, and he described
its people, its summer solstice and the frozen sea, as well as what he had heard
about Ireland.
According to Pytheas, the world is an island surrounded by a huge
ocean. Even in antiquity he was much criticised and accused of being a liar.
This text is cited Sept 2003 from the In2Greece URL below.
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