Χρονικό 16. ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΟΥ ΠΑΡΑΠΛΟΥΣ-ΠΕΡΙΠΛΟΥΣ

II. ΚΑΣΣΙΤΕΡΙΔΩΝ ΑΡΧΙΠΕΛΑΓΟΣ

Πλώρη για Ταρτησσό

 

Χρονικό 16. ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΟΥ ΠΑΡΑΠΛΟΥΣ-ΠΕΡΙΠΛΟΥΣ

/ENGLISH/ Chronicle 16. MEDITERRANEAN PERIPLUS-PARAPLUS

● Παράπλους-Περίπλους ● Θαλασσοπόροι και Διανοούμενοι
● Πελοποννησιακός Πόλεμος κι Εὐριπίδης ● Νόμοι (Αδόμενοι)

του Μιχάλη Λουκοβίκα

ΠΟΙΟ ΝΑ ΗΤΑΝ, ΑΡΑΓΕ, ΤΟ ΚΙΝΗΤΡΟ του ανθρώπου, όταν αποφάσισε να το ρισκάρει και να ξανοιχτεί στην θάλασσα; Ως συνήθως, είχε μερικές ανάγκες να ικανοποιήσει: στην αρχή, έψαχνε κάποιον καλύτερο τόπο να ζήσει. Αργότερα, οι ανάγκες του άλλαξαν: υπήρχε μπόλικη τροφή στην θάλασσα, και σίγουρα, το ψάρεμα θα ήταν πολύ πιο αποδοτικό μ’ ένα κανό, ή με κάποια βαρκούλα. Όσο περισσότερο εξοικειωνόταν με την θάλασσα, τόσο ξανοιγόταν, ώσπου το σκάφος του έγινε και μέσο μεταφοράς. Οι άνθρωποι άρχισαν τις ανταλλαγές και, με την αύξηση της παραγωγής, οι βαρκάρηδες χωρίστηκαν σε αλιείς κι εμπόρους – αλλά και πειρατές… Το εμπόριο αναπτυσσόταν παράλληλα με τη ναυσιπλοΐα. Ἐκ τῶν πραγμάτων, ο καραβοκύρης, ακολουθώντας την ρότα του, άρχισε να κρατά σημειώσεις. Αυτό το σημειωματάριο ονομάστηκε

Π Ε Ρ Ι Π Λ Ο Υ Σ

Αρχαιοελληνικό αγγείο (κύλιξ) με παράσταση
εμπορικών και πολεμικών πλοίων

Ο “ΠΑΡΑΠΛΟΥΣ” (παρα-πλέω, πλέω κοντά στις ακτές, όπως συμβαίνει στην ακτοπλοΐα), και ο “ΠΕΡΙΠΛΟΥΣ” (περι-πλέω, πλέω πέριξ λ.χ. μιας νήσου, ή ηπείρου, σαν την Αφρική, ή θάλασσας, όπως η Μεσόγειος), είναι όροι παρεμφερείς. O δεύτερος απέκτησε επίσης εξειδικευμένες έννοιες, μια από τις οποίες καθιερώθηκε ως όρος ναυσιπλοΐας των Ἑλλήνων, ή και άλλων λαών.⁽¹⁾ Ο ἐν λόγῳ περίπλους ήταν ένα εγχειρίδιο, το οποίο ανέφερε κατά σειρά τα λιμάνια και τα παράκτια ορόσημα – με κατά προσέγγιση τις μεταξύ τους αποστάσεις – που θα συναντούσε ο καπετάνιος ενός σκάφους κατά μήκος μιας ακτογραμμής. Εξυπηρετούσε τον ίδιο σκοπό μ’ ένα ρωμαϊκό “itinerarium” (οδικό χάρτη, με τις στάσεις στους δρόμους). Όταν οι καπετάνιοι ήταν έμπειροι γεωγράφοι (όπως συνέβαινε συνήθως), προσέθεταν διάφορες σημειώσεις, εμπλουτίζοντας τις γεωγραφικές γνώσεις τής εποχής. Υπό αυτήν την έννοια, ο περίπλους ήταν ένα είδος ημερολογίου πλοίου. Μια ιδέα για τα πιο παλαιά σημειωματάρια τέτοιου τύπου παίρνουμε από τον αρχαιότερο Έλληνα ιστορικό, τον Ἑκαταῖο από τη Μίλητο. Οι Ιστορίες τού Ἡροδότου και του Θουκυδίδου περιέχουν περικοπές που προέρχονται από περίπλους.

• ⁽¹⁾ Πριν από τους ναυτικούς χάρτες, το σημειωματάριο καταγραφής γεωγραφικών δεδομένων τής ναυσιπλοΐας (το εγχειρίδιο του θαλασσοπόρου, με γραπτές οδηγίες πλοήγησης) λεγόταν στην αρχαιότητα περίπλους· κατόπιν, στη μεσαιωνική Ιταλία και Μεσόγειο, τον διαδέχθηκε ο λιμενοδείκτης, κοινώς πορτολάνος (portolano). Οι Πορτογάλοι ναυτικοί τού 16ου αιώνα είχαν στη διάθεσή τους roteiro, οι Ισπανοί derroterro, οι Γάλλοι routier, οι Άγγλοι rutter, οι Ολλανδοί leeskarte, και οι Γερμανοί Seebuch. Portulano στα ιταλικά σημαίνει “λιμενικός, περί λιμένων”.

● Περίπλους λεγόταν κι ένας ελιγμός τού ναυτικού, με τις επιτιθέμενες τριήρεις να επιχειρούν να υπερκεράσουν, ή περικυκλώσουν, τους αντιπάλους, για να τους πλήξουν στα μετόπισθεν.

Ο χάρτης τού Εκαταίου

● Ο Ἑκαταῖος ὁ Μιλήσιος (περί το 550–476 ΠΚΧ) έζησε στα χρόνια τού περσικού ζυγού στα παράλια της Μικρασίας. Ταξίδεψε πολύ, κι έπειτα εγκαταστάθηκε στη γενέτειρά του και αφιερώθηκε στη συγγραφή γεωγραφικών και ιστορικών έργων. Είναι ο πρώτος Έλληνας ιστορικός που αναφέρει τους Κέλτες. Του αποδίδεται ένα δίτομο έργο, με τίτλο Γῆς περίοδος. Κάθε τόμος είναι οργανωμένος σαν περίπλους, μια σημείο προς σημείο περιγραφή των ακτών. Ο ένας, περί Εὐρώπης, είναι ένας Μεσογείου περίπλους, περνώντας από τη μια περιοχή στην άλλη, και φτάνοντας βόρεια ως την Σκυθία. Ο άλλος, περί Ἀσίας, είναι παρόμοιος με τον Περίπλου τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς Θαλάσσης. Περιγράφει εκεί τις χώρες και τους κατοίκους τής οικουμένης, με το κεφάλαιο περί Αιγύπτου (που επισκέφθηκε προφανώς) να είναι ιδιαίτερα περιεκτικό. Ο Εκαταίος παραθέτει και χάρτη, όπου διορθώνει και διευρύνει τον χάρτη τής Γης τού Ἀναξιμάνδρου.⁽²⁾ Μόνον αποσπάσματα σώζονται από το έργο, κυρίως στα Ἐθνικά, το γεωγραφικό λεξικό που συνέταξε ο Στέφανος Βυζάντιος (5ος – 6ος αιώνας ΚΧ). Άλλο πολύ γνωστό έργο τού Εκαταίου είναι οι Γενεαλογίαι, μια συστηματική καταγραφή των μύθων και θρύλων των Ελλήνων, όπου έρχεται σε ρήξη με την επική παράδοση. Τα σωζόμενα αποσπάσματά του δείχνουν πόσο σημαντική είναι η απώλειά του.

Ο χάρτης τού Αναξίμανδρου

• ⁽²⁾ Ο προσωκρατικός φιλόσοφος Ἀναξίμανδρος (±610–546 ΠΚΧ) είχε δάσκαλο τον Θαλῆ, έναν από τους Ἑπτὰ Σοφούς, που τον διαδέχθηκε στη διεύθυνση της Σχολής τής Μιλήτου, όπου μεταξύ των μαθητών του συγκαταλέγονταν ο Ἀναξιμένης και, πιθανόν, ο Πυθαγόρας. Ήταν ο πρώτος φιλόσοφος που ξέρουμε ότι κατέγραφε τις μελέτες του, αν και διασώζεται μόνον ένα απόσπασμα του έργου του. Υπήρξε από τους σκαπανείς τής επιστήμης, παρατηρώντας και προσπαθώντας να εξηγήσει τις διάφορες πτυχές τού σύμπαντος, ενδιαφερόμενος ιδίως για την προέλευσή του. Στην αστρονομία, επεδίωξε να περιγράψει τη μηχανική των ουρανίων σωμάτων σε σχέση με τη Γη. Στην φυσική, η ιδέα του για το ἄπειρον ως πηγή των πάντων, οδήγησε την ελληνική φιλοσοφία σ’ ένα νέο επίπεδο θεωρητικής αφαίρεσης. Ο χάρτης τού κόσμου, που δημιούργησε, συνέβαλε ιδιαίτερα στην πρόοδο της γεωγραφίας. Κατά τον Carl Sagan, ο Αναξίμανδρος διεξήγαγε το πρώτο καταγεγραμμένο επιστημονικό πείραμα.

Η κατά Ηρόδοτον οικουμένη

● Ο Ἡρόδοτος από την Ἁλικαρνασσό (περί το 484–425 ΠΚΧ) θεωρείται “πατέρας τής Ἱστορίας”. Ήταν ο πρώτος ιστορικός που συγκέντρωνε συστηματικά το υλικό του, ελέγχοντας – κατά το δυνατόν – την ακρίβειά του, και οργανώνοντάς το σε αφηγηματική μορφή, με άρτια διάρθρωση και μεγάλη ζωντάνια. Οι περίφημες Ἱστορίαι του είναι οι Ἔρευναί του για τα αίτια των Μηδικῶν (Περσικών πολέμων), που κορυφώθηκαν το 490–479 ΠΚΧ. Περιγράφει αναλυτικά την περίοδο αυτή, για την οποία δεν θα είχαμε τέτοια πληθώρα στοιχείων – με εκτενείς αναφορές στους διάφορους τόπους ή τους ανθρώπους που συνάντησε στα πάμπολλα ταξίδια του γύρω, αλλά και πέρα, από τη Μεσόγειο και τον Εὔξεινο Πόντο.

Σπάραγμα των Ηροδότου Ιστοριών, βιβλίο
Η΄, Ουρανία, σε πάπυρο της Οξυρύγχου,
αρχές 2ου αιώνα ΚΧ.

“Ἡροδότου Ἁλικαρνησσέος ἱστορίης ἀπόδεξις ἥδε, ὡς μήτε τὰ γενόμενα ἐξ ἀνθρώπων τῷ χρόνῳ ἐξίτηλα γένηται, μήτε ἔργα μεγάλα τε καὶ θωμαστά, τὰ μὲν Ἕλλησι, τὰ δὲ βαρβάροισι ἀποδεχθέντα, ἀκλεᾶ γένηται”…

Εκείνη την εποχή συνηθιζόταν, μάλλον, να “δημοσιεύουν” οι συγγραφείς τα έργα τους, απαγγέλλοντάς τα σε λαϊκές γιορτές. Ο Ηρόδοτος πήγε με τις Ιστορίες του στα Ὀλύμπια, τους αρχαίους Ολυμπιακούς Αγώνες στην Ὀλυμπία, και παρουσίασε το σύνολο του έργου (εννέα βιβλία) στους συγκεντρωμένους θεατές, που ἐν τέλει τον χειροκρότησαν με ενθουσιασμό. Άλλοι λένε πως ενώ περίμενε να συννεφιάσει, για να μη διαβάζει τόση ώρα στον ήλιο, είδε την ομήγυρη να διασκορπίζεται – ἐξ οὗ και η παροιμιώδης φράση “ο Ηρόδοτος και η σκιά του”, ώστε να περιγράψει όποιον χάνει την ευκαιρία που του δόθηκε λόγω χρονοτριβής.

Iστορία τού Πελοποννησιακού Πολέμου (του μεγάλου εμφυλίου μεταξύ Ελλήνων), του Θουκυδίδη

● Ο Ἀθηναῖος Θουκυδίδης (±460–395 ΠΚΧ) είναι ο συγγραφέας τής Ἱστορίας τοῦ Πελοποννησιακοῦ πολέμου μεταξύ της Αθήνας και της Σπάρτης (431–404 ΠΚΧ) ως το έτος 411. Το φινάλε του εξιστορείται από τον Ξενοφῶντα στα Ἑλληνικά του. Ο Θουκυδίδης θεωρείται “πατέρας τής επιστημονικής Ιστορίας”, λόγω αυστηρών προδιαγραφών ως προς τη συλλογή των τεκμηρίων, και της ανάλυσης με όρους αιτίας και αποτελέσματος, χωρίς ν’ αναφέρεται σε παρεμβάσεις θεών. Επίσης έχει χαρακτηριστεί “πατέρας τής σχολής τού πολιτικού ρεαλισμού”, που θεωρεί ως βάση των διακρατικών σχέσεων την ισχύ μάλλον, παρά το δίκαιο. Ο Διάλογος Ἀθηναίων-Μηλίων είναι θεμελιώδες κείμενο της θεωρίας των διεθνών σχέσεων.⁽³⁾

• ⁽³⁾ Ο Διάλογος Αθηναίων-Μηλίων αναφέρεται στην αναμέτρηση μεταξύ Αθήνας και Μήλου, ενός μικρού, ουδέτερου στον Πελοποννησιακό πόλεμο νησιού τού νοτίου Αιγαίου, ανατολικά τής Πελοποννήσου και της Σπάρτης, το 416-415 ΠΚΧ. Η Αθήνα ήθελε να κατακτήσει το νησί για να εκφοβίσει τους Σπαρτιάτες. Η αντιπαράθεση κατέληξε σε τραγωδία για τη Μήλο: οι Αθηναίοι εκτέλεσαν τους άνδρες και υποδούλωσαν τα γυναικόπαιδα…

● Η Μῆλος, στη νεολιθική εποχή, ήταν μια πολύ σημαντική πηγή οψιδιανού (ή οψιανού), ενός πολύτιμου τότε ηφαιστειογενούς πετρώματος, για την κατασκευή αιχμηρών εργαλείων.

● Το νησί, πάντως, είναι διάσημο διεθνώς λόγω ενός έργου τέχνης μεταγενέστερης περιόδου που βρέθηκε εκεί: είναι το περίφημο άγαλμα της Ἀφροδίτης τῆς Μήλου (130-100 ΠΚΧ) – που το απήγαγαν οι Γάλλοι, συνεπικουρούμενοι κι από τους Οθωμανούς, οι οποίοι κατείχαν τότε την Ελλάδα (1820), μετά από συμπλοκές, στα λιμάνια Μήλου και Πειραιά, που οδήγησαν στον θάνατο πάνω από 200 Έλληνες!

Ἀφροδίτη τῆς Μήλου

Ο Πελοποννησιακός πόλεμος,
μετά από το ένδοξο τέλος των Μηδικών, σηματοδότησε το δραματικό τέλος τού “Χρυσού Αιώνα” τής Ελλάδας.

● Στην πρώτη φάση τού πολέμου, η Σπάρτη εισέβαλε επανειλημμένα στην Αττική, ενώ η Αθήνα επέδραμε στα παράλια της Πελοποννήσου, χάρη στη ναυτική της υπεροχή. Αργότερα, οι Αθηναίοι έστειλαν μια τεράστια εκστρατευτική δύναμη στη Σικελία για να πλήξουν τις Συρακούσες, με καταστροφικές γι’ αυτούς συνέπειες. Έτσι ο πόλεμος μπήκε στην τελική του φάση, καθώς η Σπάρτη, που ήδη έπαιρνε βοήθεια από την Περσία, υποκινούσε εξεγέρσεις στις εξαρτημένες από την Αθήνα πόλεις τού Αἰγαίου και της Μικράς Ασίας, υπονομεύοντας την αθηναϊκή ηγεμονία. Η καταστροφή τού στόλου τής Αθήνας σήμανε το τέλος τού πολέμου. Την άλλη χρονιά η πόλη παραδόθηκε. Ο εμφύλιος πόλεμος, λίγα χρόνια μετά από το ένδοξο τέλος των Μηδικών πολέμων (499–449 ΠΚΧ), έφερε την αναδιάταξη του αρχαίου ελληνικού κόσμου. Η Αθήνα, η ισχυρότερη πόλη-κράτος πριν από την έναρξη του πολέμου, κατάντησε πλήρως υποταγμένη, ενώ η Σπάρτη καθιερώθηκε ως ηγέτιδα δύναμη. Ἐν τούτοις, το οικονομικό κόστος τού πολέμου έγινε δυσβάστακτο σε όλη την Ελλάδα. Η φτώχεια εξαπλώθηκε στην Πελοπόννησο, ενώ η Αθήνα, εντελώς κατεστραμμένη, δεν θ’ ανακτούσε ποτέ την προπολεμική της ευημερία. Ο πόλεμος προκάλεσε και άλλες μεταλλαγές, λιγότερο ορατές. Ο ανταγωνισμός ανάμεσα στη δημοκρατική Αθήνα και την ολιγαρχική Σπάρτη, που στήριζαν φιλικές πολιτικές παρατάξεις σε άλλες πόλεις, κατέστησε τον εμφύλιο πόλεμο σύνηθες φαινόμενο στην Ελλάδα. Άλλαξε και ο τρόπος διεξαγωγής τού πολέμου: αν και περιορισμένης κλίμακας αρχικά, είχε μετατραπεί σε ολοκληρωτικό αγώνα ανάμεσα στις πόλεις, συνοδευόμενος από εκτεταμένες ωμότητες. Πλήττοντας καίρια θρησκευτικά και πολιτιστικά σύμβολα, ερημώνοντας την ύπαιθρο και ολόκληρες πόλεις, αυτός ο πόλεμος σηματοδότησε και το δραματικό τέλος τού 5ου ΠΚΧ αιώνα, του “Χρυσού Αιώνα” τής Ελλάδας.

Ευριπίδης, του Sebastià Giralt

● Να και μια διδακτική ιστορία περί μουσικής και πολιτικής, μ’ επίκεντρο ίσως τον σπουδαιότερο Έλληνα τραγωδό, τον Εὐριπίδη (±480–406 ΠΚΧ), και με φόντο τον Πελοποννησιακό πόλεμο. Ο πρωτοποριακός και μουσικά Ευριπίδης συνεργαζόταν με τους πιο καινοτόμους μουσικούς, γεγονός που εκμεταλλεύτηκαν συντηρητικοί, όπως ο Ἀριστοφάνης, θέλοντας να τον γελοιοποιήσουν… Ωστόσο, ήταν η μουσική τού Ευριπίδη, όχι του Αριστοφάνη (μα ούτε και του Αἰσχύλου, ή του Σοφοκλέους), αυτή που έσωσε πολλούς Αθηναίους, και την ίδια την Αθήνα, στον πόλεμο. Τότε, κι επί αιώνες αργότερα, οι άνθρωποι αρέσκονταν να τραγουδούν τις καλύτερες ωδές (με ορολογία όπερας, θα λέγαμε “άριες”) μιας τραγωδίας. Ἐξ οὗ, η σύγχρονη λέξη “τραγούδι” προέρχεται από την λέξη “τραγῳδία”. Κατά την καταστροφική Σικελική εκστρατεία, πολλοί Αθηναίοι αιχμάλωτοι έσωσαν την ζωή τους, καθώς ήξεραν ν’ αποδίδουν τα τόσο αγαπητά τραγούδια τού Ευριπίδη. Σαν επιβλήθηκε τελικά η Σπάρτη, οι νικητές στρατηγοί συσκέφθηκαν για να καθορίσουν την τύχη τού “κλεινοῦ ἄστεως”. Τότε αποφάσισαν η Αθήνα να καταστραφεί ολοσχερώς, και οι πολίτες της να υποδουλωθούν. Μετά, ακολούθησαν τα επινίκια, όπου απέδωσε κάποιος μιαν ᾠδή από την Ἠλέκτρα τού Ευριπίδη. Τότε συγκινημένοι οι στρατηγοί μεταμελήθηκαν: “Θεώρησαν βαρβαρότητα την καταστροφή μιας πόλεως που ανέδειξε τέτοιους άνδρες”… Οι στρατηγοί, περιττό να πω, είχαν την καλλιέργεια για να εκτιμήσουν τη μουσική τού Ευριπίδη.⁽⁴⁾ Ένα αντίστοιχο τραγούδι στ’ αυτιά σημερινών στρατηγών, ή και πολιτικών, δεν θα είχε καμιάν απολύτως επίπτωση… (Επεισόδια από τους Βίους παραλλήλους, Νικία και Λυσάνδρου, του Πλουτάρχου).

• ⁽⁴⁾ Είναι εντυπωσιακό πως τότε τα καινοτόμα, πρωτοποριακά τραγούδια ήταν δημοφιλέστατα! Εννοείται πως το επίπεδο καλλιέργειας των πολιτών εκείνην την εποχή ήταν πολύ υψηλό…

Στα επινίκια κάποιος τραγούδησε Ευριπίδη. Συγκινημένοι οι
Σπαρτιάτες, μεταμελήθηκαν: “Θεώρησαν βαρβαρότητα την
καταστροφή τής Αθήνας που ανέδειξε τέτοιους άνδρες”…

Πυθέας ο Μασσαλιώτης, ο μέγιστος των “περιπλεόντων” εξερευνητών θαλασσοπόρων τής εποχής

Ένας πέτρινος “περίπλους”, και o πρώτος πέριξ τής Αφρικής

ΌΠΩΣ ΟΛΑ ΕΤΣΙ ΚΑΙ Η ΕΜΠΟΡΙΚΗ ΝΑΥΤΙΛΙΑ ξεκίνησε στην… “καθ’ ἡμᾶς Ἀνατολή” (ας σαρκάσω τώρα με αυτό το κλισέ· βλέπε Χρονικό 6, υποσημείωση 1). Τα διαθέσιμα στοιχεία μάς οδηγούν στην Αίγυπτο. Αν, όντως, οι φαραώ κατείχαν αυτά τα σκήπτρα, σύντομα θα τα απώλεσαν, περνώντας στα χέρια άλλων λαών, θαλασσινών (Κᾶρες, Κρῆτες, Ἕλληνες, Φοίνικες, κ.ά.), αφού οι Αιγύπτιοι, ως λαός στεριανός, είχαν μάλλον έφεση στη γεωργία. Η Μεσόγειος, κλειστή θάλασσα με πολλά νησιά, ήταν ιδανική για… μαθήματα ιστιοπλοΐας – το Αιγαίο ακόμη περισσότερο! Ο περίπλους, ως το ημερολόγιο καταστρώματος, εμφανίζεται με τη ναυσιπλοΐα των μεγάλων αποστάσεων, που είναι αδιανόητη χωρίς έναν τέτοιον οδηγό. Ο κάθε καπετάνιος κρατάει τις σημειώσεις του με όποια γραφή κατέχει – έστω και με… στενογραφικά ορνιθοσκαλίσματα! Είναι αδύνατον ν’ απομνημονεύει τα πάντα στην ρότα του, και δεν γίνεται αλλιώς να διαφυλάξει ή να μεταδώσει τις γνώσεις του.

● Ο Hannu (Hennu, ή Henenu), υπηρετώντας τον φαραώ Σανκαρέ Μεντουχοτέπ Γ’ (τέλη 21ου αιώνα ΠΚΧ), ξανάνοιξε τους παλιούς εμπορικούς δρόμους προς τη Γη τού Πουντ (στο Κέρας τής Αφρικής) και την Αραβία, καθώς και με τη “Λιβύη”, ἤτοι την πέραν του Νείλου Αφρική (το Μαγρέμπ). Ξεκίνησε από τον Κόπτο επικεφαλής 3000 στρατιωτών, διέσχισε την ορεινή έρημο μέσῳ Ουάντι Χαμαμάτ (“Κοιλάδας των πολλών λουτρών”) κι έτσι έφτασε στην Ερυθρά θάλασσα. Περήφανος για το επίτευγμά του, περιέγραψε την εκστρατεία του σε μια πέτρινη επιγραφή στην ίδια κοιλάδα (συνεπώς, ο “περίπλους” του ήταν πέτρινος)…

“Στάλθηκα να οδηγήσω πλοία στη γη τού Πουντ, για να φέρω στον Φαραώ ωραία μυρωδικά μπαχαρικά… Τότε έφτασα στο Απέραντο Πράσινο [ἤτοι την θάλασσα]. Ετοίμασα τα πλοία και τα έστειλα με κάθε λογής πραμάτεια και τους έφτιαξα μια μεγάλη προσφορά με βοοειδή, βουβάλια και γαζέλες. Όταν επέστρεψα από το Απέραντο Πράσινο… έφερα στη Μεγαλειότητά Του όλα τα προϊόντα που βρήκα στις ακτές τής γης τού θεού… Του έφερα επίσης υπέροχα κομμάτια πέτρας για τ’ αγάλματα των ναών.”

Σκάφος τού Χονσού, του Αιγύπτιου θεού τής Σελήνης

Ο δρόμος που ακολούθησε ο Hannu είναι ο ίδιος ο οποίος ήταν ἐν χρήσει στην εποχή των Πτολεμαίων και Ρωμαίων: ο Κόπτος ήταν η αφετηρία, και τέρμα του ο Λευκός Λιμήν (νῦν Κοσαΐρ) στην Ερυθρά θάλασσα. Στον ίδιο δρόμο βάδισαν μετά οι έμποροι όλων των χωρών, μεταφέροντας τα περιζήτητα προϊόντα τής Ινδίας και της Αραβίας, κι έτσι μετατράπηκε σε μια γέφυρα των εθνών, που ένωνε από τ’ αρχαία χρόνια την Ασία με την Ευρώπη. Ο Hannu υπήρξε ο πρώτος επώνυμος εξερευνητής. Επέστρεψε στην Αίγυπτο μεταφέροντας πολύτιμους θησαυρούς, λ.χ. μύρο, μέταλλα, και ξυλεία.

Το βασίλειο του Πουντ βρισκόταν μάλλον στην περιοχή τής σημερινής Σομαλίας. Άλλοι δείχνουν δίπλα, στην ανατολική Αιθιοπία και την Ερυθραία. Οι έμποροι της περιοχής συνέχισαν τις κερδοφόρες συναλλαγές τους στην κλασική εποχή, με την Φοινίκη, την πτολεμαϊκή Αίγυπτο, την Ελλάδα, την Παρθία, το βασίλειο του Σαβά, τη Ναβαταία, ή την Ρωμαϊκή Αυτοκρατορία.

Πεντηκόντορος

● Στην ίδια περίπου εποχή με τον Hannu, ή λίγο αργότερα, αρχίζουν τα ταξίδια των Κρητῶν κατά τη Μινωική Θαλασσοκρατορία στη Μεσόγειο, ίσως και πέραν αυτής. Θ’ ακολουθήσουν, στα τέλη τής εποχής τού μπρούντζου, η Ἀργοναυτικὴ ἐκστρατεία και η Ὀδύσσεια (οι περιπλανήσεις τού Οδυσσέα).⁽⁵⁾ Όσα γνωρίζουμε γι’ αυτά τα ταξίδια και πολλά ανάλογα εκείνης της περιόδου, προέρχονται από άλλες πηγές, και όχι από τις σημειώσεις των θαλασσοπόρων. Αυτό δεν σημαίνει πως οι ἐν λόγῳ σημειώσεις δεν υπήρχαν: τα θαλασσινά ταξίδια μεγάλων αποστάσεων, όπως είπαμε, ήταν αδιανόητα χωρίς κάποιας μορφής περίπλους.

• ⁽⁵⁾ Ο Τρωικός πόλεμος έγινε, κατά τον Ἐρατοσθένη, το 1194–1184 ΠΚΧ. Συνεπώς, ο Ὀδυσσεὺς επέστρεψε στην Ἰθάκη το 1174. Όμως κάποιοι ερευνητές μελέτησαν τις ηλιακές εκλείψεις που καταγράφονται στην Οδύσσεια, συμπεραίνοντας βάσει στοιχείων τής NASA πως ο Οδυσσέας γύρισε στο νησί του στις 25 Οκτωβρίου 1207. Ο Τρωικός, έτσι, προσδιορίζεται στη δεκαετία 1227–1217. (Περί των Αργοναυτών, βλέπε Χρονικό 15, υποσημείωση 7, και Χρονικό 22, Αναβιώνοντας τον Μασσαλιώτη περίπλου).

● Κατά τα λεγόμενα του Ηροδότου, οι Φοίνικες πραγματοποίησαν έναν άθλο: τον πρώτο περίπλου τής Λιβύης (ἤτοι της Αφρικής), για λογαριασμό των Αιγυπτίων, στα χρόνια τού Νεχώ Β’ (610–595 ΠΚΧ). Ξεκίνησε από την Ερυθρά θάλασσα και κράτησε σχεδόν τρία χρόνια. Ένας Πέρσης θανατοποινίτης, για να σώσει την ζωή του, επιχείρησε να επαναλάβει τον άθλο, ακολουθώντας την αντίστροφη πορεία, αλλά τελικά εγκατέλειψε, παρ’ όλο που τον περίμενε ο θάνατος… Και τώρα ακόμη, μια διαδρομή Ερυθρά θάλασσα-Νεῖλος πέριξ τής Αφρικής δεν είναι μικρό πράγμα. Επικά ταξίδια τέτοιας εμβέλειας δεν έχουν να ζηλέψουν τίποτε από τις σημερινές επανδρωμένες πτήσεις στο διάστημα! Όπως και οι αστροναύτες, σε περίπτωση μακράς παραμονής “εκεί έξω”, έτσι και οι Φοίνικες, ἐκ τῆς ἀνάγκης, έσπερναν και θέριζαν κάθε χρόνο, αφού ήταν αδύνατο να μεταφέρουν προμήθειες γι’ αόριστο χρονικό διάστημα.

Ηρόδοτος και Θουκυδίδης

“Λιβύη μὲν γὰρ δηλοῖ ἑωυτὴν ἐοῦσα περίῤῥυτος, πλὴν ὅσον αὐτῆς πρὸς τὴν Ἀσίην οὐρίζει, Νεκῶ τοῦ Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέος πρώτου τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν καταδέξαντος· ὃς ἐπείτε τὴν διώρυχα ἐπαύσατο ὀρύσσων τὴν ἐκ τοῦ Νείλου διέχουσαν ἐς τὸν Ἀράβιον κόλπον, ἀπέπεμψε Φοίνικας ἄνδρας πλοίοισι, ἐντειλάμενος ἐς τὸ ὀπίσω δι᾽ Ἡρακλέων στηλέων ἐκπλέειν ἕως ἐς τὴν βορηίην θάλασσαν καὶ οὕτω ἐς Αἴγυπτον ἀπικνέεσθαι. Ὁρμηθέντες ὦν οἱ Φοίνικες ἐκ τῆς Ἐρυθρῆς θαλάσσης ἔπλεον τὴν νοτίην θάλασσαν· ὅκως δὲ γίνοιτο φθινόπωρον προσσχόντες ἂν σπείρεσκον τὴν γῆν, ἵνα ἑκάστοτε τῆς Λιβύης πλέοντες γινοίατο, καὶ μένεσκον τὸν ἄμητον· θερίσαντες δ᾽ἂν τὸν σῖτον ἔπλεον, ὥστε δύο ἐτέων διεξελθόντων τρίτῳ ἔτεϊ κάμψαντες Ἡρακλέας στήλας ἀπίκοντο ἐς Αἴγυπτον”…

Το ταξίδι των Φοινίκων στο άγνωστο (με… βάρκα την ελπίδα) ήταν άγνωστο και πόσο θα διαρκέσει, όπως είδαμε. Έπρεπε, επομένως, το πλήρωμα να δημιουργεί προσωρινούς οικισμούς, να καλλιεργεί την γη και ν’ αυτοσυντηρείται. Η σύντομη αναφορά τού Ηροδότου σε αυτό το απίστευτο (για πολλούς) εγχείρημα, τελειώνει με μιαν όντως εντυπωσιακή πληροφορία::

”Καὶ ἔλεγον ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐ πιστά, ἄλλῳ δὲ δή τεῳ, ὡς περιπλώοντες τὴν Λιβύην τὸν ἥλιον ἔσχον ἐς τὰ δεξιά”… (Ἡροδότου Ἱστορίαι, Μελπομένη).

Όταν περιέπλευσαν το νότιον άκρον τής Αφρικής, του είπαν οι ναυτικοί, είχαν τον ήλιο στα δεξιά – κάτι που το έγραψε, αν και δεν το πίστεψε, γιατί ξεπερνούσε τις γνώσεις τής εποχής. Αυτό ακριβώς καθιστά αξιόπιστη την ιστορία του. Βέβαια, οι Έλληνες θα κατανοούσαν την κίνηση του ήλιου· όμως, δεν πίστευαν πως η Αφρική έφτανε τόσο νότια· θεωρούσαν πως ήταν σαφώς μικρότερη και το νότιο τμήμα της ήταν ενωμένο με την Ασία. Πιστεύουμε, λοιπόν, τον Ηρόδοτο, γιατί ο ίδιος δεν πίστεψε μιαν ιστορία που του παραδόθηκε με την προφορική παράδοση, και γι’ αυτό ακριβώς την κατέγραψε: εδώ βρίσκεται η διαφορά του από τον Θουκυδίδη· αυτός δεν θα έμπαινε στον κόπο να την αναφέρει – κι έτσι δεν θα την μαθαίναμε ποτέ… Και δεν είναι μόνον ο Θουκυδίδης: οι Στράβων, Πολύβιος και Πτολεμαῖος είχαν επίσης πολλές αμφιβολίες, σε αντίθεση με τον Πλίνιο. Όπως παρατηρεί και ο αιγυπτιολόγος A. B. Lloyd: “Είναι εντελώς απίθανο κάποιος Αιγύπτιος βασιλιάς να ενήργησε με τον τρόπο που παρουσιάζεται να ενεργεί ο Νεχώ”. Η φήμη, σημειώνει, κυκλοφόρησε, για λόγους γοήτρου, ύστερα από την αποτυχία τού Σατάσπη, του Πέρση θανατοποινίτη, να περιπλεύσει την Αφρική στα χρόνια τού Ξέρξη Α’.

Η Διώρυγα των Φαραώ

Ποια ήταν, άραγε, τα κίνητρα του φαραώ; Όταν ανέλαβε την εξουσία ο Νεχώ, τα πράγματα κάθε άλλο παρά ρόδινα ήταν στα βορειοανατολικά τής Αιγύπτου. Οι Βαβυλώνιοι είχαν καταλάβει την ασσυριακή πρωτεύουσα, Νινευί, και ακολούθως νίκησαν τους Αιγύπτιους στην Καρχεμίδα, για να τους τιμωρήσουν επειδή είχαν ταχθεί στο πλευρό των Ασσυρίων. Κατά το Χρονικόν τού Ναβουχοδονόσωρος, ο Νεχώ διεξήγαγε μιαν εκστρατεία στη Συρία (609–605 ΠΚΧ), όταν ηττήθηκε από τον Βαβυλώνιο βασιλιά. Φαίνεται πως ο φαραώ σκέφτηκε να επιτεθεί στα νότια της Βαβυλωνίας διὰ θαλάσσης και διέταξε την κατασκευή διώρυγας μεταξύ Νείλου και Ερυθράς θάλασσας – αλλ’ αντιλήφθηκε πως έτσι έδινε ελεύθερη πρόσβαση και στους εχθρούς του. Γι’ αυτό η διώρυγα έμεινε ημιτελής ως τα τέλη τού 6ου αιώνα, όταν η Αίγυπτος έπεσε στα χέρια των Περσών, και τότε ο Δαρείος διέταξε την ολοκλήρωσή της. Όμως, ο Νεχώ ήταν αυτός που ξεκίνησε την κατασκευή (ή την επισκευή) τής διώρυγας, μήκους 85 χιλιομέτρων περίπου. Ήταν ο προπομπός τής διώρυγας του Σουέζ.

Ο περίπλους τής Αφρικής, συνεπώς, ήταν μέρος των στρατιωτικών σχεδίων τού Νεχώ. Ζήτησε τη βοήθεια των Φοινίκων επειδή ήταν εξαίρετοι ναυτικοί και είχαν αρκετές αποικίες στη Δύση, όπως τα Γάδειρα, δίπλα στις Ηράκλειες στήλες. Αλλά και οι Φοίνικες ήταν πρόθυμοι να βοηθήσουν, αφού οι Βαβυλώνιοι ήταν εχθροί τους. Άρα, από τεχνική άποψη ο περίπλους ήταν δυνατός· και αν, επιπλέον, ήταν δεξιόστροφος, από Ανατολή σε Δύση, όπως τον σχεδίασαν, θα είχαν τη βοήθεια των ανέμων και των ρευμάτων – αρκεί να ήταν παράπλους, να έμεναν, δηλαδή, κοντά στην ακτή για να μην χαθούν στην θάλασσα.

Σκοπός τού περίπλου ήταν να διαπιστωθεί το ακριβές μέγεθος της Αφρικής. Εάν ήταν τόσο μικρή όσο πίστευαν, ίσως η διώρυγα να μην ήταν και τόσο σπουδαία ιδέα, συνυπολογίζοντας το μεγάλο οικονομικό κόστος· επειδή υπάρχουν και άλλοι αιγυπτιολόγοι που αμφισβητούν αν οποιοσδήποτε φαραώ θα ενέκρινε ένα τόσο δαπανηρό έργο – παρά μόνο για ν’ ανοίξουν νέοι θαλάσσιοι δρόμοι ἐπ’ ὠφελείᾳ τού εμπορίου. Πράγματι, τέτοια ταξίδια γίνονταν για το οικονομικό κέρδος. Είναι αλήθεια πως οι Αιγύπτιοι, παρά τα επιτεύγματα του Hannu, είχαν μείνει αρκετά πίσω στον έλεγχο των θαλασσών· ούτε και είχαν ιδιαίτερη αγάπη για θαλασσινές περιπέτειες. Είχε δημιουργηθεί έτσι ένα status quo στη Μεσόγειο, με τους Έλληνες να ελέγχουν τις βόρειες ακτές της, και τους Φοίνικες τις νότιες. Η μόνη περιοχή όπου η Αίγυπτος, με το κατώτερο ναυτικό της, μπορούσε ν’ αποκτήσει επιρροή και πλούτο ήταν η ανατολική Αφρική, όπου διατηρούσε εμπορικούς δεσμούς – οι οποίοι θα μπορούσαν έτσι να επεκταθούν περαιτέρω.

Αναπαράσταση του πρώτου περίπλου τής Αφρικής

Οι Φοίνικες πρέπει να ξεκίνησαν το ταξίδι τους τον Ιούλιο, διαβάζουμε στον διαδικτυακό τόπο Livius. Στο πρώτο σκέλος του, ως το Κέρας τής Αφρικής, δεν αντιμετώπισαν κανένα πρόβλημα, επωφελούμενοι του βορείου ανέμου. Η Ερυθρά θάλασσα (που ο Ηρόδοτος αποκαλεί “Ἀράβιον κόλπον”) ήταν γνωστή στους Αιγύπτιους πιλότους, εξαιτίας των εμπορικών σχέσεων με αυτήν την περιοχή. Όταν προσπέρασαν τ’ ανατολικότερα παράλια της Αφρικής, είχαν επιπρόσθετη βοήθεια από τον βορειοανατολικό μουσώνα, που αρχίζει τον Οκτώβρη. Επιταχύνοντας, θα πρέπει να έφτασαν στον Ισημερινό τον Μάρτη. Με το ισχυρό ρεύμα Agulhas, διέσχισαν το Κανάλι τής Μοζαμβίκης κι έφτασαν στις ακτές τής Νότιας Αφρικής. Πλέοντας προς δυσμάς, παρατήρησαν μάλλον πως είχαν τον ήλιο στα δεξιά τους. Στο ακρωτήρι Agulhas, το νοτιότερο άκρο τής Αφρικής, βρίσκεται και το νότιο όριο του ομώνυμου ρεύματος. Όχι μόνο δεν είχαν πλέον τη βοήθειά του, αλλ’ επίσης συνάντησαν και τους αντίθετους νοτιοανατολικούς αληγείς ανέμους. Και προς έκπληξή τους, διαπίστωσαν πως εκεί, στο νότιο ημισφαίριο, πλησίαζε χειμώνας! Το μόνο θετικό, ίσως, ήταν ότι παρατήρησαν πως άρχισαν να κινούνται προς βορρά. Η πεδιάδα πέρα από τον κόλπο τής Αγίας Ελένης, 150 χιλιόμετρα βόρεια από όπου υψώνεται τώρα το Cape Town, ήταν ιδανικό μέρος να ξαποστάσουν. Έσπειραν το σιτάρι τους τον Ιούνη, ξεκίνησαν επισκευές, και θέρισαν τον Νοέμβρη.

Το ρεύμα Benguela και οι ευνοϊκοί τώρα νοτιοανατολικοί αληγείς άνεμοι θα έφεραν και πάλι τους Φοίνικες στην θέρμη τού Ισημερινού. Προηγουμένως, όμως, δεινοπάθησαν παραπλέοντας τις ακτές τής Ναμίμπιας, που είναι μια άνυδρη έρημος. Υπέμειναν αρκετές εβδομάδες, ώσπου να φτάσουν σε ακτές φιλόξενες κι εύφορες. Τον Μάρτη, μια νέα δυσάρεστη έκπληξη τους περίμενε: η βόρεια πορεία τους έφτασε σ’ ένα τέρμα, κι έπρεπε να στραφούν και αυτοί προς δυσμάς, ακολουθώντας την ακτογραμμή. Ίσως να επωφελήθηκαν από το δυτικό ρεύμα τής Γουινέας, όμως όχι για πολύ, επειδή αλλάζει η διεύθυνσή του την άνοιξη. Πάλευαν με τους ανέμους και τα ρεύματα για εβδομάδες, και κατάφεραν να φτάσουν τον Ιούλιο μόνον ως τις δυτικές ακτές τής Αφρικής, όπου ήρθαν αντιμέτωποι τόσο με το αντίθετο ρεύμα των Καναρίων, όσο και με τους επίσης αντίθετους βορειοανατολικούς αληγείς ανέμους. Το μόνο που τους έκανε ν’ αναθαρρήσουν ήταν πως είχαν αρχίσει να κατευθύνονται και πάλι προς τα βόρεια. Ανασκουμπώθηκαν και τα κατάφεραν να τιθασεύσουν κάπως τους ανέμους και τα ρεύματα. Τον Νοέμβριο αποβιβάστηκαν κάπου στη Μαυριτανία, έσπειραν ξανά, επιδιόρθωσαν τα πλοία τους και περίμεναν τον επόμενο θερισμό.

Απέπλευσαν και πάλι τον Μάη, παλεύοντας με τα κύματα και παραπλέοντας τις μαροκινές ακτές – ώσπου διαπίστωσαν πως είχαν επιστρέψει στον κόσμο που ήξεραν: στον οικισμό τού νησιού Mogador βρήκαν συμπατριώτες τους, Φοίνικες. Αφού τους εξιστόρησαν την απίστευτη περιπέτειά τους στο νότιο ημισφαίριο, εφοδιάστηκαν καινούργιο εξοπλισμό και συνέχισαν την πορεία τους. Σύντομα έφτασαν σε άλλες φοινικικές πόλεις, όπως η Λίξος, τα Γάδειρα, η Μάλαγα και η Καρχηδόνα. Υπολογίζεται πως έφτασαν στην Αίγυπτο στα τέλη τού καλοκαιριού. Η αποστολή τους κράτησε σχεδόν τρία χρόνια. Ήταν κάτι που ο Πτολεμαίος δεν μπορούσε να χωνέψει: ο περίπλους τής Αφρικής, επέμενε, είναι αδύνατος. Που σημαίνει πως εκείνος ο άθλος, ως “απόρρητος”, δεν άφησε ίχνη στις γεωγραφικές γνώσεις τής εποχής…

Περίπλοι των κλασικών κι ελληνιστικών χρόνων

Τριήρης

ΑΡΚΕΤΟΙ ΠΕΡΙΠΛΟΙ έχουν διασωθεί, αυτούσιοι ή αποσπασματικά, είτε και σε περικοπές που παραθέτουν άλλοι συγγραφείς. Η εντύπωση την οποία αποκομίζει κανείς, έστω και με μια πρώτη ματιά στον κατάλογο που ακολουθεί, είναι ότι για μια μακρά περίοδο, από τον 6ο ως τον 4ο αιώνα ΠΚΧ, επρόκειτο ἐν πολλοῖς για ελληνοφοινικικό “bras de fer”, μεταξύ Μασσαλίας και Καρχηδόνας, με στόχο τον έλεγχο των θαλασσίων οδών, που οδηγούσαν σε περιοχές πλούσιες κυρίως σε χρυσό, ἄργυρο, κασσίτερο, ή ἤλεκτρον (ἤτοι κεχριμπάρι):

● Ο Μασσαλιώτης Περίπλους (6ος αιώνας ΠΚΧ) σώζεται στο έργο τού Αβιηνού, Ora maritima (Θαλάσσιες ακτές, 4ος αιώνας ΚΧ), και καταγράφει ένα ταξίδι από τη Μασσαλία ως τα Βρετανικά νησιά, περιπλέοντας την Ιβηρία, μέσω των εμπορικών δρόμων των Ταρτησσίων. Περιγράφει τις ακτές τής Ισπανίας και Πορτογαλίας, αλλ’ αναφέρεται και στη μετάβαση στην “ἱερὴ νῆσο”, Ἰέρνη (Ιρλανδία), δίπλα από την Ἀλβιόνα (Βρετανία). Αυτός ο περίπλους είναι το παλαιότερο κείμενο για τις εμπορικές σχέσεις νότιας και βόρειας Ευρώπης, δείχνοντας την σπουδαιότητά τους. Ιδίως η εμπορία κασσίτερου, για την κατασκευή μπρούντζου, σύμφωνα με τ’ αρχαιολογικά στοιχεία, ανάγεται σε ακόμη παλαιότερες εποχές. Οι ανταλλαγές ήταν τόσο επικερδείς, που προσήλκυαν πλήθος τολμηρών θαλασσοπόρων στις βόρειες ατλαντικές ακτές.

Ο Ἅννωνος Καρχηδονίων βασιλέως περίπλους τῶν ὑπὲρ τὰς Ἡρακλέους Στήλας Λιβυκῶν [Αφρικανικών] τῆς γῆς μερῶν (6ος ή 5ος αιώνας ΠΚΧ) αναφέρεται στον νότιο Ἀτλαντικό, περιγράφοντας τα παράλια της Αφρικής, από το Μαρόκο ως τον Κόλπο τής Γουινέας – στην καλύτερη περίπτωση· μα στην χειρότερη, μάλλον δεν προχώρησε πέρα από το Μαρόκο. Αν πιστέψουμε τα χαλκευμένα στοιχεία των Καρχηδονίων, ο Άννων τέθηκε επικεφαλής 60 πλοίων και 30.000 αποίκων, μαζί με τους ενόπλους! Ρεαλιστικά μιλώντας, δεν θα πρέπει να ξεπερνούσαν τις 5000. Ο στόλος αυτός είχε σκοπό να εξερευνήσει και αποικίσει τη βορειοδυτική Αφρική. Διέσχισε τις Ηράκλειες στήλες και ίδρυσε ή επάνδρωσε ἐκ νέου επτά αποικίες στις μαροκινές ακτές (οι φοινικικοί οικισμοί ήταν, κατά κανόνα, ολιγάριθμοι). Ύστερα, σύμφωνα με την επίσημη εκδοχή, προχώρησε νοτιότερα, συναντώντας αρκετές γηγενείς φυλές. Τα μέλη μιας τριχωτής και άγριας φυλής ονομάστηκαν “Γορίλλαι”. Από αυτούς πήραν τ’ όνομά τους στον 19ο αιώνα τα γνωστά μας πρωτεύοντα.

Ο Ἅννωνος περίπλους κατά την “επίσημη” εκδοχή

Η επίσημη καρχηδονιακή εκδοχή υπάρχει σ’ έναν ελληνικό περίπλου, μετάφραση μάλλον της πινακίδας που κρέμασε ο Άννων κατά την επιστροφή του στον ναό τού Βάαλ Άμμωνα, που οι Έλληνες ταύτιζαν με τον Κρόνο. Προφανώς η πινακίδα περιείχε παραποιημένα στοιχεία, ώστε οι ανταγωνιστές τής Καρχηδόνας, κυρίως οι Έλληνες, να μην μπορέσουν να επωφεληθούν. Ο μόνος σκοπός τής πινακίδας ήταν να ικανοποιήσει την υπερηφάνεια των Καρχηδονίων για τα επιτεύγματά τους. Ο απώτερος σκοπός τής αποστολής – δηλαδή η εδραίωση του δρόμου προς την αφρικανική αγορά χρυσού – δεν αναφέρεται καν…⁽⁶⁾

• ⁽⁶⁾ Η μετάφραση, σε μάλλον μέτρια ελληνικά, δεν ήταν πλήρης. Αυτό το κείμενο αντέγραψαν αρκετές φορές Έλληνες και Βυζαντινοί. Σώζονται μόνο δύο αντίτυπα: ένα είναι το Palatinus Graecus 398 (9ος αιώνας ΚΧ) στην Πανεπιστημιακή Βιβλιοθήκη τής Χαϊδελβέργης. Το άλλο είναι ο Κώδικας Vatopedinus 655 (14ος αιώνας) που βρέθηκε στο μοναστήρι τού Βατοπεδίου, στο Άγιο Όρος, και τον μοιράζονται η Βρετανική Βιβλιοθήκη και η γαλλική Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη. Προφανώς πωλήθηκε: το εμπορικό δαιμόνιο έχει μακρά παράδοση σε αυτήν τη μονή……

● Ο Ηρόδοτος παραθέτει μιαν ιστορία, βασισμένος πιθανόν στο πρωτότυπο κείμενο:

“Οι Καρχηδόνιοι μας λένε πως εμπορεύονται με μια φυλή που ζει στην [Αφρική] πέρα από τις Ηράκλειες Στήλες. Φτάνοντας σε αυτήν την χώρα, ξεφορτώνουν τ’ αγαθά τους και τ’ απλώνουν όμορφα στην παραλία· έπειτα γυρίζουν στα πλοία και υψώνουν καπνό. Οι ιθαγενείς, βλέποντας τον καπνό, κατεβαίνουν στην παραλία, αφήνουν στο έδαφος κάποια ποσότητα χρυσού, ως πληρωμή για τ’ αγαθά, και μετά απομακρύνονται. Οι Καρχηδόνιοι βγαίνουν στην ξηρά και ρίχνουν μια ματιά στον χρυσό. Αν θεωρήσουν πως το αντίτιμο για τα εμπορεύματά τους είναι δίκαιο, παίρνουν τον χρυσό και φεύγουν· αν, αντίθετα, τους φανεί πολύ μικρό, γυρίζουν στα πλοία και περιμένουν· τότε έρχονται οι ιθαγενείς και προσθέτουν χρυσάφι ώσπου αυτοί να ικανοποιηθούν. Υπάρχει απόλυτη ειλικρίνεια και στις δύο πλευρές· οι Καρχηδόνιοι ποτέ δεν αγγίζουν τον χρυσό ώσπου ν’ αντιστοιχεί σε αξία σε ό,τι έχουν προσφέρει προς πώληση, και οι ιθαγενείς δεν αγγίζουν ποτέ τ’ αγαθά ώσπου αυτοί να πάρουν τον χρυσό.”

Φοβάμαι πως ο Ηρόδοτος δεν διέθετε το εμπορικό δαιμόνιο των Βατοπεδινών…

Καρχηδονιακή προπαγάνδα: θαλάσσια τέρατα!

● Παράλληλα με τον Μασσαλιώτη περίπλου, που κινήθηκε στον βόρειο Ατλαντικό, οι έρευνες επεκτάθηκαν στα νότια και με το ταξίδι τού Ευθυμένη τού Μασσαλιώτη (αρχές 6ου αιώνα ή, σύμφωνα με ορισμένους, 2ο μισό 5ου αιώνα ΠΚΧ). Δυστυχώς, εδώ δεν έχει διασωθεί το αρχικό κείμενο του Περίπλου τῆς ἔξω θαλάσσης· έχουν μείνει μόνον αναφορές άλλων συγγραφέων, όπως ο Πλούταρχος, ή ο Σενέκας ο νεότερος, που διακατέχεται από σκεπτικισμό. Ο Εὐθυμένης, κατά την εξερεύνησή του, έφτασε σ’ έναν μεγάλο ποταμό με ιπποπόταμους και κροκόδειλους, που τα νερά του στις εκβολές έκαναν το νερό τής θάλασσας γλυκό ή υφάλμυρο. Μάλλον θα ήταν ο Σενεγάλης ποταμός. Οι Μασσαλιώτες πρέπει να είχαν ακούσει πως οι Καρχηδόνιοι, με τον Άννωνα επικεφαλής, είχαν αναλάβει στην ίδια περιοχή, την ίδια ίσως περίοδο, μια μεγάλη εξερευνητική αποστολή. Όμως, πληροφορίες για συνάντηση των δυο στόλων δεν υπάρχουν. Τ’ αποτελέσματα του εγχειρήματος του Ευθυμένη φαίνεται πως κρίθηκαν πενιχρά. Έτσι οι Μασσαλιώτες εγκατέλειψαν την προσπάθειά τους στον νότιο Ατλαντικό.

● Ήταν η σειρά των Καρχηδονίων να επεκταθούν στον βόρειο Ατλαντικό, στην περιοχή που κατέγραψε ο Μασσαλιώτης περίπλους. Επικεφαλής τής αποστολής τοποθετήθηκε ο Ἱμίλκων (ή Ἱμίλκας) ὁ Θαλασσοπόρος (τέλη 6ου αιώνα ΠΚΧ), μ’ έναν περίπλου-παράπλου των ακτών τής Ιβηρίας και της Γαλλίας. Ακολουθώντας τούς δρόμους των Ταρτησσίων, έφτασε στην Ὀφιοῦσα (Πορτογαλία-Γαλικία) για να εμπορευτεί κασσίτερο και άλλα πολύτιμα μέταλλα. Ο Ιμίλκων έδωσε μια νέα διάσταση στην καρχηδονιακή προπαγάνδα: παρουσίασε το ταξίδι του με τα πιο μελανά χρώματα ως ιδιαίτερα οδυνηρό, μιλώντας συνεχώς για θαλάσσια τέρατα και γιγάντια φύκια, ώστε να μην τολμήσουν οι ανταγωνιστές, και πρωτίστως οι Έλληνες, να βγουν στον Ατλαντικό. Φαίνεται πως η τακτική αυτή ήταν ιδιαίτερα αποτελεσματική: οι καρχηδονιακές ιστορίες για “σημεία και τέρατα” έγιναν η πηγή των μύθων που απέτρεπαν τα ταξίδια πέρα από τις Ηράκλειες στήλες.

● Ο Περίπλους τού Σκύλακος τοῦ Καρυανδέα (τέλη 6ου – αρχές 5ου αιώνα) έγινε για λογαριασμό των Περσών, που του ανέθεσαν να εξερευνήσει τις εκβολές τού Ινδού ποταμού και τις ακτές τού Ινδικού, φτάνοντας μέσω Ερυθράς στο Σουέζ. Ο Σκύλαξ, από τα Καρύανδα της Καρίας, ήταν ένας περίφημος εξελληνισμένος Κάρας εξερευνητής και συγγραφέας, στα χρόνια τού Δαρείου Α’. Σκοπός τής αποστολής του, γύρω στο 515 ΠΚΧ, ήταν να βρει αρχικά τις εκβολές τού Ινδού. Βγαίνοντας στον Ινδικό ωκεανό, στράφηκε προς δυσμάς κι έφτασε στην Ερυθρά θάλασσα, που επίσης εξερεύνησε. Το ταξίδι του κράτησε 30 μήνες. Η έκθεση του Σκύλακα με τίτλο, καθώς λένε, Περίπλους, και αφιερωμένη στον Δαρείο, έχει χαθεί· μόνον οι αναφορές τρίτων έχουν σωθεί – όπως του Στράβωνα στη Γεωγραφία του, του Ηροδότου στην Ιστορία του, και του Αριστοτέλη στα Πολιτικά του, όταν μιλά για τους Ινδούς βασιλιάδες. Υπάρχουν συνολικά επτά παραπομπές μεταγενέστερων συγγραφέων, που δείχνουν πως ο Περίπλους του δεν ήταν ένα απλό ημερολόγιο καταστρώματος, αλλά περιείχε περιγραφές λαών, τόπων, φυσικών και πολιτικών συνθηκών. Άρα, ήταν πληροφορίες για επέκταση της Περσικής Αυτοκρατορίας. Ήταν γραμμένος στα ελληνικά – συνεπώς, πρόκειται για ένα από τα πρώτα έργα που γράφτηκαν σ’ ελληνικό πεζό λόγο. Επιπλέον, ήταν η πρώτη περιγραφή λαών τής Ανατολής που έφτανε στον κόσμο τής Μεσογείου και απετέλεσε το πρότυπο για μεταγενέστερους Έλληνες συγγραφείς. Καταχώρησε, τέλος, και τ’ όνομα των Ἰνδῶν και της Ἰνδίας στην παγκόσμια γεωγραφία.

● Περίπλους ὁ ἐκτὸς τῶν Ἡρακλείων στηλῶν, έργο τού ιστορικού, χρονογράφου, και λογογράφου Χάρωνος (πρώτο μισό 5ου αιώνα), από την Λάμψακο, που έζησε πριν από τον Ηρόδοτο· Περίπλους τῆς ἔσω θαλάσσης (τής Μεσογείου), έργο τού αστρονόμου, μετεωρολόγου και γεωγράφου Εὐκτήμωνος τοῦ Ἀθηναίου (μέσα 5ου αιώνα ΠΚΧ), μαθητή και συνεργάτη τού συμπατριώτη του, Μέτωνος· και Ὠκεανοῦ περίπλους, του Αβδηρίτη φιλοσόφου Δημοκρίτου (±460 – ±370 ΠΚΧ): κανένας από αυτούς τους Περίπλους δεν σώζεται· μα ειδικά για τον Δημόκριτο, συντρέχουν και άλλοι λόγοι εκτός τής τύχης (βλέπε Χρονικό 22, Διάλειμμα: Άβδηρα, Δημόκριτος και Πλάτων).

● Η επική εξερεύνηση του κορυφαίου Μασσαλιώτη θαλασσοπόρου, Πυθέα (±380 – ±310, ή ±350 – ±285 ΠΚΧ), πραγματοποιήθηκε περί το 325, και τον οδήγησε στην Βρετανία, την Σκανδιναβία, τη Βαλτική και από εκεί, μέσω ποτάμιων οδών, στον Εύξεινο και τη Μεσόγειο, ολοκληρώνοντας έναν περίπλου τής Ευρώπης. Από το βιβλίο του, Τὰ περὶ ὠκεανοῦ, ή Γῆς περίοδος, σώζονται μόνον αποσπάσματα σε αναφορές άλλων συγγραφέων, ορισμένοι από τους οποίους, σαν τον μονίμως δύσπιστο Στράβωνα, αλλά και τον Πολύβιο, τον αντιμετωπίζουν με σκεπτικισμό. Ο Πυθεύς, κατά τα λεγόμενά του, ταξίδεψε “σε όλα τα μέρη τής Βρετανίας που ήταν προσβάσιμα”, κι εξερεύνησε όλον τον Βορρά. Οι κάτοικοι της Κορνουάλλης, όπως διαπίστωσε, ασχολούνταν με την παραγωγή κασσίτερου. Ίσως κάποιες από τις παρατηρήσεις του ν’ αποτελούν την πρώτη αναφορά στο Stonehenge. Επιπλέον, εισήγαγε την ιδέα τής ἐσχάτης Θούλης στη γεωγραφική φαντασία·⁽⁷⁾ και πρώτος αυτός περιέγραψε τον Ήλιο τού μεσονυχτίου, τους πολικούς πάγους, αλλά και τις παλίρροιες, αποφαινόμενος ότι οφείλονται στη σελήνη. Μέτρησε το γεωγραφικό πλάτος με τον γνώμονα, και παρατήρησε τευτονικές, ίσως και φινλανδικές φυλές.

• ⁽⁷⁾ Παλαιότερα πίστευαν πως Θούλη ήταν η Ισλανδία. Όμως, ο Πυθέας είχε δει κατοίκους στο νησί, ενώ η Ισλανδία ήταν ακατοίκητη ως το δεύτερο μισό τού 9ου αιώνα ΚΧ. Έτσι, από τα τέλη τού 19ου αιώνα, η Θούλη ταυτίζεται με τη Νορβηγία. Κάποιοι άλλοι πάλι, συνέδεσαν την Θούλη με την Γροιλανδία, όπου η ανθρώπινη παρουσία ανάγεται στο μακρινό 2500 ΠΚΧ. Το ενδεχόμενο, πάντως, ο Πυθέας να έφτασε ως εκεί θεωρείται εντελώς απίθανο.

● Οι Ναζί ταύτισαν την Θούλη με την Υπερβορεία γη (βλέπε Χρονικό 15, Παράρτημα: Ἀτλαντικὴ Ὀδύσσεια), ως το λίκνο τής “Αρίας φυλής”, ενώ το κόμμα τους εκκολάφθηκε εντός τής “Εταιρείας τής Θούλης”…

Αποσπάσματα από το έργο του παραθέτουν ή παραφράζουν πολλοί άλλοι, όπως ο Διόδωρος Σικελιώτης, ο Πλίνιος, ή ο Γεμίνος ὁ Ῥόδιος. Οι τίτλοι στο βιβλίο του δόθηκαν από μεταγενέστερους. Άλλες απλούστερες παραλλαγές που συναντά κανείς είναι Ὠκεανός, ή Περίπλους. Μετά από την Βρετανία και τη Νορβηγία, ήρθε η ανακάλυψη της Βαλτικής και το ταξίδι στον Ντον. Κάπου εκεί, ο Πολύβιος, ἐκὼν ἤ ἄκων, θόλωσε τα νερά επειδή, όπως υποστήριξε, ο Πυθέας έκανε μεταβολή στις εκβολές τού Βιστούλα, μπροστά στα σύνορα της Σκυθίας: “… κατά την επιστροφή του από εκεί, διέσχισε ολόκληρη την ακτή τής Ευρώπης, από τα Γάδειρα ως τον Τάναϊ”… Ήταν κάποιο δεύτερο σκέλος τής εξερεύνησης; Και δεν πέρασε από τη Μασσαλία ν’ ανεφοδιαστεί και να φρεσκάρει το πλήρωμα; Άλλοι, πάλι, λένε πως ο Τάναϊς δεν είναι ο Ντον, αλλά ο Έλβας. Υπάρχουν κι εκείνοι που δημιουργούν την θολούρα στο ξεκίνημα του ταξιδιού για να το αμφισβητήσουν. Αφού το στενό τού Γιβραλτάρ ήταν αποκλεισμένο – είναι το ατράνταχτο επιχείρημα – πώς πέρασε ο Πυθέας; Οὐ μπλέξεις με “διανοούμενους της πολυθρόνας”!

Μασσαλιώτες, Καρχηδόνιοι, Ρωμαίοι ως… “άσπονδοι φίλοι”.

Η Θούλη (σε χάρτη τού Olaus Magnus ΒΔ τής Σκωτίας, 1539), με τα τέρατά της, ταυτίστηκε από κάποια άλλα “τέρατα”, τους Ναζί, με την Υπερβορεία, ως το λίκνο τής “Αρίας φυλής”. Το δε ναζιστικό κόμμα εκκολάφθηκε μέσα στην “Εταιρεία τής Θούλης”.

Οι Καρχηδόνιοι είχαν επιβάλει αποκλεισμό των Ηρακλείων στηλών για όλα τα πλοία των άλλων λαών. Όμως, κατά τον 4ο αιώνα ΠΚΧ, οι δυτικοί Έλληνες, κυρίως οι Μασσαλιώτες, είχαν μάλλον (ή περίπου) “φιλικές” σχέσεις μαζί τους. Κατ’ αρχάς, η Μασσαλία ήταν στρατιωτικά ανώτερη της Καρχηδόνας: την είχε νικήσει επανειλημμένα, στα τέλη τού 6ου και στις αρχές τού 5ου αιώνα. Οι Καρχηδόνιοι προτίμησαν ν’ αποφύγουν τις περαιτέρω εχθροπραξίες και υπέγραψαν ανεξάρτητη συνθήκη με τους Μασσαλιώτες. Οι τελευταίοι, βάσει της συνθήκης, θα μπορούσαν άνετα να δημιουργούν και συντηρούν αποικίες στις μεσογειακές ιβηρικές ακτές. Τα διαθέσιμα αρχαιολογικά στοιχεία, όντως, δείχνουν πως οι ποσότητες ελληνικών αγγείων στη Δύση δεν μειώθηκαν σε καμιά χρονική περίοδο· αντίθετα, ως καλύτερης ποιότητας, αυξήθηκαν – και αυτό αποτελεί έναν αξιόπιστο εμπορικό δείκτη. Δεύτερον, η Μασσαλία ήταν από παλιά σύμμαχος της Ρώμης. Οι Μασσαλιώτες βοήθησαν τους Ρωμαίους στους πολέμους τους με τους Ετρούσκους και τους Γαλάτες. Στα μέσα τού 4ου αιώνα, Καρχηδόνα και Ρώμη “τα βρήκαν” σε συνάρτηση με τους Σικελικούς πολέμους, και με συνθήκη προσδιόρισαν τ’ αμοιβαία τους συμφέροντα. Έτσι η Ρώμη μπορούσε να χρησιμοποιεί τις αγορές τής Σικελίας, και η Καρχηδόνα να επιδίδεται σε αγοραπωλησίες στην Ρώμη. Αν η Καρχηδόνα είχε υποδουλώσει συμμάχους τής Ρώμης, έπρεπε να τους απελευθερώσει. Ναι μεν, η Ρώμη θα έμενε μακριά από τη δυτική Μεσόγειο, αλλά εξαιρουμένης τής Μασσαλίας. Στο δεύτερο μισό τού 4ου αιώνα, όταν έγινε το ταξίδι τού Πυθέα, οι σχέσεις ανάμεσα στην Ρώμη και τους συμμάχους της από τη μια, και την Καρχηδόνα από την άλλη, ήταν εντελώς φιλικές. Οι Μασσαλιώτες ενεργούσαν ελεύθερα και κατά βούληση. Ούτε υπάρχει η οποιαδήποτε ένδειξη σε κάποια από τις πηγές πως προέκυψε “αἴφνης” πρόβλημα με το ταξίδι τού Πυθέα. Αντίθετα, αναφέρονται τα Γάδειρα, η Ταρτησσός, και το Ἱερὸν ἀκρωτήριον (Sagres) στο νότιον άκρον τής Πορτογαλίας, πιστοποιώντας έτσι πως ο ήρωάς μας πέρασε “μέρα μεσημέρι” από τις Ηράκλειες στήλες, κατευθυνόμενος προς βορράν…

Νεάρχου Παράπλους

Νεάρχου Παράπλους

● Ενώ ο Πυθέας περιέπλεε την Ευρώπη, ο Νέαρχος, ως ναύαρχος τού Ἀλεξάνδρου, πραγματοποιούσε τον Παράπλου του, έχοντας αναλάβει να οδηγήσει τον στόλο από τις Ινδίες στον Περσικό Κόλπο, και να συναντήσει τον Μακεδόνα βασιλιά στα Σούσα, το 324 ΠΚΧ. Οι πληροφορίες τού Νεάρχου παράπλου διασώζονται από τον Ἀρριανό στα Ἰνδικά του.⁽⁸⁾ Ο Νέαρχος είχε διοριστεί σατράπης τής Παμφυλίας και της Λυκίας το 334-333. Το 328 πήγε στην Βακτρία, μεταφέροντας ενισχύσεις στον Αλέξανδρο. Το 326 έγινε ναύαρχος του στόλου που δημιουργήθηκε στον ποταμό Ὑδάσπη (Jehlum), και τον οδήγησε από τον Ινδό στον Περσικό, καταγράφοντας το ταξίδι με κάθε λεπτομέρεια. Τότε έγινε και ο πρώτος Έλληνας που επισκέφτηκε την Τύλο (το Μπαχρέιν), και η περιοχή ενσωματώθηκε στον ελληνικό κόσμο, μέσω της λατρείας τού Δία (ως η αραβική θεά τού Ήλιου, Shams), ενώ η ελληνική άρχισε να ομιλείται από τις ντόπιες ανώτερες τάξεις. Ο Αλέξανδρος ήθελε να μάθει με τον Παράπλου για τις εκβολές τού Ινδού, και για την θαλάσσια περιοχή ανάμεσα στην Ινδία και τη Βαβυλώνα. Ο Νέαρχος, μετά από περιπέτειες, έφτασε στην Καρμανία (Kermān, ΝΑ Ιράν, όπου ιδρύθηκε μια από τις Αλεξάνδρειες), για να συναντηθεί με τον βασιλιά, που μόλις είχε διασχίσει την έρημο Γεδρωσία. Αυτός τον έστειλε να ολοκληρώσει το ταξίδι του· έφτασε ως τον Ευφράτη, και γύρισε για να συναντηθεί με τον Αλέξανδρο στα Σούσα, στις αρχές τού 324. Κατόπιν πήγε με τον στόλο στη Βαβυλώνα. Ο Αλέξανδρος είχε τον Νέαρχο στα τελευταία του σχέδια, ως ναύαρχο του στόλου τής εισβολής στην Αραβία – ίσως και των άλλων που προετοίμαζε κατά της Καρχηδόνας, της Ρώμης και της Ιβηρίας. Σχέδια που δεν υλοποιήθηκαν λόγω του πρόωρου θανάτου του.

Pataliputra: από τις μεγαλύτερες πόλεις τού κόσμου. Mathura των Ελληνοϊνδών (180-70 ΠΚΧ). Sagala (Σάγαλα): πρωτεύουσα του Ινδοελληνικού
βασιλείου τού Μενάνδρου.

• ⁽⁸⁾ Ο Αρριανός (τέλη 1ου – 2ος αιώνας ΚΧ), ένας από τους κύριους ιστορικούς τού Αλεξάνδρου, γεννήθηκε στη Νικομήδεια της Βιθυνίας, στα ΒΔ τής Μικράς Ασίας. Στα Ινδικά του αφηγείται κυρίως την ιστορία τού ταξιδιού τού Νεάρχου προς τον Περσικό, ύστερα από την κατάκτηση της κοιλάδας τού Ινδού από τους Μακεδόνες. Η σπουδαιότητα του έργου οφείλεται όμως και στο ότι εμβαθύνει στην ιστορία, γεωγραφία και κουλτούρα τής ινδικής υποηπείρου. Επιπλέον, ο Αρριανός αφηγείται τις ιστορίες τού Ἡρακλέους και του Διονύσου στην Ινδία. Πρότυπο του ήταν ο Ηρόδοτος.

● Ἰνδικά είναι ο τίτλος κι ενός βιβλίου τού Μεγασθένη, που επίσης περιγράφει την ιστορία τής Ινδίας και απετέλεσε βασική πηγή πληροφοριών για τον Αρριανό. Ο Μεγασθένης (±350–290 ΠΚΧ) ήταν Έλληνας εθνογράφος τής ελληνιστικής περιόδου. Ήταν και αυτός Μικρασιάτης κι έγινε πρέσβης τού Σέλευκου Α’ στον Τσαντραγκούπτα, στην Παταλιπούτρα τού Μπιχάρ τής ΒΑ Ινδίας. Αυτό έγινε πριν από το 298 ΠΚΧ που πέθανε ο Ινδός ηγεμόνας. Ο Μεγασθένης είχε ζήσει προηγουμένως στην Αραχωσία τού νότιου Αφγανιστάν. Στην αρχή των Ινδικών του, αναφέρεται στους παλαιούς Ινδούς που ήξεραν για τον Διόνυσο και τον Ηρακλή στην χώρα, καθώς και στους πιστούς στον Ηρακλή (Krishna) και τον Διόνυσο (Shiva ή Indra). Το βιβλίο του συνέστησε την Ινδία στους λογίους τής Μεσογείου και υπήρξε σημαντική πηγή για τους μεταγενέστερους, λ.χ. τους Στράβωνα, Διόδωρο και Πλίνιο. Έχει και σημαντικό εύρος αφού περιγράφει τα Ιμαλάϊα, στον Βορρά, φτάνοντας ως την Ταπροβανή (Σρι Λάνκα), στον Νότο.

● Τριηράρχης στον στόλο τού Νεάρχου ήταν ο Ἀνδροσθένης ὁ Θάσιος. Η δική του μαρτυρία τιτλοφορείται Ὁ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς παράπλους. Ο Αλέξανδρος τον έστειλε να εξερευνήσει περιοχές των αραβικών ακτών. Ένας άλλος τριηράρχης τού Νεάρχου ήταν ο Ἀρχίας ὁ Πελλαῖος, που έφτασε επίσης στην Τύλο, η οποία, όπως έγραψε, απέχει “περίπου μια μέρα και μια νύχτα πλεύση” από τις εκβολές τού Ευφράτη. Ένας τρίτος πλοηγός τού Νεάρχου υπήρξε ο Ὀνησίκριτος από την Αἴγινα, ή την Ἀστυπάλαια. Από το έργο του σώθηκαν περικοπές τού Περίπλου του, σχετικές με την αρχαία Ινδία και τους κατοίκους της. Τον θεωρούσαν, όμως, αναξιόπιστο και καυχησιάρη.

Ελληνιστική κουλτούρα στις Ινδίες: ελληνοϊνδικό συμπόσιο, μ’ ελληνικά ρούχα, αμφορείς, κρασί, μουσική (1ος–2ος αιώνας ΚΧ)

● Ο Περίπλους τού ψευδο-Σκύλακος (δεκαετία 330 ΠΚΧ) γράφτηκε από άγνωστο Αθηναίο, με πρωτότυπο τίτλο Περίπλους τῆς θαλάσσης τῆς οἰκουμένης Εὐρώπης καὶ Ἀσίας καὶ Λιβύης. Ο συγγραφέας υπογράφει ως “Σκύλαξ” για λόγους κύρους, και παρουσιάζει τη Μεσόγειο και τον Εύξεινο δεξιόστροφα, αρχίζοντας από την Ιβηρία, για να καταλήξει στη δυτική Αφρική πέραν από τις Ηράκλειες στήλες.

● Ο Σταδιασμός, ἤτοι Περίπλους τῆς μεγάλης θαλάσσης, είναι έργο ενός άγνωστου γεωγράφου-πλοηγού (τέλη 4ου – αρχές 3ου αιώνα ΠΚΧ). Σώθηκε μόνον το τμήμα με τις αποστάσεις, οδηγίες πλεύσης και περιγραφές λιμένων τής Μεσογείου.

● Ο 10τομος Περίπλους τού Τιμοσθένους τοῦ Ῥοδίου (αρχές 3ου αιώνα ΠΚΧ), είχε ως σκοπό να περιγράψει με μεγαλύτερη ακρίβεια χώρες που ήταν πλέον γνωστές, προσδιορίζοντας την θέση λιμένων ή και σταθμών τής Μεσογείου. Ο Τιμοσθένης ήταν σπουδαίος θαλασσοπόρος, γεωγράφος, χαρτογράφος, μα και ναύαρχος του πτολεμαϊκού στόλου. Άλλα έργα του ήταν τα Περὶ λιμένων, Περὶ νήσων, και οι Σταδιασμοί, εκπονώντας πάρα πολλούς ναυτικούς χάρτες. Στον αρχαίο κόσμο αποτελούσε αυθεντία σε θέματα ανέμων, και πρέπει να ήταν ο πρώτος Έλληνας γεωγράφος που χρησιμοποίησε τους ανέμους για γεωγραφικό προσανατολισμό, κι όχι απλώς ως ένα μετεωρολογικό φαινόμενο. Από τα έργα του έχουν διασωθεί μόνον περικοπές σε συγγράμματα τρίτων, που τον επικαλούνται με θαυμασμό, όπως ο Ερατοσθένης, ή ο Στράβων. Ο τελευταίος αποκαλύπτει μιαν ακόμα πτυχή τού πολυτάλαντου Τιμοσθένη: συνέθεσε, λέει, έναν “Πυθικὸν νόμον” για τα Πύθια των Δελφών, με αὐλό καὶ κιθάρα, συμμετέχοντας έτσι στις γιορτές τής νίκης τού Ἀπόλλωνος ἐπὶ τοῦ Πύθωνος.⁽⁹⁾

Ο Απόλλων σκοτώνει τον Πύθωνα, του Eugène Delacroix (1850)

Μουσικός Νόμος

• ⁽⁹⁾ “Νόμος, στὴ μουσική, ἦταν ὁ σημαντικότερος τύπος σύνθεσης καὶ ἐκτέλεσης. Φαίνεται πὼς ἐξελίχτηκε ἀπὸ μιὰ πολὺ παλιὰ παράδοση, σύμφωνα μὲ τὴν ὁποία οἱ νόμοι τραγουδιοῦνταν ἀπὸ τὸ λαὸ γιὰ νὰ ἀπομνημονεύονται εὔκολα καὶ νὰ ἀκολουθοῦνται [αντίθετα απ’ ό,τι γίνεται σήμερα, που οι νομοθέτες κάνουν τα πάντα για να είναι οι νόμοι ακατανόητοι στον λαό, αν και – ή επειδή ακριβώς – άγνοια νόμου δεν συγχωρείται]… Ἡ ἐκτέλεση τῶν νόμων ἦταν πολὺ ἀπαιτητικὴ καὶ ἔθετε ὑψηλὰ ἐπαγγελματικὰ ἐπίπεδα στοὺς ἀγῶνες (Ὀλύμπια, Πύθια, Ἴσθμια, Νέμεα), ὅπου ἔπαιρναν μέρος οἱ πιὸ διακεκριμένοι μουσικοὶ τῆς ἐποχῆς.

“Πυθικὸς νόμος: ὁ πιὸ σημαντικὸς αὐλητικὸς νόμος, ἐπινοήθηκε ἀπὸ τὸν Σακάδα,… ὑπῆρξε τὸ πρῶτο γνωστὸ εἶδος προγραμματικῆς μουσικῆς καὶ σκοπὸ εἶχε τὴν περιγραφὴ τοῦ ἀγώνα τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνα μὲ τὸ δράκοντα Πύθωνα, ἀποτελούμενος ἀπὸ πέντε μέρη…” (Ἐγκυκλοπαίδεια τῆς Ἀρχαίας Ἑλληνικῆς Μουσικῆς, του Σόλωνα Μιχαηλίδη).

“Οἱ νόμοι ἄδονταν ἀπὸ τὸν λαὸ γιὰ νὰ ἀπομνημονεύονται εὔκολα καὶ νὰ
τηρούνται.” Τώρα, αντίθετα, οι νομοθέτες κάνουν τα πάντα για να είναι
οι νόμοι ακατανόητοι, αν και (ή επειδή) άγνοια νόμου δεν συγχωρείται…

● Ο Τιμοσθένης είτε καινοτόμησε, συνδυάζοντας τον αυλό με την κιθάρα στον πυθικό νόμο, ή αυτός ο συνδυασμός ήταν ήδη καθιερωμένος στην εποχή του. Ο αυλός και η κιθάρα ήταν τα βασικά όργανα των επαγγελματιών μουσικών: πνευστός ο αυλός, ήταν συνδεδεμένος με τον Διόνυσο, έγχορδη η κιθάρα, ταυτισμένη με τον Απόλλωνα. Αντίθετα, η λύρα παιζόταν μόνον από ερασιτέχνες. Περί (αδόμενων) νόμων, βλέπε επίσης Χρονικό 11, υποσημείωση 1, και Χρονικό 21, υποσημείωση 7, μαζί με το σχετικό κείμενο.

Ο αγώνας μεταξύ κιθαρωδού Απόλλωνα και αυλητή Μαρσύα.

● Σημειωτέον, καμιά γιορτή δεν θεσμοθετήθηκε, ούτε και κανένας νόμος συντέθηκε, για μιαν άλλη νίκη τού Απόλλωνα σε μουσικό αγώνα, με αντίπαλο τον σάτυρο αυλητή Μαρσύα από την Φρυγία. Για να νικήσει ο θεός, χρειάστηκε να τραγουδήσει κιόλας, και οι μούσες, που ήταν οι κριτές, φυσικά τού το επέτρεψαν. Ήταν μια νίκη “στα σημεία”, εξοργίζοντας τον Απόλλωνα, που αντέδρασε υπερβολικά: έγδαρε ζωντανό τον Μαρσύα, και κρέμασε το δέρμα του σ’ ένα πεύκο, για την “ὕβρι” του να προκαλέσει θεό! Να πώς η ελληνική μουσική νίκησε την φρύγια, και το απολλώνιο στοιχείο το διονυσιακό… Παρ’ όλα αυτά, στα ελληνιστικά χρόνια, κατά τον Διόδωρο Σικελιώτη, ο Μαρσύας θαυμαζόταν για τη “σύνεση και σωφροσύνη” του, ενώ και οι Ρωμαίοι τον εγκωμίαζαν για την “παρρησία του να μιλήσει έξω από τα δόντια στους έχοντες εξουσία”. Το άγαλμά του στην ρωμαϊκή αγορά ήταν indicium libertatis, σύμβολο ελευθερίας, και αφετηρία εκδηλώσεων διαμαρτυρίας των πληβείων.

● Δυο σπουδαίοι Έλληνες θαλασσοπόροι, που ίσως να συνεργάστηκαν στον Ινδικό ωκεανό, ήταν ο Εὔδοξος ὁ Κυζικηνός (±150–100 ΠΚΧ) και ο Ἵππαλος (τέλη 2ου – 1ος αιώνας ΠΚΧ). Ο Εύδοξος εξερεύνησε την Αραβική θάλασσα για λογαριασμό των Πτολεμαίων τής Αιγύπτου. Σύμφωνα με τους Ποσειδώνιο και Στράβωνα, ήταν ο πρώτος που εκμεταλλεύθηκε το σύστημα των μουσώνων στον Ινδικό, το 118–116. Λένε πως κάποιος Ινδός ναυτικός, ναυαγός στην Ερυθρά θάλασσα, σώθηκε και μεταφέρθηκε στην Ἀλεξάνδρεια, όπου προσφέρθηκε να οδηγήσει τους Έλληνες στην Ινδία. Ο Εύδοξος ανέλαβε το πρώτο ταξίδι, με οδηγό τον Ινδό, το 118. Αφού επέστρεψε με αρώματα και πολύτιμους λίθους, επανέλαβε τη διαδρομή μετά από δυο χρόνια μόνος του. Μέχρι τότε, Έλληνες και Ινδοί ναυτικοί εμπορεύονταν σε αραβικά λιμάνια, όπως το Άντεν (τον Εὐδαίμονα των αρχαίων Ελλήνων, ενώ και η Υεμένη ήταν η Εὐδαίμων Ἀραβία). Οι προσπάθειες των Ελλήνων να πάνε πέρα από το Άντεν ήταν σπάνιες και δύσκολες, παραπλέοντας τις ακτές ως την Ινδία. Τα ινδικά πλοία, αντίθετα, πήγαιναν απευθείας στην Αραβία, εκμεταλλευόμενα τους μουσώνες. Αν οι Έλληνες αποκτούσαν την τεχνογνωσία αυτή, δεν θα είχαν ανάγκη τ’ αραβικά λιμάνια και θα συναλλάσσονταν απευθείας με την Ινδία. Αυτό έγινε τότε κατορθωτό, και πολύ σύντομα, στα μέσα τού 1ου αιώνα ΠΚΧ, ολοένα και περισσότερα ελληνικά, αλλά και ρωμαϊκά, πλοία έβαζαν πλώρη για την Ινδία με αυτόν τον τρόπο.

Ελληνικά πλοία κι ένα θαλάσσιο τέρας κοντά στις Ηράκλειες στήλες, σχέδιο του Walter Plitt Quintin

Κατά την επιστροφή του από το δεύτερο ταξίδι, ο Εύδοξος παρασύρθηκε από τον άνεμο νοτιότερα στα παράλια της ανατολικής Αφρικής, όπου βρήκε ναυαγισμένο ένα πλοίο. Από την εμφάνισή του και όσα του είπαν οι ντόπιοι, συμπέρανε πως το πλοίο ήταν από τα Γάδειρα της Ανδαλουσίας και περιέπλεε την Αφρική. Του ήρθε τότε η ιδέα να επιχειρήσει έναν περίπλου τής μαύρης ηπείρου. Οργάνωσε μόνος του την αποστολή, ξεκινώντας και αυτός από τα Γάδειρα. Μα ήταν ανυπέρβλητες οι δυσκολίες κι αναγκάστηκε να επιστρέψει. Δεν το έβαλε κάτω και προσπάθησε πάλι – χωρίς να ξέρουμε τι απέγινε. Αν και κάποιοι αισιόδοξοι, όπως ο Πλίνιος, υποστηρίζουν πως τα κατάφερε, το πιθανότερο είναι πως η αποστολή χάθηκε…

● Ως προς τον Ίππαλο, αναφέρεται κάποιες φορές ως κυβερνήτης τού Εύδοξου. Ο συγγραφέας τού Περίπλου τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης τού αποδίδει την ανακάλυψη του απευθείας δρόμου από την Ερυθρά θάλασσα στην Ινδία, σχεδιάζοντας σωστά τον χάρτη τής περιοχής. Οι Έλληνες γεωγράφοι τότε νόμιζαν πως η ακτογραμμή τής Ινδίας εκτεινόταν από δυτικά προς ανατολικά. Ο Ίππαλος διόρθωσε το λάθος, σχεδιάζοντας την γραμμή από βόρεια προς νότια. Μόνον κάποιος που είχε αυτήν την εικόνα θα σκεφτόταν πως ο συντομότερος δρόμος προς τη Νότια Ινδία είναι να διασχίζεις τον Ινδικό και όχι να παραπλέεις. Από τότε υπήρξε μεγάλη ανάπτυξη στο εμπόριο της Αιγύπτου με την Ινδία. Ο Ίππαλος θεωρείται κάποιες φορές ως ο θαλασσοπόρος που εισήγαγε στην Ευρώπη την ιδέα τής μετάβασης στην Ινδία με τη βοήθεια των μουσώνων.

● Ο Περίπλους τῆς Ἐρυθράς Θαλάσσης (40–70 ΚΧ)⁽¹⁰⁾ περιγράφει τα δρομολόγια της Ερυθράς θάλασσας και του Ινδικού ωκεανού, με αφετηρία κάθε φορά το λιμάνι τής Βερενίκης (τής τρωγλοδυτικής, ή και Μπαράνις). Συντάκτης του είναι κάποιος ανώνυμος Αλεξανδρινός. Πέραν της Ερυθράς, περιγράφει τα παράλια της Ινδίας ως τον Γάγγη ποταμό, καθώς και τις ανατολικές ακτές τής Αφρικής (της Αζανίας).

• ⁽¹⁰⁾ “Ερυθρά θάλασσα”, για τους αρχαίους Έλληνες, ήταν όχι μόνον η Ερυθρά, αλλ’ επίσης όλος ο Ινδικός ωκεανός και ο Περσικός κόλπος.

● Ο Περίπλους τοῦ Εὐξείνου Πόντου (130–131 ΚΧ), γραμμένος από τον Αρριανό σ’ επιστολή του προς τον αυτοκράτορα Αδριανό, είναι ένας ακριβής τοπογραφικός οδηγός των δρομολογίων τής Μαύρης θάλασσας. Πιθανόν να συνδέεται με τις οδηγίες του, ως λεγάτος τής Καππαδοκίας, για τυχόν επίθεση των Ρωμαίων κατά των Αλανών. Σκοπός του ήταν να κατατοπίσει τον αυτοκράτορα σχετικά με τις αποστάσεις πόλεων, ή και θέσεων, που θ’ αποτελούσαν ασφαλή αγκυροβόλια, σε περίπτωση μιας εκστρατείας στην περιοχή.

● Η Περιήγησις τοῦ ἐν τῷ Βοσπόρῳ ἀνάπλου (Ἀνάπλους Βοσπόρου) γράφτηκε από τον Διονύσιο Βυζάντιο (2ος αιώνας ΚΧ). Περιγράφει, εκτός τής ακτογραμμής τού Βοσπόρου, την αρχαία πόλη τού Βυζαντίου, προτού να γίνει Κωνσταντινούπολη στον 4ο αιώνα. Θεωρείται ένα από τα πιο λεπτομερή γεωγραφικά κείμενα.

● Ο Περίπλους τῆς ἔξω θαλάσσης είναι έργο τού Έλληνα γεωγράφου Μαρκιανοῦ από την Ἡράκλεια τοῦ Πόντου (4ος αιώνας ΚΧ). Άλλα βιβλία του είναι: Μενίππου ὁ ἐντὸς θαλάσσης περίπλους, και Ἀρτεμίδωρου γεωγραφία – και τα δυο σε επιτομή δική του.

Περίπλους, του Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld.

● Να κι ένας σύγχρονος Περίπλους τού Φινλανδού εξερευνητή, γεωλόγου και μεταλλειολόγου Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832–1901), γνωστού κυρίως για το εγχείρημά του στην Αρκτική το 1878–1879. Τότε ήταν που ο άνθρωπος διέσχισε για πρώτη φορά τη Βόρεια θαλάσσια ρότα (ή το Βορειοανατολικό πέρασμα). Το επίτευγμα ήταν σπουδαίο, αφού άνοιξε ο δρόμος για έναν Περίπλου τής Ευρασίας μέσω Βόρειας θάλασσας και Διώρυγας του Σουέζ. Επιμελήθηκε μια μνημειώδη πεντάτομη καταγραφή τού εγχειρήματος και μια δίτομη εκλαϊκευμένη σύνοψη. Εκτός τού Περίπλου (1897), εξέδωσε άλλη μια μονογραφία με τίτλο Πρώιμη Ιστορία τής Χαρτογραφίας (1889). Τον ενδιέφερε η ιστορία τής εξερεύνησης της Αρκτικής, όπως αυτή φαίνεται σε παλαιούς χάρτες.


Ο Περίπλους τής Ευρασίας μέσω Βόρειας θάλασσας και Διώρυγας του Σουέζ

Επόμενο Χρονικό 17. ΚΡΗΤΟΜΙΝΩΙΚΗ ΘΑΛΑΣΣΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΙΑ ● Μινωική Κοινωνία και Τέχνη ● Γραμμική Α-Β, Δίσκος Φαιστού ● Κασσιτερούχο Κρατέρωμα (Μπρούντζος) ● Ταυροκαθάψια

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Chronicle 26. IBERIAN CROSS-CHECK

Chronicle 26. IBERIAN CROSS-CHECK

/ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ/ Χρονικό 26. ΙΒΗΡΙΚΗ ΔΙΑΣΤΑΥΡΩΣΗ (ΣΤΟΙΧΕΙΩΝ)

● Naucratis ● Adolf Schulten and Dan Stanislawski ● The Trojan War Odysseys ● Metal Attraction ● Cassiterides ● Balearics ● Arganthonios ● Graeco-Tartessian Friendship Against Phoenicians and Punics

Michales Loukovikas

ALTHOUGH DAN STANISLAWSKI accepted there were Contacts Between the Ancient Civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean and Iberia,⁽¹⁾ he was against the idea of any Aegean presence in the peninsula, and remained faithful to the mainstream scholarly favouritism towards Phoenicia. Commenting on the “claims that there was contact” between Iberia and Crete, he conceded it is “a seductive idea… a reasonable hypothesis”, but “as yet there is no convincing evidence that the Mediterranean island route to the west was used” by Minoans.

• ⁽¹⁾ See the beginning of Chronicle 21 with the first paragraph of Chapter 7 from Dan Stanislawski’s Study in Historical-Political Geography: The Individuality of Portugal (1959). His other studies on Portugal are: Portugal’s Other Kingdom: The Algarve (1963), and Landscapes of Bacchus: The Vine in Portugal (1970).

The Minoan international trade: colonies and emporia

Such tangible, “convincing evidence” in the hands of archaeologists, i.e. a load of Egyptian trade items found in Spain, is of “a somewhat later period”, after the fall of the Minoans, c. 1400-1200 BCE. Although we cannot rule out the possibility of “Phoenician intermediaries”, we must have in mind that in this “somewhat later period” (late Bronze Age), especially in Occidental Mediterranean, sea trade was in the hands of those who brought about the fall of the Minoans, meaning the Mycenaeans – who, strangely enough, are not even mentioned by the American professor! Therefore, his assertion that the Egyptian trade items found in Spain “almost surely may [!] be associated with Phoenician intermediaries”, is anything but scientific.

Besides, the Aegean presence in Egypt, i.e. the origin of these trade items, dates back to at least the Mycenaean times, and possibly further back into the Minoan age, when a trade settlement was founded in the Nile Delta under the aegis of the pharaohs, namely Naucratis (Ναύκρατις). It was the first and, for much of its early history, the only permanent Hellenic colony in Egypt, acting as a symbiotic nexus for the interchange of Egyptian and Grecian trade items, art and culture. When a historian “forgets” the Mycenaeans and Naucratis, it means he’s wearing “Phoenician myopic glasses”!

The Calydonian [Boar] Hunt, from a Laconian black-figure cup by the Naucratis Painter (ca 555 BCE)

● Naucratis is located in the Nile Delta, on its westernmost branch, c. 70 km southeast of its mouth, where Alexandria later rose; it was not only the first Greek settlement in Egypt, but also its most important harbour in antiquity until the rise of Alexander’s city. Its first period is obscure, due to the collapse of Mycenaean civilization and the ensuing “Dark ages” (1100-750 BCE). A cultural “renaissance” during the 8th century brought about renewed Hellenic contacts with the Orient and its two important river civilizations of the Nile and Mesopotamia. Herodotus writes that a shrine known as Hellenion was a co-operative enterprise financed by nine Greek poleis: four Ionian (Chios, Clazomenae, Teos and Phocaea), four Dorian (Rhodes, Halicarnassus, Cnidus and Phaselis), and one Aeolian (Mytilene). Miletus, Samos, and Aegina had their own separate sanctuaries. This means that the natives of at least twelve cities of Hellas worked in a collaboration that was not only rare but proved to be lasting.

● The sister port of Naucratis was the harbour town of Heracleion or Thonis, Egypt’s main seaport to Greece, which was only discovered in 2000 by a French underwater archaeologist, Franck Goddio. Its ruins are located 2.5 km off the modern coast. The city was built on some adjoining islands connected with bridges and intersected by canals. It submerged into the sea in the 6th or 7th century CE, probably due to major earthquakes and floods. The “Stele of Naucratis”, with a pharaonic decree, describes Heracleion as a “harbour in the Sea of Hellenes”, referring to the Mediterranean.⁽²⁾ Its twin “Stele of Heracleion” was recovered in 2000. The city’s Grecian name is linked to a large temple of Khonsu, whom the Greeks identified with Heracles. It is believed the city was visited by the great hero, or even by Paris and Helen on their flight from the jealous Menelaus, before the Trojan war. Heracleion’s mythic wealth was lauded by Homer, as well.

• ⁽²⁾ The Egyptian pharaohs, let’s remind each “spectacled” historian, described the Mediterranean as “the Sea of Hellenes”, not as “the Sea of Phoenicians”!

The hetaera Phryne Removing Her Veils, by James Pradier (bronze, 1845)

● A celebrated Thracian hetaera, who lived in Naucratis in the 6th century BCE, was Rhodōpis. According to Herodotus, she was a fellow-slave of the fable teller Aesop, with whom she had a secret love affair. Charaxus, Sappho’s brother, who had gone to Naucratis as a merchant, fell in love with her, and ransomed her from slavery with a large sum of money. Sappho accused Rhodōpis in a poem of robbing her brother of his property. Other lovers – insist Diodorus and Pliny – erected… even a pyramid for her! Rhodōpis (rosy-cheeked), or Doricha, was the model for the original version of the Cinderella story recorded later by Strabo.

● Athenaeus, born in Naucratis, flourishing in the late 2nd – early 3rd centuries CE, was a Greek rhetorician, grammarian and gastronomist. His books have been lost, but a 15-volume synopsis of his 30-volume Deipnosophistae (Banquet Connoisseurs) mostly survives. It is an immense store-house of information, on matters linked to dining, music, songs and dances, games, courtesans, and luxury. Guests included wealthy persons, patrons of art, and scholars, jurists, musicians, and others, as well, who described the lifestyle, the arts and scientific knowledge of the Greeks. In the course of discussing classic authors, they made quotations from nearly 800 writers and 2,500 works, many of them unrecorded. Thus we are entrusted much valuable information about the ancient world and many authors that would be otherwise unknown. (We have consulted Deipnosophistae repeatedly in our Chronicles).

Campaspe, Alexander’s courtesan, a prominent
citizen of Larissa, by John William Godward (1896)

● An Athenaeus’ contemporary, a bit older, was Julius Pollux (Ἰούλιος Πολυδεύκης), also born in Naucratis, flourishing in the late 2nd century CE and living a long life of more than 80 years. He was a grammarian, sophist, scholar and rhetorician, whom Commodus appointed a professor-chair of rhetoric in the Athenian Academy – due to his melodious voice, according to Lives of the Sophists by Philostratus. No work of his rhetoric has survived. His valuable extant work is Onomasticón (Ὀνομαστικόν), a thesaurus, or a dictionary, of Attic synonyms and phrases in ten books, arranged not alphabetically but according to subject-matter. It supplies in passing plenty of rare information on many points of classical antiquity – objects in daily life, the theatre, music, politics – and quotes numerous fragments of lost works. Thus, Pollux became invaluable for William Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1842). (We have repeatedly consulted Pollux in our Chronicles, as well).

● Under the circumstances, Stanislawski, an expert on Portugal, a scholar whom we described as wearing “Phoenician myopic glasses”, cannot be suspected of pro-Hellenic bias in his narrative about those fateful events in Iberia, related in three Chronicles (21, 22, and 25). At the same time, we’ll be able to cross-check the accuracy of our own testimony. But before that, let us give the floor to the German historian and archaeologist Adolf Schulten, who will give an answer to the question concerning the contacts between Iberia and the Aegean. Schulten (1870–1960), who also studied in Greece, dedicated his life to Spain, where he conducted extensive research and excavations; therefore, he is considered a key influence on Spanish archaeological studies. Among others, he searched – but, unfortunately, with no success – to find Tartessos in 1924 and Maenaca in 1948. Very popular in Portugal and Spain are his biographies on two great figures of the struggle of the Lusitanians against the Romans: Viriathus (1927) and Quintus Sertorius (1926).

Statue of Viriathus in Zamora

● The great Lusitanian hero, Viriathus, started fighting after a massacre committed by the Romans in Lusitania with 30,000 victims. He was assassinated in his sleep, in 139 BCE, by the three men he had sent for peace talks with the Romans, who bribed them instead. When the conspirators asked for their prize, the Romans said: “Rome does not pay traitors who kill their chief”! Big talk to avoid payment, since the same tactic was used again in the next century to get rid of Sertorius, whose aim was to create an independent Iberian Republic. He was a Roman statesman and general, opponent of the dictator Sulla during the Roman civil wars. His popular, pro-Iberian policy had displeased many Roman aristocrats, and was eventually assassinated, also by traitors, during a feast, in 72 BCE. When his will was read, they saw he named as his chief beneficiary the… chief conspirator! The next year, the “victorious” Pompey, returning from Iberia to Italy, helped in the suppression of the gladiators’ insurgency led by Spartacus, with whom Sertorius was in contact.

Schulten made a thorough examination of the Mediterranean Spanish coast in 1919, preparing a critical edition of Ora Maritima (Sea Coast), by Avienus (hence of the Massaliote Periplus, as well), a study that led him to Tartessos.⁽³⁾ Excavating in the current Doñana National Park, close to the mouth of the Guadalquivir, he found a Roman town in Cerro del Trigo, which he believed was located on the remains of the legendary city. But, despite all his efforts, he found no trace of it. The result of his excavations, among others, was the publication of a study in 1924. A second edition, greatly improved and expanded, followed in 1945, and reissued in 2006. It was entitled: Tartessos – Contribution to the Oldest History in the Occident:

• ⁽³⁾ We followed the same route in Chronicle 22: An Iberian Periplus Revival.

The Palace of Minos at Knossos

TARTESSOS: CONTRIBUTION TO THE OLDEST HISTORY IN THE OCCIDENT

THE MOST ANCIENT REFERENCES

“BY ALL ACCOUNTS, AN ORIENTAL PEOPLE that, before the Phoenicians, sailed along the coast of Spain were the Cretans, the people of Minos, the oldest maritime power in the Mediterranean… Cretan toponyms are found even in Corsica. In Sardinia we encounter Cretan copper bars. In the Balearics, Aegean vases and bull heads similar to those of Crete have been discovered. Oriental ornaments of ivory, turquoise, or amethyst, have been found on the southeastern coasts of Spain… It seems that the Iberian alphabet contains eight Cretan graphemes… According to Egyptian monuments, the Keftiu, i.e. the Cretans, had large amounts of silver. This silver could have come from Spain… In Falmouth of Cornwall a tin bar has been found with the characteristic shape of Cretan copper bars, i.e. the double swallowtail. This fact could be an indication of exchange between Crete and Tartessos, as the Tartessians traded with the Oestrimni [see Chronicle 21, Legendary Odyssean Lisbon], who sailed to England… Further proof that the Cretans were sailing to Spain can be found in the name of Tartessos itself. The termination in -essos is primitive pre-Hellenic of Asia Minor, mainly of southern Asia Minor. It is very widespread in the regions of Caria and Crete. Thus, perhaps the name of Tartessos does not come from the Phocaeans, but from the Cretans and the Carians. The toponyms ending in ‘-essos’ spread to the Occident, as is evidenced by their appearance in Sicily (Herbessos, Telmessos). If the name of Tartessos is Cretan, then we need to examine whether the Phoenician ‘Tarshish’ is derived from ‘Tartessos’, rather than the indigenous toponym”…

The Statuette of Geryon (6th century BCE), bronze sculpture, showing the 3-headed giant, probably found in Chiusi in Italy, one of the towns of the Etruscan dodecapolis.

THE PRE-TARTESSIANS

“Hispanic [Iberian] daggers of copper and silver of the 3rd millennium have been found in Crete… Where did the silver and tin that the ancient 3rd-millennium-BC Oriental empires used come from?… It is reasonable to suppose that in the 3rd millennium BC, the Orient extracted silver and, above all, tin, from Andalusia and that the Cretans or Carians were probably the agents of this trade, as were later the Phoenicians”…

TARTESSOS AND THE PHOENICIANS

“Geryon, considered as the personification of the Tartessos [Guadalquivir] River, does not pertain to Gades, as later ignorance would have it, but to Tartessos. And the island Erytheia, his dwelling, which took his daughter’s name (Pausanias), could not have been the island of Gades, but the island formed by the Tartessos Delta, in front of which his castle rose. But when Tartessos disappeared, confusion made the figures of Geryon and Erytheia to be mistakenly transferred to Gades. However, the most ancient mythographers clearly place Erytheia on the Delta of the Tartessos River. Stesichorus says that Erytheia ‘faces’ the sources of the river, i.e. its mouth. Pherecydes asserts that Heracles went to Tartessos, and, therefore, places Erytheia here and not at Gades”…

TARTESSOS AND THE PHOCAEANS

“There is another testimony on the Phocaean trips to Tartessos: the Ionian names of islands and coastal sites that are found all along the way, on the Italian coast, in Sardinia and Spain, way down to Tartessos. These are several toponyms ending in –οῦσα [-ussa], widespread in Ionian regions on the coast of Asia Minor, and their presence in the Occident undoubtedly reveals the passage of the Ionians, of the Phocaeans. On the Italian coast we can find: Πιθηκοῦσα [Pithecussa] (Ischia), Ἀνθεμοῦσα [Anthemussa], Σειρηνοῦσα [Seirenussa, Sirenuse] (islands in the Gulf of Salerno). In Sardinia: Ἰχνοῦσα [Ichnussa] (the Ionian name of the island). On the eastern Spanish coast: Μηλοῦσα, Kρoηοῦσα [Melussa, Croeussa] (Mallorca and Minorca?), Πιτυοῦσα, Ὀφιοῦσα [Pityussa, Ophiussa] (Ibiza, Formentera). On the southern coast: Πιτυοῦσα [Pityussa] (Cape Sabinal), Καλαθοῦσα [Calathussa] (in the Bay of Huelva?), Κοτινοῦσα [Cotinussa], old name of the island of Gades. On the southwestern coast: ἄκρα Ὀφιούσης (prominens Ophiussae, Avienus), Cape Roca – the extreme toponym indicating the limit of the Phocaean sphere. We know from this old [Massaliote] Periplus that the neighbouring estuary of the Tagus was linked to Tartessos through a Phocaean commercial road”…

Harvester Vase: a Minoan stone vessel from Hagia Triada, Crete (1500-1450 BCE), originally covered in gold leaf. The relief depicts a sowing festival: a central figure shaking rattle leads the others singing and carrying pitchforks. Notice the diminishing of figures in one of the oldest examples of perspective.

THE TARTESSIAN CULTURE

“Could perhaps Tartessos be a colony founded by some Oriental people of those that were part of the Aegean civilization, e.g. of Crete?… There are reasons to support this hypothesis: the ancient culture of the pre-Tartessians, the numerous coincidences with the Orient and the older oriental nations, the possibility that primitive navigators have founded a colony in Andalusia, as later the Tyrians founded Gades. And besides all this, the name itself of Tartessos alludes to the Orient. If Tartessos were a colony of Aegean navigators, e.g. of Cretans or Carians, this would at once explain its ancient and high culture, as well as the coincidences with Crete in metallurgy, writing, the bull cult, etc. As an Aegean colony, Tartessos would have been founded around the 3rd or 2nd millennium BC, and certainly before the Tyrian voyages. Thus the Tyrians would have invaded the maritime domain of the old Aegean navigators, both in the Occident and in the Orient. A Cretan Tartessos could only be founded before the fall of Cretan power (in 1200). Thence, the ruin of Crete would have influenced the Occidental colony, explaining thus the scarce resistance of the Tartessians against the Tyrians. The possibility that Tartessos is an ancient Aegean colony must therefore be studied.”

All the more so, because the Minoans apparently imported tin from Tartessos at the mouth of the Guadalquivir. At any rate, what strikes me is that in Schulten’s text, too, the Mycenaeans are… conspicuously absent! “The fall of Cretan power” did not take place “in 1200”, when the Bronze Age collapsed, together with the Mycenaean power, but c. 1450 BCE, when the Mycenaeans took over Crete. Then they inherited not only the Minoan Thalassocracy, but the network of the Cretan colonies and emporia, too. The Bronze Age collapse coincided with the Trojan War that was followed by a westward “exodus” of Trojans and Hellenes:

The Arrival of Aeneas at Pallanteum, by Claude Lorrain

Odysseys in the Aftermath of the Trojan War: Colonization of Iberia

THE TROJAN WAR, in the time when it was fought, was not a heroic war. It was accompanied by the eastward movement of the Sea Peoples, and the westward “exodus” of both Hellenes and Trojans. For sure, the latter were in search of a new homeland. As for the Greeks who managed to survive, after a long, ten-year absence, with the spoils not rewarding enough, as Strabo says, were not welcome back home (see Chronicle 20, The Luwian Civilization: The Missing Link in the Aegean Bronze Age), and either had a tragic end (e.g. Agamemnon), or were forced to follow the life of pirates. Such fate awaited “heroes” such as Aeneas, Antenor and Opsicella; or Diomedes, Menelaus, Menestheus, Odysseus and Teucer – for whom “later poets sang”…

Breogán and the Tower of Heracles, A Coruña

Aeneas is linked to Rome, while Antenor and Opsicella founded cities in the Italian North, with the latter ending up in Biscay. Among the Greeks, Diomedes, son of Tydeus, arrived in Lusitania and Galicia, where he founded Tyde (today’s Tui), an Aetolian city, as Silius Italicus writes. Menestheus, the leader of the Athenians in the Trojan War, was expelled from Athens by Theseus’ sons, and set ashore with his entourage in Andalusia, at the mouth of the river Criso (Guadalete), where he founded a colony and an oracle in his name: it was Portus Menesthei, today’s El Puerto de Santa María (see Chronicle 22). Odysseus founded and walled Lisbon (see Chronicle 5, Odysseus and Calypso in Odyssey-Lisbon and Chronicle 21, Legendary Odyssean Lisbon), while Teucer arrived in Lusitania and Galicia, where he founded Pontevedra (see Chronicle 20, Teucer-Teucrus of the Troad and Salamis), having previously passed from Mastia (or Massia, the later Carthago Nova, today’s Cartagena in Murcia). Some include Aveiro among the cities supposedly founded by Greeks in Lusitania. That’s why, they add, the women there are so beautiful!

Silius distinguishes the Aetolians from the Grovii (or Gravii in Latin), who lived in the coastal northern Lusitania, spreading also into Galicia.⁽⁴⁾ However, Pliny states “Helleni, Gravii, Castellum Tyde, graecorum sobolis omnia” (Hellenes, Grovii, the Castle of Tyde, they are all Greeks).

• ⁽⁴⁾ Pomponius Mela stated that all the tribes were Celtic, except for the Grovii, who worshipped gods different from the Celts. Pliny also rejected that the Grovii were Celts; he considered them to be of Greek stock. They cooperated with the local Gallaeci tribes in the aftermath of Viriathus’ death, in order to take revenge for his assassination. So, they attacked the Roman settlements in Lusitania, gaining momentum with the support of other tribes along the way, and reaching the south of the Peninsula, near Andalusia, thus endangering Roman rule in Hispania (Iberia).

Greeks in Iberia: Athena, Atlas, and Heracles with the golden apples of the Hesperides; marble relief, 5th century BCE

Teucer and his companions, says Strabo, founded some peoples in Galicia such as the Hellenes and Amphilochians. Something similar happened in Cantabria with certain Spartans. Relevant information is given by Pompeius Trogus, who translated into Latin the stories of the world from Hellenic literature. Justin, who compended Trogus’ work, points out that the Galicians claim they are of Greek descent (Gallaeci graecam sibi originem asserunt). This may be explained by the origin of the Celts who, according to Herodotus, might have come from Thrace, speaking perhaps also Hellenic (see Chronicle 20, Thracian and Celtic Coincidences).

Isidore of Seville (Híspalis), citing Latin writers, stated that, due to their Hellenic origin, “the Galicians are endowed with great ingenuity”. While Jerome couldn’t agree more: “… almost all islands, rivers, lands of the entire orb neighbouring the sea, are occupied by Greek inhabitants, who, as we have already said, owned all the maritime places from the Amanus [Nur] and Taurus Mountains [Asia Minor] to the British Ocean.”

According to Strabo, all the Northern highlanders in general – Galicians, Astures, Cantabrians, Basques – made hecatombs ritu graeco and married more graeco. In Cantabria, one could also meet Messenians and even Trojans, except for the Spartans, who expanded as far as the Douro’s mouth, leading a Laconic life.

Homer’s Odyssey is unique, but the Trojan War’s Odysseys were too many, from both belligerents, eventually enriching the Western Mediterranean – mainly Italy and Iberia – with “new blood”.

Celts in Europe

● When scholars like Stanislawski “forget” the Mycenaeans (not to mention the Minoans), they end up… uttering bubbles, such as: “Greek colonization to the West was very late, especially if we compare it with the Phoenician.” In fact, the Phoenicians were last in line, and their western colonization came even later. Let’s move now to Stanislawski’s text, Contacts Between the Ancient Civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean and Iberia:

CONTACTS BETWEEN THE ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
OF THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN AND IBERIA

Celts lived mainly in Galicia; Celtiberians in Portugal
and half of Spain; Iberians in the other half (Andalusia
to Catalonia); Basques in NE Spain (and SW France).

A WESTWARD MOVEMENT

“THE EARLIEST PASSAGE of Phoenician ships through the Straits of Gibraltar was probably made during the general period of time when the Central European farmers and pastoralists were first entering the Cantabrian region. These events preceded the 1st millennium BC. Later, Greek exploration and trade grew, following the example given by Phoenicia, perhaps as early as the 9th century and certainly by the end of the 7th century BC. Such contacts can be equated in time with the acceleration of the East-West movement of peoples and cultures which took place in the North with the advent of the Celts, who may have appeared in Iberia as early as 900 BC, and the main force of which was felt by the 6th century. Between the 6th and the 3rd centuries BC, while the lands of the western Mediterranean were developing under the influence of active and aggressive Greeks and Carthaginians [Punics], northern Iberia was changing under the influence of Celts of later arrival from beyond the Pyrenees. However, there was a difference between the early contacts along the Mediterranean coasts and those of the Central Europeans with northern Iberia. It was not opportunity for settlement that drew men along the southern coasts, but trade… It was the attraction of metals that drew the early Greeks beyond the Straits of Gibraltar and along the western coasts of Spain.”

CONTACTS WITH THE WEST COAST OF IBERIA

Celtic art in Spain

“It is possible that the early merchant wayfarers sailed up the west coast to trade directly with Galicia. But if they did, the coast of present Portugal represented a gap in their interest, for there is almost no record of them there.⁽⁵⁾ It would seem that Portugal was then, as through so many periods of time before and after, apart from the main stream of events. It possessed no great source of silver such as the mines of Andalusia, nor of copper or tin (with slight exceptions in both cases).⁽⁶⁾ With her metals, Spain was a magnet for the early traders, whereas Portugal attracted casual traders at most”…

• ⁽⁵⁾ There are slight exceptions; e.g., there is the Egyptian scarab of the 7th century BC that was found in a pre-Celtic level at Alcácer do Sal. (D. Stanislawski)

• ⁽⁶⁾ There is no record e.g. of Carthaginian exploitation of the copper of the Alentejo, which Romans later mined at Aljustrel. As all of southern Portugal is poor in tin, silver, and gold, there was little there to distract them from their preoccupation with such places as Andalusia and Murcia. (D.S.)

HOMOGENEITY OF THE IBERIAN MEDITERRANEAN REGION

“At the time of their first contacts with the west, the earliest Phoenicians and Greeks encountered a culture area with fundamentally similar characteristics throughout. It extended along the Mediterranean coasts, slopes, and adjacent interior valleys, from the Pyrenees to the Guadiana River… With their usual perspicacity, the Greeks recognized this area as being essentially homogeneous and sharply different in culture from the Celtic territories of the interior and of the north and west peripheries”…

EARLY POLITICAL GROUPS AND CONFUSION OF NAMES

Winged griffin of Tartessos (700-575 BCE)

“Indisputably, one of the important Iberian groups was that of the Tartessians, wealthy farmers and traders in metals. It was their knowledge of the sources of metals that first brought them in touch with the Phoenicians and Greeks. They knew the coasts to the west and northwest of their home, for the tin and gold that they traded came from Galicia. They were also able to furnish silver, copper, and lead, which came to them from the Guadalquivir River basin. It appears that tin was the product of greatest importance at the time. The early centuries of the pre-Christian millennium were times of great opulence along the coast of Galicia. That this wealth was due to tin may be inferred from the fact that the Greeks used the term Cassiterides to identify the area. However, the question as to the ultimate source of tin is moot. In spite of the lack of archaeological evidence it seems likely that, in the earliest years of trading, it came from alluvial deposits along the river banks of Galicia. There is a possibility, however, that Bronze Age connections with French Brittany and with the British Isles had continued and that the Galicians were merely purveyors of tin from those places. This basic necessity of bronze-users was scarce in the other parts of the Phoenician and Greek world. There was no tin in all of North Africa, Asia Minor, Caucasia, Cyprus, mainland Greece, and the Greek islands. The mines of Tuscany were small. It is no wonder that both Galicia and the Tartessians were prosperous and that the Phoenicians and Greeks were attracted to the area.”

“Tin was the product of greater importance. This basic necessity of bronze-users was scarce in the Phoenician and Greek world.” (Dan Stanislawski)

According to Pomponius Mela (1st century CE),
the Makárōn nēsoe (Fortunate Isles) are the Canaries; the Hesperides are at Cape Verde;
and the Cassiterides are the Azores

● “The Cassiterides are ten in number, and lie near each other in the ocean toward the north from the haven of the Artabri [A Coruña, Galicia].⁽⁷⁾ One of them is desert, but the others are inhabited… Of the metals, they have tin and lead, which, with skins, they barter with the merchants for earthenware, salt, and brazen vessels. Anciently the Phoenicians alone, from Gades, engrossed this market, hiding the navigation from all others. When [other navigators] followed a certain [Phoenician] shipmaster, that they might discover the market, the jealous shipmaster willfully stranded his vessel on a shoal, misleading those who were tracking him, to the same destruction. Escaping from the shipwreck by means of a fragment of the ship, he was indemnified for his losses out of the public treasury.” (Strabo)

• ⁽⁷⁾ According to Strabo, the Artabri (or Arrotrebae) were an ancient Gallaecian Celtic tribe, living in the extreme NW of modern Galicia, about Cape Nerium (Cabo Prior), outskirts of the harbour city of Ferrol. In Magnus Portus Artabrorum during Roman times (1st century BCE, even before), they traded in metals (like silver, gold, tin and iron), or even wild horses. The port was located on a turbulent, unpredictable sea, in the bay of Ferrol, and the rias of Ferrol, Betanzos and Coruña, with the Tower (lighthouse) of Heracles. Ptolemy refers to the Galaeci Lucenses and their capital town, Lucus Augusti (now Lugo).

● “The islands called Cassiterides, situated in the open sea approximately in the latitude of Britain, lie opposite to, and north of, the Artabrians… They that inhabit the British promontory of Belerium,⁽⁸⁾ by reason of their converse with the merchants, are more civilized and courteous to strangers than the rest. These are the people that make the tin… They beat it into four-square pieces the size of dice, and cart it to a British island, near at hand, called Ictis…⁽⁹⁾ For at low tide, all being dry between them and the island, they convey over in carts an abundance of tin in the mean time. But there is one thing peculiar to those islands, which lie between Britain and Europe; for at full sea they appear to be islands, but at low water for a long way they look like so many peninsulas… Hence the merchants transport the tin they buy of the inhabitants to France, and for thirty days’ journey they carry it in packs on horses’ backs through France to the mouth of the river Rhône.” (Diodorus Siculus)

The Cassiterides and Bolerium (depicted
here as an islet) south of Britain

• ⁽⁸⁾ Belerium, or Bolerium, now Land’s End: a headland on the western tip of Cornwall, the most westerly point of England. Diodorus’ text is very often connected with St. Michael’s Mount.

• ⁽⁹⁾ Ictis, or Iktin: an island described by Diodorus as a tin trading centre, somewhere off the coast of southern England, with its exact location unknown; candidates include St. Michael’s Mount, or Looe Island, off the Cornish coast, also known as St. Michael’s Island, or St. George’s Island.

● “There are two kinds of lead, the white (plumbum album) and the black (plumbum nigrum). The white is the most valuable; it was called by the Greeks cassíteros; and there is a fabulous story of their going in quest of it to the islands of the Atlantic, and of its being brought in barks made of osiers, and covered with hides. It is now known that it is the production of Lusitania and Gallaecia… White lead was held in esteem in the days even of the Trojan War – a fact attested by Homer, who called it ‘cassíteros’… It is extracted with great labour in Hispania [Iberia] and throughout all the Gallic provinces, but in Britannia it is found in the upper stratum of the earth in such abundance, that a law has been spontaneously made prohibiting anyone from working more than a certain quantity of it.” (Pliny)

Hellenic ship, mocaic (ca 1st century BCE-CE)

GREEK EXPLORATION AND SETTLEMENT

“The earliest Greek ventures may perhaps be dated as of the 9th or the 8th century BC. Possibly Rhodian and Chalcidian sailors were in the western Mediterranean at this time… The line of Ionian names stretching along the islands and coasts of the western Mediterranean and to the Atlantic coast of Portugal – the names with the –ussa termination – can probably be ascribed to this early period. These names are important in dating the arrival of the Greeks in western waters. They mark the island route of the early Greek navigators. Starting from Syrakoussai [Syracusae] in eastern Sicily, they may be followed through Ichnussa (Sardinia), Melussa (Menorca), Rornyussa (Mallorca) and Pityussa (Ibiza). The latter three, even now, are identified on maps as the Balearics or Pityusas. The -ussa names extend westward to the Straits of Gibraltar and up the Atlantic coast of Portugal to Ophiussa, in the region of Lisbon, and the general area of Portugal plus Galicia may have been vaguely termed Ophiussa.”

The “Balearides” (Gymnesian) and the “Pityusae” Isles on an old map

● The Balearics comprise two island groups: the Gymnesians (Mallorca and Minorca) and the Pityuses (Eivissa or Ibiza and Formentera). The term “Balearic” derives from the Grecian Βαλλιαρεῖς or Βαλεαρεῖς (from βάλλω, meaning “to launch”), referring to the islanders who were skilled slingers and served as mercenaries for the Hellenes, Punics, and Romans. However, Strabo regarded the word as of Phoenician origin, as similar to lightly armoured soldiers the Hellenes called γυμνήτας, hence Gymnesiae (from γυμνός, meaning naked). This does not mean they fought naked, but that they used much lighter armament than the hoplites. Anyhow, according to Lycophron’s poem Alexandra, the toponym refers to shipwrecked Boeotians who were cast nude on the islands (a story obviously invented); or to the islanders themselves who were often nude (because of the year-round benevolent climate). In the Gymnesian Isles there are megalithic stone monuments (naveta, taula and talaiot) which speak of a very early prehistoric human activity. They are similar, but not necessarily related, to the nuraghe of Sardinia and torri of Corsica. One of the earliest cultures on Minorca was influenced by other Mediterranean civilizations, including the Minoan. Those islanders e.g. may have imitated those inverted plastered timber columns found at Knossos (such evidence is probably not “convincing” enough for Stanislawski). There is also a tradition that the Balearics were colonized by Rhodes after the Trojan War. The Pityusic Islands (from Grecian πιτύα, pine tree) are sometimes informally called in English as the Pine Islands, which is identical to the Hellenic name Πιτυοῦσαι, i.e. “pine-covered islands”. In antiquity they were listed in Claudius Ptolemy’s Geography under the names Ophiussis and Ebyssus, which had a town of the same name. It is the port Ibossim founded by Phoenicians in 654 BCE, later known to Romans as Ebusus, hence Eivissa (in Catalan) or Ibiza (in Castilian). The population of the two largest islands (Gymnesians) is stated by Diodorus at 30,000.

Herodotus, by Jean-Guillaume Moitte (1806)

THE PHOCAEAN GREEKS

“Herodotus said that it was Greeks from the city of Phocaea in Asia Minor who were first to navigate in the western Mediterranean waters. It may seem temerous to question the facts of the father of history, but Antonio García (A. G. y Bellido, Hispania Graeca [Hellenic Iberia]) does so convincingly. The Phocaeans, says he, arrived late upon the scene, profiting by earlier maritime contacts. Nor does he accept the statement that the important voyage of Colaeus, the Samian, was a voyage of discovery of Tartessos for the Greeks. This widely heralded 7th century journey was, to him, merely one – although perhaps the most profitable and spectacular up to that time – of many such voyages that had been made by Rhodians, Chalcidians, Samians, and others.⁽¹⁰⁾

• ⁽¹⁰⁾ Another point of view is expressed by H. R. W. Smith in his review of García’s Hispania Graeca. Smith does not deny the thesis of García but says that he can find no reason to believe that the Phocaeans reached Tartessos prior to the time of Arganthonios, the Tartessian king friendly to the Greeks, or before the voyage of Colaeus. (D.S.)

A Satyr on pottery found at Alalia

“Whatever the dating may be – and the archaeological inquiry has far to go – the Phocaeans certainly became the most active and effective Greeks in the area. Their colonization had energy and breadth and was the only one in the western Mediterranean with lasting results… There is no specific evidence that this activity was connected with the decay of Tyre, but there is such a coincidence in time. Tyrian decline had begun by the end of the 8th century BC and was notable during the following century. This was the time of the voyage of Colaeus, the Samian (650 BC), the founding of the Phocaean colony of Massalia, present Marseille (600 BC, or approximately then), and the founding of Alalia in Corsica (640 BC, or approximately 40 years prior to Massalia). Some time before the end of the century, Mainake [Maenaca], the most westerly of Phocaean colonies, was founded near Málaga.⁽¹¹⁾

• ⁽¹¹⁾ Within 20 miles to the east, says García; Smith suggests that it might even be at approximately the outskirts of present Málaga. (D.S.)

● Some dates are different here. The difference in Colaeus’ voyage is not important (650, not c. 640 BCE); but the dating of the founding of Alalia is almost one century earlier (650 instead of 566 BCE). Was it initially a temporary seasonal settlement?

Following the Mediterranean island route, the
Phocaeans arrived from Asia Minor to Iberia.

“This century was one of intimacy between Phocaeans and Tartessians. The reign of Arganthonios of Tartessos began in the 7th century BC. The ancient sources spoke of his 80-year reign but probably, in typical Greek fashion, they dramatized a dynasty or a period by creating a mythical longevity for a single ruler. Whether this represented one ruler or several does not alter the fact that there was frequent and close contact between Tartessos and Phocaea. This was the period of the Phocaean maritime dominance during which the Tartessian king lent money to the Phocaeans to build their fortifications against the threat of the Persians.”

● Arganthonios is a name apparently based on the Indo-European word for silver, hence money. Tartessos was very rich in silver. Similar names appear in inscriptions of the Roman period and on silver coinage in Gaul. Arganthonios, the “Silver Man” (c. 670–550 BCE), ruled Tartessos for 80 years (c. 630–550) and lived to be 120 years old. The idea of great age and length of reign may result from a succession of kings using the same name or title. Nevertheless, one could retort he died… quite young, if we take under consideration that, as the Bible says, “all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine [969!] years”: he supposedly lived almost one thousand years and became a symbol of longevity…

The Tower of Babel, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

● The weird thing is that no one dares to say: fairy tales! Even more funny is that so many well-intentioned (and a few… bad-intentioned) people try hard to interpret the uninterpretable, although it is well-known that “you better stay away from the Bible’s dates”! It’s weird, so let’s have fun: “such mistakes are made by copyists or translators; are mistaken attempts to correct mistakes; deliberate extensions of the patriarchs’ ages by the ‘Seventy’ [Jews who translated the Old Testament into Greek], multiplying by 5 or 10, for the patriarchs to ‘fit’ with the Flood ‘myth’; confusion between ‘months’ and ‘years’; or between solar and lunar years; or between Sumerian and new numbers; the names do not refer to individuals, but to ‘dynasties’,” as in the case of Arganthonios. We also have fundamentalist interpretations: “a water vapour canopy protected the earth from radiation before the Flood; early humans had a better diet; or the more we sin, the less we live: the humans were originally to have everlasting life, but sin was introduced into the world by Adam and Eve, its influence became greater with each generation, and God progressively shortened human life, particularly after the Flood”… Amen!

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GREEKS AND PUNIC
PEOPLES IN THEIR RELATIONS WITH IBERIA

The island and bay of Gadir: the Phoenicians’
springboard for attacks against Tartessos

“The period of the decline of Tyre was not only important for the Ionian Greeks, but also for the Tyrian colony of Carthage. During the time of Phocaean colonization, Carthage too was expanding. As early as 653 BC, it had established the colony on Ibiza of the Balearics, which lay athwart the Greek island route to the west. After 573 BC, when Tyre fell to the Babylonians, Carthage showed increasing independence. Competition for western metals was growing between the two great rivals, Carthage and Greece. It is reasonable to assume that the friendship of Arganthonios (or that of his dynasty), through almost a century of time, was more than mere affection and amiability. It probably represented a form of alliance in which the Tartessians aided the Phocaeans in their struggle against the threat to their mother city. In return, Greeks supported the Westerners against the growing aggressiveness of Carthage and the Punic colony of Gadir, which threatened the area of Tartessos. Almost from the time of their founding of Gadir the Phoenicians showed their expansionist tendencies. It was not long before they were using the island as a base of attack against the mainland and the Tartessians.

“Graeco-Iberian friendship: an alliance against Carthage and Gadir’s aggressiveness. From the beginning the Phoenicians used the island as a base of attack against the Tartessians… Graeco-Iberian contacts: history of amity; the Iberian hospitality toward Greeks was proverbial… Friendship and mutual support against the common enemy served both.” (Dan Stanislawski)

Dionysus (the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking
and wine), by Exekias (cylix, c. 530 BCE)

“The Greeks were usually neither pacific nor friendly neighbors when the prospect of gain was apparent. In this they differed little from the Phoenicians. However, in their relations with the Tartessians they had no desire, it would seem, for control of land or people, but merely wanted to trade their products, especially olive oil and wine,⁽¹²⁾ for Tartessian metals. In fact, the history of Greek contacts with Iberians is one of amity, and the hospitality of the Iberians toward Greeks was proverbial. The purposes of both peoples were served by friendly intercourse and mutual support against the common enemy, especially after the increased importance and the expanded ambition of Carthage. A major clash for complete dominance of the area was inevitable. This was speeded by events in the eastern Mediterranean area”…

• ⁽¹²⁾ Pierson Dixon, The Iberians of Spain, and Rhys Carpenter, The Greeks in Spain, state that the olive tree and the vine were introduced into Spain by the Greeks. Olive oil was exported from Greek Akragas [Agrigento] to Carthage in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. No doubt the Greeks traded in wine with Iberia. Wine made from grapes is very old in the countries of the eastern Mediterranean, and the Phoenicians were famous merchants of wine… (D.S.)

Artemis, Phocaea’s patron goddess; Massaliote “heavy” silver drachma (ca 390-220 BCE)

THE ALALIA COLONY AND ITS EFFECTS

DAN STANISLAWSKI, IN THIS PART of his story, turns his attention to the historic developments in Asia Minor: in 546 BCE, Cyrus conquered Lydia and Ionia, causing “a mass migration of perhaps half of the population of Phocaea to their Corsican colony of Alalia… All the men in this city of probably 5,000 to 7,000 people had gone. This population figure suggests the large number of available vessels, and points to the commercial importance of the city at that time”. The Battle of Alalia took place “sometime between 540 and 535 BC”, with its disastrous impact on the Hellenes and, even more, on the Tartessians.

“Carthage may then have sealed the Straits of Gibraltar, as Carpenter suggests. More likely, the Straits had been largely sealed for a long time, but after the battle the land route between Mainake and Tartessos was also blocked. Mainake itself was destroyed by the Carthaginians toward the end of the century, to end its traffic and its competition with the Carthaginian settlement in the location of present Málaga”…

Phocaean electrum coin with playing seals

ECONOMIC CHANGES IN THE WEST

“As Carthage had inherited the western empire of Tyre, so did Massalia fall heir to that of her mother city, Phocaea. Greek trade became centered here, with the end of Phocaean maritime enterprise in the West of the Mediterranean. Trade through France to Brittany and beyond had been undoubtedly important to the Massaliotes previous to this time, but the record had been obscured by the greater drama of the struggle on the Mediterranean. During the last half of the 6th century BC, during which time Carthaginians grasped complete power in the West, the prosperity of Galicia – presumably based upon tin – declined. This decline may have been due to the change from the sea route, by way of the Straits, to that from Massalia, via the French rivers, to the northwest and ultimately to Britain”…

“Galicia’s decline due to the change from the sea route, via the Straits, to that from Massalia, via the French rivers, and ultimately to Britain.” (Stanislawski)

Stanislawski offers four possible explanations for the Galician decline; probably the second one is the most important:

Armor of a Punic officer

“More likely, the Galicians had for some time been not producers, but purveyors, of tin from French Armorica or the British Isles. If this were true, the direct land route from Massalia would have skirted the Carthaginian barrier and eliminated Galician middlemen… At approximately the same period of time there was an increased interest in silver… by the avidity with which the Greeks of Asia Minor sought it for coinage… Perhaps the richest of ancient silver mines was that of Mastia (or Massia), a region second only to Tartessos in commercial importance. The ancient prosperity of the region and of its most important city, also named Mastia (or Massia), the later Cartago Nova, and probably the site of the present Cartagena, was based upon silver mining through several centuries. Great amounts were mined under the direction of Hannibal in the 3rd century BC, and it was still a large operation at the time of Polybius in the succeeding century.”

CARTHAGINIAN DOMINATION OF THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN

Bronze Age gold helmet found in Leiro, Galicia

After the battle of Alalia, “Greek commercial activity in Iberia was ended and Carthage was less inhibited in the spread of its control. Tartessos, which had feared the Carthaginians and had allied itself with the Greeks, was left without support and was destroyed.⁽¹³⁾ In the following century, probably 20,000 Iberian mercenaries were fighting in Sicily for the Carthaginians… Celts were also serving as mercenaries in the Carthaginian forces.

• ⁽¹³⁾ If there was no city of that name, it is not important to the larger fact that the area as a whole was put under the control of the Carthaginians of Gadir (Carpenter, The Greeks in Spain). (D.S.)

Dido (or Elissa, founder of Carthage), attributed to Christophe Cochet

“There was an increasing reliance upon mercenaries from the peninsula, not only from the fringes but from deep within the interior as well. In the late 3rd century BC, Hannibal’s army included Celtiberians from the northern interior, Galicians from the extreme northwest, Lusitanians from Middle Portugal, Vettones from the middle Tagus drainage – and these do not complete the list. Such troops, however, were something other than pure mercenaries; many had been forcibly impressed into service… During earlier centuries no general antagonism in Iberia seems to have been engendered by the Carthaginians. Locally there may have been antagonism, such as probably existed between the Carthaginians and the Tartessians, but for the tribes of the interior the Carthaginians may have had a friendly appeal. They offered an opportunity to fight with pay. It was later, when the Carthaginians had expanded their power and increased their need for troops that their tactics changed with regard to these tribes of the interior, which had long served as a source of manpower. When Hannibal, in desperate need for troops and under economic pressure, forcibly impressed some of them into his armies, the others reacted in bitter opposition. The tribes of the interior were a bellicose lot. An opportunity to fight for pay was not distasteful to them but a demand that they submit to enslavement was another matter. According to Strabo they resisted Hannibal as they later did the Romans for somewhat the same reasons.

“Nevertheless, tens of thousands of mercenaries were introduced to new lands and cultures of the middle and eastern Mediterranean. Since this process had been going on from as early as the 6th century BC and many men had returned to the peninsula, the effect upon attitudes of the peoples of the Meseta [‘Plateau’, in the heart of Iberia] and even some of the remote western coasts may have been considerable.”

The harbour of Carthage

● In relation with her mercenaries, Carthage had already had a war in her… liabilities: the Mercenary or Libyan War (240-237 BCE), immediately after the First Punic War. It was a rebellion of her mercenaries, with Libyan support, due to her inability to pay them, since she had to pay first the huge war indemnities to Rome. She confronted a “Foreign Legion”, consisted of Iberians and Celt-Iberians, Celts, Baleares, Greeks and others. Bilateral negotiations were fruitless due to lack of confidence, but also to the multilingualism of the mercenaries, making it impossible to find a compromise. Very soon, hostilities broke out and the mercenaries captured Tunis. Threatened directly, Carthage had no choice but to capitulate to the demands of the mercenaries. The latter, with their strengthened bargaining position, started asking more and more, as e.g. that the Libyans, who were neither mercenaries (they were recruited), nor citizens of Carthage, should be paid, together with the Numidians, or the escaped slaves who were fighting on their side. Once again the Punics had no choice but to agree…

Salammbô, by Alfons Mucha (1896), based on Gustave Flaubert’s same-titled historical novel (1862) that was in turn based on Polybius. The heroine is Hamilcar’s daughter and priestess loved passionately by Mathos…

The conflict would have ended there if two of the mercenary commanders, Spendius, a Campanian slave, and Mathos, a Libyan Berber, had not persuaded the Libyans of the army that Carthage would take revenge for their part in the revolt as soon as the foreign mercenaries were paid and sent home. They were joined by many towns and villages of Libya, as the people there were fed up with the Punic yoke, and finally, by all the mercenaries. What had started as a simple “labour dispute”, exploded into a full-scale revolt threatening an empire… Outmatched in every aspect – men, money, and supplies – and unprepared, Carthage “staggered” as long as Hanno the “Great” was in charge. The generalship was eventually given to Hamilcar Barca, Hannibal’s father, who managed to defeat, in 237 BCE, those who he once commanded in Sicily, fighting against the Romans. He cleverly used the “psychological war”, won over a part of his opponents, and annihilated the rest in the decisive “Battle of the Saw” – that was not even a battle: he blockaded the mercenaries in a steep ravine, until they starved to death. The barbarities and atrocities were far too many in this “relentless”, “truceless war”, according to Polybius, with no rules of conduct – the “most impious war in history”. Mutilations and crucifixions on both sides shocked everyone then.

Silver coin of Hamilcar Barca

A smaller mercenary revolt in Sardinia was put down with Roman help. Rome, in this war, was an ally of Carthage, so she could continue paying the indemnities! Besides, the Romans would soon occupy both Sardinia and Corsica. Losing the two islands, the Punics had only Iberia to “milk” in order to get back on track. If Thucydides were alive, he would have much to write about… We can act accordingly; drawing parallels between the Carthage-and-her-mercenaries relation and that of the USA with their own mercenaries (Osama, Taliban, the Islamic State, etc.). Or about Carthage’s racist disadvantage, as Punic citizenship was an exclusive privilege; so, they refused to give political rights e.g. to the Libyans, and consequently were obliged to rely more and more on mercenaries. That was Rome’s advantage in the second Punic War, when Hannibal, despite his victories in Italy, was unable to break the ties of Rome with her allies. Or even about how many “Great” men, like Hanno, the “pacifist” – because of his personal interests, i.e. money – are finally so small. The only ones from all those I mention in these Chronicles, who really deserve this epithet, must be Alexander and Cyrus.

Centaur: bronze figurine from Campo de Caravaca (Murcia), probably made in Greece (6th century BCE)

In conclusion…

DAN STANISLAWSKI, I REMIND YOU, was the one who had rejected the possibility of a Minoan presence in Iberia; the one who had “forgotten” the Mycenaeans, attributing the role of the transporters of the Egyptian archaeological finds in Spain to the Phoenicians – and, indeed, during a time of Mycenaean domination in the Mediterranean (1400-1200 BCE); he was the one, in addition, who had “ignored” the Hellenic emporia in Egypt, mainly Naucratis; the one I accused he was “spectacled”, wearing “Phoenician myopic glasses”!

For all the above we can appreciate even more his own personal “view” of Iberia, since it’s anything but biased in favour of the Greeks. All the more so, when we realize that his story is almost identical with the historical panorama in our three “Iberian” Chronicles (21, 22, 25): Ὅπερ ἔδει δεῖξαι, as Euclid would say, or quod erat demonstrandum (Q.E.D), or “what had to be demonstrated”. There is just one last Chronicle left: we shall be dropping anchor at emporia or touring palaces in the Near East, to come full circle back to our starting point, in a voyage full of surprises, as on the way we’ll be meeting itinerant artisans, artists, and masters, “members of the Architects’ and Painters’ Guilds”, whose writing, nevertheless, in Linear A, would puzzle the renowned archaeologist Leonard Woolley…

• >> Chronicle 27. AN ARCHAEOLOGIST’S WATERLOO
• << Chronicle 25. “CARTHAGO DELENDA EST!”

Next Chronicle 27. AN ARCHAEOLOGIST’S WATERLOO ● Emporia in Egypt and the Levant ● Leonard Woolley’s Waterloo ● Itinerant Minoan Artists ● Creto-Egyptian Ties ● Differences Between Minoan
and Pharaonic Society and Art

Left: a clay tablet from Knossos; the Linear A script that puzzled Leonard Woolley.
Right: an inscription in the Greek alphabet by Massaliotes in Catalonia:
“Hail, Thespis Massaliote, son of Aristoteles”.

Chronicle 21. IBERIAN “EL DORADO”

Chronicle 21. IBERIAN “EL DORADO”

/ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ/ Χρονικό 21. ΙΒΗΡΙΚΟ “EL DORADO”

● Minoans, Mycenaeans, Phoenicians
in Iberia ● Fortunate Isles, Hesperides
● Sardinia ● Odysseus, Calypso,
Ophiussa ● Tartessos

Michales Loukovikas

“ONE FREQUENTLY MEETS CLAIMS that there was contact between the far western coasts of present Spain and Portugal, and Crete of Minoan times”, comments Dan Stanislawski in his Study in Historical-Political Geography: The Individuality of Portugal, and specifically in Chapter 7 about Contacts Βetween the Ancient Civilizations of the Eastern Mediterranean and Iberia.

“It is not only a seductive idea but it makes a reasonable hypothesis, for the Minoans were good navigators, traders, and seekers of metals. Had they known anything of the Iberian Peninsula they might well have been attracted; however, while it is quite possible that the Mediterranean island route to the west was used by them (Rhys Carpenter, The Greeks in Spain), as yet there is no convincing evidence that it was. The excavations of Almerían culture at Los Millares, which may be dated as of 2000–1800 BC, presented certain items reminiscent of Aegean cultures, but there is no evidence that would clearly demonstrate connection. Such items may represent nothing more than casual parallelism. Other finds of a somewhat later period in Spain make better evidence of contact with the eastern Mediterranean lands, for they can be neatly equated with materials of the Egyptian Tell-el-Amarna of 1400–1200 BC. The Egyptian trade items of this period of time are well known to Spanish archaeology and almost surely may be associated with Phoenician intermediaries. As of the present date, such items may be taken as the earliest evidence of direct contact between Iberia and the eastern Mediterranean navigators.”

Where did the Bronze Age Mediterranean find tin to produce bronze?
Who transported this rare and precious metal to the Mediterranean?

A model of Los Millares with its walls

Voilà! Here is a “neat” example of the established historians’ “classic” mentality: reserved if they write or talk about Minoans, even Hellenes, but garrulous when they lecture about Phoenicians. Indeed, why was it so difficult for the peoples of the Aegean to reach Iberia? They were certainly not inferior to the Phoenicians in seamanship and, furthermore, the Aegean was far closer to Iberia in comparison to Phoenicia. Besides, who controlled then (“1400–1200 BC”) the Mediterranean trade? The Phoenicians, or the Mycenaeans – whom Stanislawski “fails to bring in mind”?(!) Why should the Egyptian trade items of this period found in Spain “almost surely may be associated with Phoenician intermediaries”? The crucial question, however, this mentality does not answer is: Where did the Bronze Age Mediterranean obtain tin to produce bronze? Who were established then as sea traders to transport this profitable metal to the Mediterranean? Most obviously, the Mycenaeans. That is why the evidence about the Aegean peoples’ presence in Iberia is anything but “convincing”… Regarding the “opposite point of view”, there are detailed descriptions of Minoans extracting metals from the area of the Lake Superior and carrying them through the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico destined for the Mediterranean! Although we cannot exclude this, we do not intend to take you that far. It is better to remain on Iberian soil…

Los Millares, by Marianne Weil, cast bronze (2008)

Some “non-established” historians link the distinctive culture of Los Millares in Almería with The Early Minoan Colonization of Spain (W. Sheppard Baird). Far more interesting is the following El Argar culture, which flourished in Almería, as well, in today’s eastern Andalusia, between 1800 and 1300 BCE. This Argaric culture was characterized by the early adoption of bronze, which allowed local dominance over “copper age” (chalcolithic) neighbours. That people’s mining and metallurgy were quite advanced, with silver, gold, and bronze being mined or worked for weapons and jewelry. They developed sophisticated techniques, and traded with other tribes.

Argaric gold sword

The ancient collective burial tradition, typical of European Megalithic Culture, was abandoned in favour of individual burials; the tholos or “beehive” tombs in favour of small cists. This innovative trend seems to have come from the eastern Mediterranean, most likely the Mycenaeans – skipping Sicily and Italy, where the collective burial tradition remained for some time yet. In the next phase of this culture, beginning c. 1500 BCE, burial in pithoi (large jars) became most frequent. Again this custom – that never reached beyond the Argarians’ circle – must have come from Hellas, where it was used after c. 2000 BCE. During the Mycenaean era, cultural exchanges are very clear in the Mediterranean, with the Argarians adopting Grecian funerary customs, while the Hellenes also imported the Iberian tholos for the same purpose.

Note that whoever arrived at Iberia could easily find the way to the tin ores of Brittany and Cornwall, through the Western Iberian Bronze cultures that had some degree of interaction, not just among them, but also with other Atlantic cultures in Britain, France, etc. It is the so-called Atlantic Bronze Age complex of c. 1300–700 BCE that consisted of different civilizations in Andalusia, Portugal, Galicia, Armorica (the part of Gaul that included Brittany), and the British Isles. The Atlantic Bronze Age was marked by economic and cultural exchange, which led to a high degree of cultural affinity manifested in the coastal communities from Galicia to Scotland, while commercial contacts extended from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean.

Heracles fighting Geryon, ca 540 BCE

Next notable culture was that of Tartessos, a harbour city and the surrounding region in southern Iberia (in Andalusia). It was the first organized polity of the peninsula, developed culturally and politically by the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. The area is mentioned in the Greek mythology of this era as a reminder of the Mycenaean campaigns and presence in Iberia. Heracles went to perform two labours there: to kill Geryon and obtain his cattle; and to steal the golden apples of the Hesperides. Geryon dwelt in the “Far West” of antiquity, on an island of the Hesperides, Erytheia (Erytheis); that was the name of one of the Hesperides, and also the fearsome giant’s daughter. The Occident, and more precisely Iberia, was called Hesperia. “Geryon was killed by the great strength of Heracles at sea-circled Erytheis”, sang Hesiod in his Theogony. Heracles set up two massive stone spires to stabilize all this area and ensure the safety of ships sailing through the Gibraltar Strait, called the Pillars of Heracles. He also founded colonies; among others, Gádeira, on Geryon’s island, where the Phoenicians would later establish their headquarters: Gadir (now Cádiz). A tumulus nearby Gádeira was associated with Geryon’s final resting-place; and there are legends about Heracles as being buried in Spain, as well.

Geryon is also mentioned among the mythical kings of Tartessos. His grandson, Norax (Norace), conquered the south of Sardinia, founding the city of Nora, and becoming a hero of the Nuragic mythology. He dictated the first laws, divided the society into “seven classes” and forced the aristocrats to work. Later Gárgoris introduced commerce, beekeeping, and new agricultural tools such as the plow. The agricultural innovations are also credited to his (grand)son, Habis (Habido, Abido, Abidas, Abidis, Gabis, or Gabid, as he is mentioned in various variations of the legend), who succeeded him on the throne. Later generations of Hellenes linked the area to Tartessos. They thought the Garden of the Hesperides and the Fortunate Isles, i.e. Isles of the Blessed, or Elysium, could be found somewhere outside the Pillars of Heracles.

Heracles, Hesperides, Fortunate Isles, Sardinia

Medusa Bronze Plaque

● Heracles was great-grandson of Perseus, the legendary founder of Mycenae, who killed the Gorgon Medusa. To achieve that, he had to find the Hesperides who would give him the necessary weapons. Finally, cutting off her head, from her neck sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor (gold + sword), the result of her meeting with Poseidon. Later Chrysaor became king of Iberia. Geryon, his son and heir, dwelt on the Hesperides island of Erytheia, the “red island” of the Vesper, so called because it lay under the sunrays in the sunset. It was identified with Gadir, there were also alternatives, such as one of the Balearics, or even the Delta in the estuary of the Tartessos river (Guadalquivir; see Chronicle 26, Tartessos and the Phoenicians). Heracles, on his way to this area, according to Herodotus, crossed the desert of “Libya” (Maghreb) and became so frustrated at the heat that he shot an arrow at Helios, i.e. the Sun. The god, “in admiration of his courage”, gave Heracles the golden cup (boat) he used to sail across the sea from West to East each night. Heracles reaching Erytheia on it was a favourite motif of the vase-painters. Diodorus Siculus, on the contrary, claimed that Heracles raised a large fleet in Crete to sail against Chrysaor, the wealthy king of Iberia, and his three sons. Stesichorus, in the 6th century BCE, composed a Song of Geryon (Γηρυονηΐς), where he made the first reference to Tartessos, with the Hesperides nearby. Later Strabo reported the same location in his Geographica.

Heracles with nymphs, a satyr, and Pan in the Garden of the Hesperides, by Hesperides Painter, hydria (water jar),
ca early 4th century BCE

Heracles’ way back home with the cattle was eventful. He crossed the Pyrenees that he himself had created when his beloved Pyrene bore a serpent and was so terrified that she fled to the woods where she died. Heracles created a tomb for her by piling up rocks, thus forming the mountain range. Arriving at Gaul, in the Monaco area, he turned away the previous gods. As a result, the temple of Heracles Mónoecos (single + house) was constructed on a promontory – called thus as it was the sole temple in what is now the Côte d’Azur. The Phocaeans built the colony Mónoecos there in the 6th century BCE. The only deep-water port in Monaco is dedicated to the great hero: Port Hercule. Heracles also founded the cities Alesia and Nemausus and became the father of the Celts. Reaching Liguria, two giants, Al(e)bion and Bergion, Poseidon’s sons, attempted to carry off his oxen, but the hero killed them. In this fight, he was assisted by Zeus with a shower of stones. The Italian route was rather uneventful as far as the tip of the peninsula, near Rhegium, where an ox jumped into the sea and swam to Sicily. Eryx, another son of Poseidon, king of the homonymous city and also excellent boxer, appropriated it. Heracles fought with him and killed him in order to take the animal back. The only problem afterwards was when Hera made the cattle mad in Thrace. Heracles was obliged to go as far as the Hellespont to recover the oxen, and take them to king Eurystheus, who sacrificed them to Zeus’ sister-wife.

● The Hesperides (Ἑσπερίδες) in Hellenic mythology were nymphs, aficionadas of singing, who tended a blissful garden in a far western corner of the world, near the Atlas Mountains in northwestern Africa, at the edge of the Oceanus encircling the Oecumene. They were three daughters of Hesperus, the Evening Star of the planet Venus or Vesper (just like other Greek triads, such as the Graces and Moerae, Fates): Aegle (“dazzling light”), Arethusa (“waterer”), Erytheia (“red one”). The Garden of the Hesperides was Hera’s orchard in the Occident, where either a single tree or a grove of immortality-giving “golden apples” grew. In later years, it was thought that they might have actually been oranges, a fruit unknown to Europe and the Mediterranean before the Middle Ages. Under this assumption, the Hellenic botanical name for all citrus species is ἑσπεριδοειδῆ (“hesperidoids”) – implying that they have come from the Occident, while in reality their origin is in the Orient (Southeast Asia).⁽¹⁾

A traditional Rabelo boat in the Douro used for centuries
to transport people and goods, mainly wine

• ⁽¹⁾ In some languages, the orange is named after Portugal, the former main source of imports: Greek portokali (πορτοκάλι), Bulgarian and Slav-Macedonian portokal, Romanian portocală, Georgian phortokhali, South Italian dialectic portogallo or purtualle. Related names are found in non-European languages, as well: Turkish portakal, Arabic al-burtuqal, Persian porteghal, and Amharic (the Ethiopian language) birtukan.

Portugal’s name derives from the Roman Portus Cale that evolved into Portugale during the 7th and 8th centuries. Cale was an early settlement located at the mouth of the Douro River, in the north of what is now Portugal. The etymology of the name Cale is mysterious, as is the identity of the town’s founders. Some historians have argued that Hellenes were the first to settle Cale and the name derives from the Hellenic word callos (κάλλος, beauty), referring to the beauty of the Douro valley. However, the mainstream explanation is that it is an ethnonym derived from the Callaeci, or Gallaeci, who lived there. The same applies to the names Galicia and Gaia, the twin city of Porto, at the Douro mouth. (On Greek colonies there, see Chronicle 26, Odysseys in the Aftermath of the Trojan War: Colonization of Iberia).

Macaronesia: the Azores, Madeira,
the Canaries and Cape Verde

● In the Fortunate Isles, or Isles of the Blessed, heroes and other favoured mortals in the Greek and Celtic mythologies were received into a winterless blissful paradise. These islands were thought to lie in the “Western Ocean”, near the “Oceanus River” encircling the earth. Strabo located them opposite “Maurusia” (Mauritania, Western Sahara and Morocco), beyond the end of the world, where neither snow nor heavy rains ever fell, with the beneficially invigorating cool breath of Zephyrus constantly blowing. Plutarch, referring to these isles several times in his writings, located them firmly in the Atlantic a few days’ sail from Iberia:

“The islands are said to be two in number separated by a very narrow strait and lie [2,000 kilometers] from Africa… A firm belief has made its way even to the barbarians that here are the Elysian Fields and the abode of the Blessed of which Homer sang.”

Geography now names these islands as Macaronesia (from the Greek name Makárōn nēsoe (Μακάρων νῆσοι, Isles of the Blessed): the Azores and Madeira (Portugal), the Canaries (Spain) and Cape Verde.

Metallic model of a Nuragic ship

● Close relations between Iberia and Sardinia implied by mythology are confirmed by archaeological, architectural, linguistic, cultural and historical finds. The Sardinians had also contacts with the Mycenaeans, who traded in the western Mediterranean, and the Cretans, e.g. with Cydonia, modern Chaniá, as shown from pottery recovered in excavations in Sardinia. But influences may have been even wider. The stepped pyramid of Monte d’Accoddi, near Sassari, is somehow similar to the monumental complex of Los Millares in Andalusia and some later edifices in the Balearics. Certain scholars see similarities even with Mesopotamian structures and attribute them to migrations, particularly of Sumerians, to the Occident. Ancient Greek historians and geographers described the mysterious megalithic nuraghe as daedaleia, implying there was a connection with Daedalus who, after working in Crete, where he built the Labyrinth, settled in Sicily and then in Sardinia.

During the Chalcolithic period, in the dawn of the Nuragic civilization of the 18th century BCE, copper was used to make weapons and other items. Soon the island, rich in mines, notably copper and lead, saw the construction of numerous furnaces for the production of alloys traded across the Mediterranean, possibly by Minoans, later on by Mycenaeans, and perhaps even Sardinians. The Nuragic culture acquired skilled metal workers who were among the main metal producers in Europe. Passing to the Bronze Age, they used this new alloy to make a wide variety of products, such as weapons, tools, even votive offerings, e.g. bronze vessels that indicate their close relationship with the sea. Sardinia was not on the vital map of tin sources and trade in ancient times (Cornwall-Devon, Brittany, Iberia, Bohemia–Saxony). But because of its other mineral wealth, it served as a centre for metals trade at that time and likely actively imported tin from Iberia for export to the rest of the Mediterranean. Traders from the Aegean, therefore, and other areas where tin was scarce, went there very often. This fact explains cultural influences on the Nuragic civilization from Mycenae, Crete and Cyprus, as well as the presence of late Bronze Age Mycenaean, Cretan and Cypriot ceramics, and locally made replicas, in half a dozen findspots that seem to have functioned as “gateway” communities.

Sardinian and Corsican tribes

The late Bronze Age (15th–13th centuries BCE; see also previous Chronicles) saw vast population migrations, e.g. those of the Sea Peoples, who destroyed the Mycenaean and Hittite worlds and also attacked Egypt. Some scholars connect the Sherden, one of the Sea People tribes, with the Nuragic Sardinians, who might have settled on the island before or after the failed invasion of Egypt. These theories are controversial to most archaeologists and historians. But Simonides of Ceos, in a lost work reported by Zenobius, spoke of Sardinian attacks against Crete during the Sea Peoples’ raids in Egypt. This would at least confirm that Nuragic Sardinians frequented the eastern Mediterranean at the time. Further proof comes from 13th century Nuragic ceramics found at Tiryns and at the Sicilian Agrigento (Acragas) area, along the sea route that linked the Occidental to the Oriental part of mare nostrum.

The second largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily was called Ichnussa by the Hellenes. It was most probably named Sardinia after a legendary hero of the Nuragic pantheon, Sardus, who colonized the island from Libya. His father was Makeris, who might be connected with the Phoenician Melqart, also identifiable with the Libyan Heracles. So, Sardus is also associated with the Heracleidae that settled there led by Iolaus, a nephew of Heracles, according to Diodorus Siculus. Iolaus may have given rise to the tribe of Iolei, Iolaensi, or Iliensi,⁽²⁾ who were repeatedly checked by Punics and Romans, but they were never subdued. He also founded many cities from the Black Sea area to Sicily and Sardinia, requesting the assistance of Daedalus. Some of the latter’s edifices were still standing in Diodorus’ time (1st century BCE). Finally, the Phoenicians appeared in this area for the very first time around 1000 BCE, and began visiting Sardinia with increasing frequency. Later, from the 8th century onwards, they started founding (or appropriating) strongholds and cities primarily on the strategic southwestern coast of the island. Common ports of call, where they dropped anchor, were Caralis, Nora, Bithia, Sulcis, Tharros, and Olbia (mostly Hellenic toponyms).⁽³⁾

• ⁽²⁾ Sardinian and Corsican tribes: the Corsi (perhaps from Liguria) moved to Corsica from North Sardinia; the Balearic Balares (from Iberia or South France, perhaps related with the Basques), settled in the north-central of Sardinia; the Iolei (from North Africa, East Mediterranean, or West Sicily) settled in the central-south area. The Gallurese, Logudorese and Campidanese dialects may correspond to these tribes.

Launeddas

• ⁽³⁾ Sardinia and neighbouring Corsica constitute a special case in terms of music, too, cultivating one of the oldest forms of vocal polyphony, as ancient as the polyphony of Epirus and Albania. Unesco classed this kind of song, called cantu a tenore, as intangible world heritage in 2005. A similar style, cantu a cuncordu, corresponds to the Corsican paghjella and is liturgic in nature.

The polyphonic tradition extends to the musical instruments. A typical polyphonic woodwind instrument made of three pipes is the launeddas (also called “triple clarinet” or “triplepipe”). The pipes are played with circular breathing and the sound may be continuous. One of the pipes functions as a drone and the other two play the melody in thirds and sixths. Predecessors of the launeddas can be traced back to approximately 2700 BCE in Egypt, where reed pipes, depicted on tomb reliefs and pyramids, were called memet. The launeddas date back to at least the 8th century BCE and are still played in religious ceremonies and dances (su ballu). The musicians use extensive variations on a few melodic phrases, and a single tune can last over an hour, creating some of the “most elemental and resonant sounds in European music”, as Alessio Surian said.

Legendary Odyssean Lisbon

Cynetic writing with a human figure (8th century BCE)

GÁRGORIS IS MENTIONED AS A LEGENDARY KING of one of the peoples of Tartessos, who lived in today’s Algarve and Low Alentejo of southern Portugal. They were called Cynetes, Cynesioi, or Conii, the westernmost dwellers of Europe, according to Herodotus, who distinguished them from the Celts. Gárgoris, as the legend goes, had incestuous relations with his daughter, whose name has not survived. The… “fateful act” happened one day when a bee strung her; Gárgoris, wishing to heal the wound, massaged her with his mouth, and thus they were overwhelmed by passion (it’s unclear exactly where the bite was)! After she had got pregnant, he ordered that she should be locked up and the child be killed. The boy was abandoned on a hill very close to a lair of wild beasts, which instead breast-fed and protected him. When Gárgoris learned that his (grand)son was still alive, he ordered that he should be taken away from the cave and put to death in another way: in a stampede of cows, devoured by dogs or hungry pigs, or thrown to the sea. Protected by Fortune, Habis managed to survive against all adversities: the animals nursed him, or a sea wave carried him ashore. Raised by a hind (Habis in the Cynete language means fawn), and grown up like a savage, he became a skilful bandit, but was captured by peasants who led him to the king. The boy’s birthmarks made Gárgoris realize that he was his (grand)son. Impressed by his miraculous survival of all ordeals, he named him heir to the throne. Recorded by the Gallo-Roman historian Pompeius Trogus (1st century BCE), the legend was narrated in verse by Jerónimo de Arbolanche in his poem Abidas (1566).

Perseus and Andromeda (1870), by Gustave Moreau

According to Justin, a Latin historian who wrote the Epitome of Pompeius Trogus Philippic Histories, Habis, as a king, made revolutionary social reforms, “dividing the citizens among seven cities”, and forbidding slavery because of debt, which was a common phenomenon in ancient times. Justin also commented on some parallels of the legend with similar stories on other progenitors, such as Perseus, Moses, Romulus and Remus, expressing the view that Habis was superior to the founders of Rome, who were just obliged to milk a she-wolf, without passing all those adversities to demonstrate a similar or superior ability to survive.⁽⁴⁾ With so charismatic a king, the area between the Guadalquivir and the Sado estuary, in Setúbal, was spectacularly transformed, for Habis introduced agriculture, with cereals and cattle farming, thus improving the nutrition of his subjects. The land was ruled by his descendants for centuries. His legislative work was also great, with the laws in rhyme he introduced, which, in the years of Tartessian acme, numbered “six thousand verses”, according to Strabo. This tradition of laws in verse seems to have begun in archaic times, when writing was not widespread, so that people could memorize and observe the laws.⁽⁵⁾ Such laws were obviously written in the Southwest, or Tartessian script,⁽⁶⁾ the oldest of the Paleohispanic scripts (7th – 5th century BCE). It extended between the Guadalquivir and Sado estuaries, even in the interior of Iberia, reaching Alicante and Murcia in the East, where a Graeco-Iberian alphabet was used. There is no agreement about how these scripts originated; some researchers claim their origin is linked only to the Phoenician abjad, while others believe that the Greek alphabet contributed, too. It seems that no one gives priority to the Hellenic script. Alas! All these “Philo-Phoenicians” were unable to find any “Phoenico-Iberian” script!

Odysseus and Calypso, by Max Beckmann

• ⁽⁴⁾ I have commented on the parallels with “baby Moses” (see Chronicle 5, footnote 5): Habis’ stamina was supreme! As regards Perseus, when he was a baby, his grandfather, Acrisius, cast his mother, Danaë, and him into the sea, in a wooden chest, fearful of an oracle that his grandson would kill him. During his trials when he grew up (he beheaded Medusa and saved the Aethiopian princess Andromeda from Cetus), he could not be victorious if he was not the son of Zeus – hence, he was the foremost of all!

• ⁽⁵⁾ More about the ancient Greek musical nomoi, i.e. the age-old tradition of laws in verse meant to be sung in order to be memorized and observed, see Chronicle 11, footnote 1, and Chronicle 16, footnote 10.

• ⁽⁶⁾ Or South Lusitanian, or Bastulo–Turdetanian, or escrita conia (script of the Conii or Cynetes).

There are also other versions of this legend. Gárgoris is identified with Cronus eating his children, while Habis-Abidas is presented as persecuted because he introduced agriculture in pastoral Tartessos. Another version, which found quite unexpectedly its way into a book about fado, is a later adaptation to make the story morally acceptable by covering up the incest factor. Thus it combines the legend with the myth of Lisbon foundation, and the Odyssey, embellishing the story with our cherished Homeric heroes. In this version, as related by Augusto Mascarenhas Barreto in his numerous mythological and historical digressions in the book Fado – Lyrical Origins and Poetic Motivation, Gárgoris is renamed as Gregoris, the Iberian king, while his daughter is none other than Calypso; in this way, her son’s father is, of course, Odysseus, and Ogygia is no longer an island but a location at the estuary of Tagus, the future Lisbon. According to Barreto, the Ithacan king walled the settlement and named it Ulissea (Odyssey) – whence the word Olisipo(na) – while the son he had from Calypso, named Abidis, after passing the aforementioned ordeals, founded Scalabis (Santarém), and some other cities (e.g. Astorga, Astigi; see also Chronicle 5. Iberia’s Odyssey).

Map of the Lisbon area: Olisipo, Sintra, Scalabis, and Salacia, present-day Alcácer do Sal

There are many versions of the Lisbon foundation myth, as well. In one of them, a thunderbolt lit the skies and exploded into flame in an unknown land. Then Odysseus was instructed by Zeus (the great god of Thunder and Lightning) to build a city on the point of impact. This land, says another version, was ruled by charming Ophiussa, who had a huge snake tail instead of legs. The queen fell madly in love with Odysseus and, in order to keep him there, offered him the throne. Our cunning hero pretended to accept the proposal, fearing for his life; but all the while, he was secretly filling up his boat with supplies; and one night, while the queen was asleep, he and his crew fled into the darkness. Outraged the next morning, Ophiussa hit her tail so hard on the ground that she created the seven hills where Lisbon is built. This story introduces us to Ophiussa, the Land of Serpents, a name given by the ancient Greeks to Atlantic Iberia, what is now Portugal and Galicia, and specifically the area around the Tagus estuary.

A female Uraeus Serpent, one of the forms in which Isis is depicted (Ophiussa’s sister perhaps?)

● The land the Hellenes called Ophiussa was the Oestriminis (Extreme or Far West) for the Romans, something like Finis terrae (“end of the earth”, from a Mediterranean perspective). Rufus Avienus Festus, a Roman poet of the 4th century CE, in his Ora Maritima (Sea Coast), inspired by the Massaliote Periplus (6th century BCE), a Greek mariner’s log, wrote that the Oestrimni, a people who had been living in this area for a long time, had to flee after an invasion of serpents. In fact, these serpents were not snakes but people linked to the Saephes, or Ophis (People of the Serpents), and the Dragani (People of the Dragons), who came to colonize this land. The Saephes were neighbours of the Cynetes, living in an upland region near the Tagus estuary, close to an island Avienus called Poetanion; along with another tribe, the Cempsi, they had taken that territory by force from the Oestrimni. The newcomers were most probably proto-Celts or Celtiberians, while the Oestrimni were the Paleolithic inhabitants of Atlantic Iberia.

The Ophis, who worshiped serpents, lived mainly on inland mountains of northern Portugal and Galicia, or by the mouths of the rivers Douro, Cávado, Tagus and Sado. The Saephes lived in Cynetic land (in the Algarve and Low Alentejo, where Gárgoris reigned), together with the Cempsi. The latter, perhaps with strong Germanic and Ligurian influences, entered Iberia c. 650 BCE and finally settled in the Tagus valley and in the peninsula of Setúbal, where Avienus located the lugum cempsicum, the current Cabo Espichel. Finally, the Dragani, who settled in the north-western Iberia (Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia, Beira), must have come from Liguria, a region of north-western Italy, with strong Celtic influences, that is, they were Celto-Ligurians. Their name shows that they may have introduced the dragons into Iberia, where the locals must have already had their own griffins in their cults.

Another supernatural being in the Portuguese and Galician mythical tales is Moura Encantada (Enchanted Moura). A legend relates that on the summer solstice a maiden-serpent, a chthonic goddess, revealed hidden treasures to people journeying through forests. This maiden lived, as they said, in the area of Porto. Festivities related to this goddess occurred during the solstice. She would change into a snake during the rest of the year, living under rocks, and shepherds would set aside some milk from their flocks as an offering to her.

Calypso and Odysseus, by William Russell Flint

Calypso, according to Greek mythology, was not a princess but a nymph on the island of Ogygia, daughter of Atlas, hence she was also called Atlantis (Homer), or an Oceanid, that is, a daughter of Oceanus (Hesiod). However, both versions are linked with either the Pillars of Heracles area or the Atlantic Ocean. Atlas, the Titan who held up the celestial sphere, was identified with the Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. Scholars who have examined Homer’s work and geography, among them Strabo and Plutarch, have suggested that Ogygia and/or Scheria, the Phaeacians’ island, were located in the Atlantic,⁽⁷⁾ and some have identified either or both with Atlantis. Besides he makes clear that

“an Ogygian isle lies far out at sea, distant five days’ sail from Britain, going westwards”.⁽⁸⁾

Deucalion and Pyrrha, by Andrea del Minga, throwing stones behind to recreate mankind

• ⁽⁷⁾ On the geography of the Odyssey, see Chronicle 15. Sailing to Rio de Janeiro!, Appendix: An Atlantic Odyssey

• ⁽⁸⁾ Ogygia is linked to the Ogygian deluge and the mythical king of Attica and/or Boeotia, called Ogyges, in the sense that Ogygian means “primeval, primal, at earliest dawn”. This means that Calypso’s island was very ancient. So, when Aeschylus calls the Nile Ogygian, he doesn’t suggest that the island was in Egypt, as some thoughtlessly thought.

● The Hellenic mythology mentions three deluges: those of Ogyges, Deucalion, and Dardanus.

Plutarch additionally mentions “the great continent”, which was interpreted as a reference to either America, or an allusion to Plato’s Atlantis. Many traits of the Phaeacians, including their seamanship, are suggestive of either Minoan Crete or Atlantis. The description of their palace is that of a very advanced civilization. Above all, their ships were superb, quite different from the galleys of the Trojan War, and… steered by thought!⁽⁹⁾ Hence the view that it was Homer before Plato who first spoke of Atlantis.

• ⁽⁹⁾ Computerized ships: the best a “Periplus in the Archipelagos” can have! Of course, with this technology in mind among other things, the idea that Scheria-Phaeacia could be Corcyra-Corfu must be ruled out. It appears far more plausible that the Phaeacians were after all the Minoans with the palace of Knossos and their amazing ships!

Homer

● Homer described the ships as faster than falcons, while King Alcinous explained to Odysseus what sort of information the ships required in order to take him home:

“Tell me your country, nation, and city, so that our ships may shape their purpose accordingly and take you there. For the Phaeacians have no pilots; their vessels have no rudders as those of other nations have, but the ships themselves understand what it is that we are thinking about and want; they know all the cities and countries in the whole world, and can traverse the sea just as well even when it is covered with mist and cloud, so that there is no danger of being wrecked or coming to any harm.”

“Fairy tales”… As with the foundation of Lisbon, the refrain we can hear in chorus over and over again after all these stories is that they are myths; it’s not reality. Again and again, traditions about Hellenes are “legends”, those concerning the Phoenicians “history”… Possibly true, there were no Grecian settlements west of the Pillars of Heracles; only voyages of discovery. Olisipo’s foundation myth by Odysseus is nothing but a myth. On the other hand, there is not the slightest evidence to support the “history” of a Phoenician foundation of Lisbon “around 600 BC”, or as far back as 1200, under the name of Alis Ubbo (“Safe Harbour”), even if there were some organized settlements in Ulissea-Olissipona with clear Mediterranean influence, either at that distant time or later; it’s nothing but a myth, as well.⁽¹⁰⁾ Likewise, except the voyages of discovery, there is no record of Phoenician or Punic colonies beyond the Algarve, namely Balsa–Tavira, close to the Portuguese-Spanish border,⁽¹¹⁾ with substantial Phoenician settlement and influence since the 8th century BCE. Essentially, Phoenician influence in today’s Portugal was due to cultural and commercial exchange with Tartessos.

• ⁽¹⁰⁾ Such a Copper Age settlement is the Castro Zambujal, the most important in the peninsula of Lisbon. The locals, probably together with Eastern Mediterranean settlers, based their economy on intensive farming, and were also part of an economic network importing minerals like gold, copper, amphibolit stone, and ivory, between 3000 and 1700 BCE. It is a site with relatively good conservation – some walls still exist up to a height of 4 meters, as the community constructed a wall around to protect itself from attacks.

Balsa: a coin depicting a horse and a fish (50 BCE)

• ⁽¹¹⁾ Tavira’s origins date back to the late Bronze Age (1000-800 BCE). The Phoenicians took hold of the town in the 8th century BCE, when it became one of their first settlements in the Iberian West, creating “a colonial urban centre, with massive walls, two harbours, at least two temples, and a regular urban structure”. This last characteristic, however, reminds ancient Hellenic city planning, and not that of Phoenician or other Semitic settlements (see in Chronicle 22, in the beginning, a comparison made by Strabo between the Greek Maenaca and Phoenician Malaca, in the area of today’s Málaga). The original Phoenician name of the town was perhaps Baal Saphon, or Baal Shamin, after the NW Semitic and Mesopotamian Thunder and Sky gods. It was later shortened to Balsa. Others, on the contrary, insist that the term Balsa is of Iberian, perhaps Basque, origin. It can be found now in other parts of the world.

The town was violently destroyed by conflict, at the end of 6th century BCE and was deserted for a century. This probably happened while Tartessos was devastated by the Punics. During the post-Tartessian, or Turdetanian period, the Iberian colonies seceded from Punic hegemony (410 BCE). As a result, Tavira recovered, during the urban bloom of the area, and became bigger than ever. But this renaissance did not last long: the city was destroyed and abandoned again by the end of the 4th century BCE. After Carthage was razed to the ground, in the mid-1st century BCE, the Romans created a new port, some 7 kilometres from Tavira, which inherited the name Balsa.

“The Tartessian fortunate city.” (Herodotus)

Arganthonios

RETURN TO TARTESSOS. The legendary polity appears, circa the middle of the 1st millennium BCE, in Greek and Near Eastern sources. Homer must have been again the first one to sing in the Iliad of a gold-bearing land in the western limits of the world (Iberia), before the Great (Atlantic) Ocean, where people lived happily for many years. The “Tartessian fortunate city”, according to Herodotus, was just outside the Pillars of Heracles, at the estuary, or precisely οn the Delta, of the homonymous river, and governed by a centenarian king named Arganthonios – a name that certainly referred to his great wealth.

Another historian, Ephorus, described in the 4th century BCE

“a very prosperous market called Tartessos, with much tin carried by river, as well as gold and copper from Celtic lands.”

Around the end of the millennium, however, there are indications that the name fell out of use creating the impression that the city might have been lost due to natural or other causes. Apart from Thera, Tartessos is a strong candidate for the site of Atlantis. They must have had more in common due to Minoan influence. The Andalusians, just like the Hellenes, may have benefited from the Cretans not only economically, but culturally, as well. Archaeological finds in Tartessos have built up a picture of a widespread culture, with the core area extending from the Guadalquivir valley to Huelva, but also covering the entire southern Iberia, from the Tagus estuary to the southern land of Valencia. Pausanias, writing in the 2nd century CE, identified the river and gave details on the location of the city:

“They say that Tartessos is a river in the land of the Iberians, running down into the sea by two mouths,⁽¹²⁾ and that between these two mouths lies a city of the same name. The river is the largest in Iberia, and tidal, that of a later day called Baetis” – named Guadalquivir (“Great River”) even later by the Moors.⁽¹³⁾

View of the river Guadalquivir (1854), by Manuel Barrón y Carrillo

• ⁽¹²⁾ Strabo also spoke of two mouths, creating a Delta at the river’s estuary, while describing the region and estimating its size. In this passage, which is like a periplus of the Pillars of Heracles area, he doesn’t refer to Tartessos city (non-existent in his time) – though it is mentioned by the later Pausanias. The land, says Strabo, has its “natural borders” drawn by the riverbeds of Ana (Guadiana) and Baetis (Guadalquivir), eloquently nicknamed “the silver river”. Tartessis was the toponym referring to the land, while the capital was called Tartessos, like the river.

• ⁽¹³⁾ Aristotle’s idea about the river was even grander, as he thought it rose from the Pyrenees! You see, even a genius can fail miserably! But Pausanias also erred, because the Guadalquivir is just the fifth longest river of Iberia, after the Tagus, Ebro, Douro and Guadiana. According to Livy, the local (Tartessian and Turdetanian) names for the Guadalquivir were Kertis and Rerkes.

The eastern mouth of the river, the only one existing now, was much wider at that time. The western mouth does not exist anymore, but it is thought that it was located near Huelva. In this area we now find only a number of lakes. At that time, between these two river arms, there was a large lagoon with at least one island in it where the legendary city was probably located. The landscape is completely different now. Some findings lead to the conclusion that there must have been two natural disasters (tsunamis) that caused the islands and the dry areas to sink, one that happened around 1500 BCE, and the other in 200 CE.⁽¹⁴⁾ Therefore, none of them is linked with the demise of Tartessos, between the late 6th and early 5th centuries BCE, when most sites were inexplicably abandoned…

Geography of Tartessos and Iberia; 7th-5th century BCE. N to S: Dragani, Oestrimni, Ophiussa, Saephes, Cempsi, Cynetes.

• ⁽¹⁴⁾ These natural disasters are significant, as they give us some clues about the city of Tartessos – its founding and disappearance. The first catastrophe, around 1500 BCE, implies that the city was apparently founded in the following period, i.e. at some point during the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE. As for the second disaster, ca 200 CE, it must have changed so dramatically the topography of the area that it has not been possible to locate the city until now. Moreover, we do not know the extent of the destruction caused by the Punics when they set out to raze the Tartessian civilization from the face of the earth. That is why Tartessos remains a legendary city to this day.

The Tartessians were excellent in engineering and had created a sophisticated system to regulate the water flow of a tidal river. Strabo described an advanced, urbanized society with many flourishing, wealthy cities along the banks of the Tartessos-Baetis-Guadalquivir River:

“They are considered to be the most educated of the Iberians, they have a scripture, even historical chronicles, poems, and laws in 6,000 verses”, he wrote.

Treasure of Tartessos, El Carambolo

Tartessian culture is divided mainly into two periods: The first is characterized as “geometric” and coincides with the late Bronze Age ranging from 1200 to 750 BCE – corresponding somehow to the Greek geometric art (Parallel Lives in art? Who knows)… The second is termed “oriental”, influenced by Phoenicians and Hellenes alike, ranging from 750 to 550 BCE, when it was gradually superseded by the classic Iberian culture. A similar shift to the Lusitanian culture occurred in the southern Portuguese territory, mainly in the Algarve and Low Alentejo, with littoral extensions up to the Tagus mouth. Significant elements of the period were the introduction of the potter’s wheel, and several other major advances in craftsmanship, e.g. architecture, and also in agriculture. Another noticeable and notable element was the increase in specialization and stratification. Writing was a very important development. With the arrival of the Hellenes, whose influence extended far beyond their colonies,⁽¹⁵⁾ this “orientalism” began to transform itself into the Iberian culture, especially in the South East. Greek influence is visible in the gradual change of the style of the monuments approaching more and more the architectural models of the Hellenic world. The Iberian script evolved from the Tartessian with noticeable Greek influence. A variant of the Hellenic alphabet (Ibero-Ionian script) was also used to write Iberian texts.

• ⁽¹⁵⁾ There are maps showing only one Greek colony in the entire Iberia: Emporion. All other cities
  are shown as local or Phoenician. Even Acra Leucá (a toponym made up of two Hellenic words) is shown as a Phoenician colony! By what magic wand did the Greek cultural influence spread? How could it penetrate even the Phoenician sphere of influence?

Culture (from Cicero’s “cultura animi”) is also material, denoting the artifacts a society creates and their connection to social relations. Civilization is certainly inconceivable without division of labour and technology. Culture and civilization necessitate an economic base in order to thrive. In the case of Iberia, it was the metals that opened the way to the dawn of the Bronze Age, sped up later when some Easterners arrived there. But mining and smelting preceded the coming of Minoans, Greeks, or Phoenicians. Alluvial tin was panned in the Iberian streams from an early date. The Río Tinto mines, along the river that flows into the Gulf of Cádiz at Huelva, are estimated at 8,000 to 10,000 years old. They have been mined for copper, silver, gold, and many other minerals, by Iberians, Tartessians, Phoenicians, Hellenes, Romans, Visigoths, Moors and Spaniards, for such a long time that the place has turned into an environmental disaster zone.⁽¹⁶⁾

Río Tinto: beautiful colours but… poisonous!

• ⁽¹⁶⁾ After its exploitation for ten millennia, the Tínto area looks like a “lunar landscape”, or even worse. Recently it has gained scientific interest due to the presence of so-called extremophile aerobic bacteria that dwell in the water. The extreme conditions there may be analogous to other locations in the solar system thought to contain liquid water, such as subterranean Mars, or Jupiter’s moon Europa, where an acidic ocean of water is theorized to exist under its frozen ice surface.

El Corazón de la Tierra: the Heart of the Earth (uprooted…)

Thus the river is of interest to astrobiologists. Based partially on research done near the Río Tinto, two NASA scientists reported in 2005 they had found strong evidence of present life on Mars! They may have been obliged to retract, but who knows? The Americans may one day employ… Martians as slaves! That is the reason why Europe, eternally in the role of a satellite, is being transmuted into… Europa, moving inexorably towards the gates of El Dorado vigilantly guarded by Cerberus!

Giant geysers of water vapour are thought to eject off the frigid, icy surface of the Jovian moon Europa.

The invention of coinage intensified the search for bronze and silver in the 7th century BCE. Consequently, trade links, formerly largely in elite goods, assumed a broader economic role. By that time, silver extraction in Huelva Province had reached industrial proportions. Huelva city was certainly connected to Tartessos; it contains the largest accumulation of imported elite goods and should have been an important centre. Excavations in the heart of the town revealed a great industrial and commercial emporium that lasted several centuries. Some 90,000 ostraca (ceramic fragments), indigenous and imported (Phoenician and Greek), were exhumed. All these vessels, dated from the 10th to the 8th centuries BCE, precede finds from other Phoenician emporia. The existence of foreign produce and materials together with local ones permits us to imagine its old harbour as a major hub for the reception, manufacture and shipping of diverse products of various and distant origins and destinations. Finds in other parts of the city help us estimate its habitat in some 20 hectares, which constitutes a sizable extension for a site in Iberia during that period. The analysis of written sources and the products exhumed, including thousands of Hellenic ceramics, some of which are works of excellent quality by known potters and painters, tends to identify this habitat with the lost city of Tartessos.

• >> Chronicle 22. AN IBERIAN PERIPLUS REVIVAL
• << Chronicle 20. THE ENIGMATIC SEA PEOPLES

Next Chronicle 22. AN IBERIAN PERIPLUS REVIVAL ● Tartessos (B) ● Colonies in Provence, Iberia, Maurusia ● Tin and Silver Routes ● Democritus and Plato ● Topography of the Area Beyond the Pillars of Heracles

Oceanus, Roman mosaic at Ossonoba, modern Faro, Algarve, Portugal.

Chronicle 16. MEDITERRANEAN PERIPLUS-PARAPLUS

II. CASSITERIDES ARCHIPELAGO

Sailing to Tartessos

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Chronicle 16. MEDITERRANEAN PERIPLUS-PARAPLUS

/ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ/ Χρονικό 16. ΜΕΣΟΓΕΙΟΥ ΠΑΡΑΠΛΟΥΣ-ΠΕΡΙΠΛΟΥΣ

● Periplus: Circumnavigation or Log ● Navigators and Intellectuals
● The Peloponnesian War and Euripides ● Nomos (Law Song)

Michales Loukovikas

WHAT WAS THE MOTIVE BEHIND MAN’S decision to take his chances and go out to sea? As always, he had needs to satisfy: he initially was in search of a better place to live. After settling down, his needs changed: there was much food in the sea and he could certainly fish far better with a canoe or a boat. The more he familiarized himself with the sea, the further he went out there, and thus the vessel also became a means of transport. Men started exchanging goods and, as long as production increased, all these boatmen were divided into fishermen and traders – and sea warriors, as well. Commerce developed in parallel with navigation. As a rule, a sea trader was obliged to take notes and map out his routes. This notebook gradually developed into

P E R I P L U S

Ancient Greek pottery (cylix) depicting
merchant ships and warships

“PERIPLUS” is the Latin form of the Hellenic word περίπλους, a “sailing-around”. The word also developed specialized meanings; one of them became a term in the navigation of Greeks and other peoples. Such a periplus was a manuscript listing – in order and with approximate intervening distances – the ports and coastal landmarks that the captain of a vessel would see along a shore.⁽¹⁾ It served the same purpose as the Roman itinerarium, i.e. a map of road stops. If the navigators were skilled geographers (as many were), they added various notes, contributing to the geographical knowledge of the time. In that sense the periplus was a type of log. We can have an idea about such ancient logs from the earliest Hellene historian, Hecataeus of Miletus. The Histories by Herodotus and Thucydides contain passages that appear to have been based on such peripli, as well.

• ⁽¹⁾ Before the nautical charts, the primary store of geographic information for maritime navigation (a mariner’s handbook of written sailing directions) was known in antiquity as a periplus; later, in medieval Italy and the Mediterranean, it was substituted by a portolano. Portuguese navigators in 16th century called it roteiro, the Spaniards derroterro, the French routier, the English rutter, the Dutch leeskarte, and the Germans Seebuch. Portulano in Italian means “related to harbours”.

● A paraplus is similar to a periplus, meaning “sailing by (the coast)”.

● A periplus was also an ancient naval manoeuvre in which attacking triremes would outflank or encircle the defenders in order to strike them in the rear.

The map of Hecataeus

● The Milesian Hecataeus (Ἑκαταῖος, c. 550 – c. 476 BCE) lived in the time of the Persian invasion. Having travelled extensively, he settled in his native city devoting his time to the composition of geographical and historical works. He is the first Greek historian to mention the Celts. He is credited with a work written in two books and entitled Γῆς περίοδος (World Survey, or Travels Round the Earth). Each book is organized like a periplus, a point-to-point coastal survey. One, on Europe, was like a Mediterranean periplus, describing each region in turn, and reaching as far north as Scythia. The other, on Asia, was similar to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, giving information on the countries and inhabitants of this area, the account of Egypt being particularly comprehensive. It was accompanied by a corrected and enlarged version of Anaximander’s map of the Earth.⁽²⁾ This work survives only in fragments, mainly in Ethnica, the geographical lexicon compiled by Stephanus of Byzantium (6th century CE). Another work of Hecataeus was the Genealogiae, a systematized account of the Hellenic legends and myths, where he breaks with the epic myth-making tradition. The extant fragments are just enough to show what we are missing.

The map of Anaximander

• ⁽²⁾ Anaximander (Ἀναξίμανδρος, c. 610 – c. 546 BCE), a pre-Socratic philosopher, succeeded his master, Thales, one of the Seven Sages of Greece, as head of the Milesian school, where among his pupils he counted Anaximenes and, arguably, Pythagoras. He is the first philosopher known to have written down his studies, although only one fragment of his work remains. He was an early proponent of science trying to observe and explain different aspects of the universe, with a particular interest in its origins. In astronomy, he tried to describe the mechanics of the celestial bodies in relation to the Earth. In physics, his idea that the ἄπειρον (infinite) was the source of all things led Hellenic philosophy to a new level of conceptual abstraction. He created a map of the world and contributed greatly to the advancement of geography. According to Carl Sagan, he conducted the earliest recorded scientific experiment.

The world according to Herodotus

● Herodotus (Ἡρόδοτος, c. 484 – c. 425 BCE), born in Halicarnassus, is regarded as the “Father of History”. He was the first historian known to systematically collect his material, test its accuracy to a certain extent and arrange it in a well-constructed and vivid narrative. His celebrated Histories were a record of his Inquiries into the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars that culminated in 490–479 BCE. He describes in detail that period, which would otherwise be poorly documented – adding numerous long digressions about the various places and people he encountered during his wide-and-long-ranging travels around the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and beyond.

Fragment from the Histories (VIII, Urania) on Papyrus Oxyrhynchus (early 2nd century CE)

Ἡροδότου Ἁλικαρνησσέος Ἱστορίης ἀπόδεξις ἥδε, ὡς μήτε τὰ γενόμενα ἐξ ἀνθρώπων τῷ χρόνῳ ἐξίτηλα γένηται, μήτε ἔργα μεγάλα τε καὶ θωμαστά, τὰ μὲν Ἕλλησι, τὰ δὲ βαρβάροισι ἀποδεχθέντα, ἀκλεᾶ γένηται. (Herodotus of Halicarnassus’ Inquiries are here set down to preserve the memory of the past by putting on record the astonishing achievements both of our own and of other peoples).

It was rather conventional at that time for authors to have their works “published” by reciting them at popular festivals. Herodotus took his Histories to Olympia, in the Olympian Games, and presented his entire work (9 books) to the assembled people in one sitting, receiving rapturous applause at the end. Others, nevertheless, said he refused to start reading until some clouds offered him a bit of shade, by which time, however, the assembly had dispersed – hence the proverbial expression “Herodotus and his shade” to describe anyone who misses his opportunity through delay.

● The Athenian Thucydides (Θουκυδίδης, c. 460 – c. 395 BCE) is the notable author of the History of the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens (431–404 BCE) to the year 411. Its finale is recounted by Xenophon in his Hellenica. Thucydides is regarded as the father of “scientific history” due to his strict standards of evidence-gathering and analysis in terms of cause and effect without reference to intervention by the gods. He has also been called as the father of the school of political realism, which views the relations between nations as based on might rather than right. His Melian dialogue still remains a seminal work of international relations theory.⁽³⁾

• ⁽³⁾ The Melian dialogue is the account of a confrontation between Athens and Melos, a neutral island in the southern Aegean, east of the Peloponnese, in 416-415 BCΕ, during the Peloponnesian War. Athens wanted to conquer Melos to intimidate Sparta. The confrontation ended in tragedy: the Athenians executed all captive men and enslaved women and children…

● Melos was an important source of obsidian, a valuable volcanic material in the Neolithic era, to make cutting and piercing tools.

Venus de Milo, or Aphrodite of Melos (130-100 BCE)

● However, the island is famous all over the world because of a work of art that was found there: it is the celebrated statue of Aphrodite of Melos, better known as Venus de Milo. It was abducted by the French, supported by the Ottomans still occupying Hellas (1820), during clashes, at Melos and Piraeus harbours, that left more than 200 Greeks dead!

The Peloponnesian War, after the glorious end of the Persian Wars, marked the dramatic finale to the Golden Age of Hellenic civilization.

● In the first phase of the war Sparta launched invasions of Attica, and Athens raided the Peloponnesian coast, taking advantage of its naval supremacy. The Athenians sent later a huge expeditionary force to attack Syracuse in Sicily failing disastrously. This ushered in the final phase of the war, when Sparta, already receiving support from Persia, incited rebellions in the Athenians’ subject states in the Aegean and Asia Minor, undermining their hegemony. The destruction of their fleet put an end to the war and Athens surrendered in the next year. This Greek “civil war”,⁽⁴⁾ a few years after the glorious end of the Median (Persian) Wars (499–449 BCΕ), reshaped the ancient Hellenic world. Athens, the strongest polis in Greece prior to the war’s beginning, was reduced to almost complete subjection, while Sparta became established as the leading power. However, the economic costs of the war were felt all across Hellas; poverty became widespread in the Peloponnese, while Athens, totally devastated, would never recover its pre-war prosperity. The war also wrought subtler changes to Grecian society; the antagonism between democratic Athens and oligarchic Sparta, each of which supported friendly political factions within other poleis, made civil war a common occurrence in Hellas. Greek warfare, originally on a limited scale, was transformed into an all-out struggle between city-states, complete with large-scale atrocities. Shattering religious and cultural taboos, devastating whole cities and the countryside, this civil war marked the dramatic finale to the 5th century BCΕ and the Golden Age of Hellenic civilization.

• ⁽⁴⁾ The Peloponnesian War was ἐμφύλιος in the Greek sense of the word: not just a civil war, but a war within the “phylum” of the Hellenes.

During celebrations for victory, someone sang a song of Euripides.
The Spartans were so moved they changed their minds: “They felt it
would be barbarous to annihilate Athens that produced such men.”

Euripides, by Sebastià Giralt

● The Peloponnesian War is the background of a didactic story on music and politics centered on Euripides (c. 480–406 BCE) – perhaps the best of the Greek tragedians. He was also musically avant-garde, working with the most experimental musicians – a fact exploited by conservatives, such as Aristophanes, in order to ridicule him. Yet, it was Euripides’ music (and not that by Aristophanes, neither by Aeschylus, nor by Sophocles) that saved many Athenians, and Athens itself, during the war. Since then, and for many centuries to come, people used to sing the best odes of tragedies (we can say “arias” in operatic terminology). Hence, the modern Greek word for “song” (“τραγούδι”) originates from the word of “tragedy” (τραγῳδία). After the disastrous Athenian expedition to Sicily, many Athenians held captives there saved their lives as they were able to sing songs of Euripides. And at the end of the war, the victorious Spartan generals had a meeting to decide the fate of Athens. They concluded that the city should be demolished and its citizens enslaved. Then, during a banquet to celebrate victory, someone sang an ode from Euripides’ Electra. The generals were so much moved that they changed their minds: “They felt it would be a barbarous act to annihilate a city that produced such men”! These generals, needless to say, could appreciate the music of Euripides thanks to their culture.⁽⁵⁾ A most celebrated song in the ears of today’s generals or politicians would have no effect whatsoever… (These episodes are from Plutarch’s Parallel Lives – those of Nicias and Lysander).

• ⁽⁵⁾ Indeed, it’s very impressive that at that time, the most popular songs were avant-garde! It goes without saying that the citizens’ cultural level was very high…

Pytheas of Massalia: the greatest navigating explorer of the era with his periplus of Europe

A “Periplus” made of stone and the first one around Africa

JUST LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE, merchant shipping started in… “our own Orient” (it’s time for me to be sarcastic with this cliché! See Chronicle 6, footnote 1). The available data lead us to Egypt. Very soon the initiative passed to some sea peoples (Carians, Cretans, Greeks, Phoenicians, etc.), for the Egyptians, as a land people, were prone to agriculture. The Mediterranean, a closed sea with many islands, was in fact ideal for… sailing courses – the Aegean even more! Periplus as a log appeared with long-distance navigation, which is unthinkable without such a log. A captain kept his notes in any script, even… stenographic scribble, he could manage. It was impossible to memorize everything, and he could not impart his expertise to others.

● Hannu (Hennu, or Henenu), serving under Mentuhotep III (late 21st century BCE) re-opened the old trade routes to the land of Punt (in the Horn of Africa) and “Libya” – i.e. Africa beyond the Nile (the Maghreb). Hannu set out as head of 3000 soldiers, crossed the mountainous desert via Wadi Hammamat (“Valley of Many Baths”) and went on to the coast of the Red Sea. He wrote of his expedition on stone, on a rock-inscription in the same valley (therefore, his “Periplus” was made of stone):

Boat of Khonsu, the Egyptian god of the Moon

“I was sent to conduct ships to the land of Punt, to fetch for Pharaoh sweet-smelling spices… I reached the Great Green [i.e. the sea]. Then I made the ships and dispatched them with all manner of things and made for them a great oblation of cattle, oxen and gazelles. When I returned from the Great Green… I brought for His Majesty every product that I found on the shores of God’s Land; [… and also] splendid blocks of stone for the temple statues.”

Hannu’s road was the one used in the time of the Ptolemies and Romans; it led from Coptos to Leucos Limen (White Harbour, now Qoseir) on the Red Sea. It’s the same commercial thoroughfare of merchants of all countries, who traded in the wonderful products of Arabia and India, and thus turned into a bridge of all nations, which of old united Asia and Europe. Hannu is the first eponymous explorer. Coming back to Egypt, he brought precious treasures, e.g. myrrh, metal, wood. As for the Kingdom of Punt, it was probably situated in the area of today’s Somalia; others point towards neighbouring eastern Ethiopia and Eritrea. This lucrative trade network continued all the way into the classical era connecting local merchants with Phoenicia, Ptolemaic Egypt, Greece, Parthian Persia, Sheba, Nabataea, and the Roman Empire.

Penteconter

● In Hannu’s time, or perhaps a little later, the Cretans started their voyages during the Minoan thalassocracy in the Mediterranean, and maybe beyond. There followed the Argonautic expedition, and the Odyssey (meaning Odysseus’ wanderings) in the late Bronze Age.⁽⁶⁾ Everything we know about those voyages, and many others in that period, comes not from the navigators’ logbooks but from other sources. This does not mean they did not keep notes: long-distance voyages were inconceivable with no such peripli-logs of some sort, as we have said.

• ⁽⁶⁾ The Trojan War, according to Eratosthenes, took place in 1194-1184 BCE. So, Odysseus returned to Ithaca in 1174. But some researchers, using NASA data, compared the solar eclipses recorded in the Odyssey and specified he got back on his island on October 25, 1207 BCE. Hence the war took place in the decade 1227-1217. (On the Argonauts, see Chronicle 15, footnote 7, and Chronicle 22, Massaliote Periplus revival).

● According to Herodotus, the Phoenicians carried out a great feat: the first periplus of “Libya” (i.e. Africa), on behalf of the Egyptians, in the years of Necho II (610–595 BCE). It started from the Red Sea and lasted almost three years. A Persian awaiting execution attempted to repeat the feat, following the reverse course, in an effort to save his life, but eventually abandoned – though death was waiting for him… Even now, a voyage from the Red Sea to the Nile around Africa is not an easy thing. Epic voyages of such calibre have nothing to envy from today’s manned flights in space! Like the astronauts, in case of a long stay “out there”, the Phoenicians, too, were obliged to sow and harvest every year, since it was impossible to carry supplies for an indefinite period of time.

Herodotus and Thucydides

Herodotus’ Histories, Melpomene: “Libya is washed on all sides by the sea except where it joins Asia, as was first demonstrated, so far as our knowledge goes, by the Egyptian king Necho, who, after calling off the construction of the canal between the Nile and the Arabian Gulf, sent out a fleet manned by a Phoenician crew with orders to sail west about and return to the Mediterranean and Egypt by way of the Pillars of Heracles. The Phoenicians sailed from the Erythraean Sea into the southern ocean, and every autumn put in at some convenient spot on the Libyan coast, sowed a patch of ground, and waited for next year’s harvest. Then, having got in their grain, they put to sea again, and after two full years rounded the Pillars of Heracles in the course of the third, and returned to Egypt”…

The Phoenicians’ voyage to the unknown (on a “boat” called… hope) was additionally unknown how long it will last, as we have said. Consequently, the crew had to create temporary settlements, cultivate the land and maintain themselves. Herodotus’ brief reference to this incredible venture ends with a truly fantastic assertion:

“These men made a statement which I do not myself believe, though others may, to the effect that as they sailed on a westerly course round the southern end of Libya, they had the sun on their right – to northward of them. This is how Libya was first discovered by sea.”

As they sailed round the southern tip of Africa, the sailors told him, they had the sun on their right – something that he wrote down, although he was doubtful, as it went beyond the knowledge of his time. This is exactly what makes his story reliable. For sure, the Greeks could understand the movement of the sun, but found it incredible that Africa reached so far south; they thought it was a lot smaller with the southern part connected to Asia. Thus we believe Herodotus, because he did not believe an account handed down to him by oral tradition, which is why he recorded it: this is where he differed from Thucydides; the latter would not bother to mention it – so we would never get to know the story… And it was not only Thucydides: Polybius, Strabo and Ptolemy had also many doubts, unlike Pliny. The Egyptologist A. B. Lloyd observes: “It is extremely unlikely that an Egyptian king would, or could, have acted as Necho is depicted as doing.” This rumour, he adds, might have been triggered by the failure of Sataspes (the death-row Persian) to circumnavigate Africa under Xerxes I.

The Canal of the Pharaohs

So, what could the pharaoh’s motives be? When Necho took over, the situation was anything but rosy in Egypt’s northeastern border. The Babylonians had captured the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, and then defeated the Egyptians in Carchemish to punish them for their support to the Assyrians. According to the Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle, Necho was campaigning in Syria (609–605 BCE), when the Babylonian king defeated him. The pharaoh perhaps considered the possibility to attack southern Babylonia by sea, and ordered a canal to be constructed between the Nile and the Red Sea. Then he realized he was giving free access to his enemies, as well. Consequently, the canal remained uncompleted until the Persians took over Egypt, in late 6th century, and Darius commissioned its completion. But it was Necho who started the construction (or restoration) of a canal some 85 kilometers long, foreshadowing the Suez Canal.

The periplus of Africa was related to Necho’s defense plans. He asked for Phoenician assistance because they were excellent sailors and had several colonies in the West, such as Gadir (Cádiz), next to the Pillars of Heracles. The Phoenicians must have also been happy to help, as they shared the Babylonian enemy. So, technically, a voyage around Africa would have been possible. The currents and winds favour a clockwise, East-West, periplus, according to plan, as long as it is a paraplus, sailing by the coast, keeping it in sight. The periplus’ purpose was to determine the exact size of Africa. If it was as small as they thought, the canal might not be such a great idea, taking into consideration the economic cost. Other Egyptologists dispute that a pharaoh would authorize such an expedition – except for the reason of trade, opening new maritime routes. Indeed, such voyages were made for economic gain. Despite Hannu’s accomplishments, the Egyptians lagged behind in the control of the seas; and they were not after sea adventures of any kind. There was already a status quo in place in the Mediterranean, with the Greeks exerting control over the northern shores, and the Phoenicians over the southern coast. The only region where Egypt, with its inferior fleet, might acquire influence and wealth was eastern Africa, where they had already established trade ties – that could thus be further expanded.

Re-enactment of the first periplus of Africa

According to the Livius site: “The Phoenicians must have started their expedition in July, and must have reached the Horn of Africa after an uneventful trip, relying on the northern wind. The Red Sea (which Herodotus calls ‘Arabian Gulf’) was well known to their Egyptian pilots, because the Egyptians traded incense with the Arabs of modern Yemen… After they had passed Africa’s most eastern shores, the northeast monsoon – which started in October – sped up their journey, and in March they must have reached the Equator. The Agulhas Current must have brought them through the Mozambique Channel and along the coast of modern South Africa. Sailing on their westerly course, they must have observed that they had the sun on their right… When they reached Cape Agulhas, they left the current that had helped them to the south. At the same time, they encountered the contrary South East trade winds. And they must have been surprised to discover that here, on the southern hemisphere, the winter was already approaching. However, they must happily have noticed that they had started to go north. The plain behind Saint Helena Bay, 150 kilometers north of modern Cape Τown, offered a fine opportunity to land. They must have sowed their wheat in June, started to repair their ships, and harvested in November.

“The Benguela Current and the now favorable South East trade winds brought the Phoenician sailors back to the hot equatorial regions; they will have experienced its effects in a most unpleasant way, when they sailed along the Namibian coast, which is a waterless desert. It took several weeks to reach a more fertile coast. In March, a new and equally unpleasant surprise awaited them: they had been traveling on a northerly course, but now, the coast curved to the west again. They may have benefited from the westward Guinea Current, but not for long, because it changes its direction during the spring. For weeks, they were struggling against the wind and the current, only to reach – in July – the African west coast, where they encountered the contrary Canary Current and the North Eastern trade winds. But they must have been relieved to find themselves rowing in a northerly direction again. Somehow they managed to beat against the wind and the current, and in November they must have landed somewhere on the coast of modern Mauritania… The voyagers sowed their wheat, repaired their ships, and waited for the next harvest…

“In May, they brought their ships to the sea, and started to beat their way up to along the Moroccan coast, where they discovered that they had returned to the world they knew: the town on Mogador island was occupied by Phoenicians. Having told the incredible story of their trip to the southern hemisphere, and no doubt with new equipment, they continued their voyage; soon they reached Phoenician towns like Lixus, modern Cádiz and Málaga, and Carthage. They must have reached Egypt at the end of the summer. Their expedition had lasted three full years. This story, told by Herodotus, was generally questioned after the famous geographer Ptolemy had said that it was impossible to circumnavigate Africa”… Thus this “top secret” epic periplus left no trace in the geographical knowledge of the time.

Peripli of the Classical and Hellenistic eras

Trireme

SEVERAL PERIPLI have survived, in whole or in fragments, and in quotations cited by other writers. The impression one gets, even with a first look at the list below, is that for a long time, from the 6th to the 4th centuries BCE, it was a Graeco-Phoenician “bras de fer” between Massalia and Carthage aimed at dominating the sea routes leading to regions rich mainly in gold, silver, tin and amber:

● The Massaliote Periplus (6th century BCE), preserved in Avienus’ Ora Maritima (Sea Coast, 4th century CE), followed Tartessian trade routes along the Atlantic shores of Europe, and recorded a voyage from Marseille to the British Isles, circumnavigating Iberia. It described the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and made a brief mention of a visit to the “sacred isle” Ierne (Ireland), located across from Albion (Britain). It is the earliest work about the trade links between northern and southern Europe; the fact that such a manual existed indicates the importance of these trade links. Especially the trade in tin to be used for making bronze is attested by archaeological evidence from even earlier periods. The riches to be won attracted numerous adventurers to the North Atlantic coast.

● The Periplus of Hanno the Navigator (6th or 5th century BCE) described the South Atlantic, along the African coast from Morocco down to the Gulf of Guinea – at best; in the worst case, the Punics probably did not sail beyond Morocco. If we trust their trumped-up information, Hanno was in charge of 60 ships and 30,000 colonists and soldiers! In fact, they should not exceed 5,000. This fleet was designed to explore and colonize Northwest Africa. The Punics founded or repopulated seven colonies on the Moroccan coast beyond the Pillars of Heracles (as a rule, the Phoenician settlements were not populous). Then, according to the official version, they proceeded further south, meeting several native tribes. The members of a hirsute and savage tribe were called “Gorillae”. In the 19th century, Hanno’s description was used as a name for the well-known primates.

Hanno’s periplus according to his “official” report

The primary source for this expedition is a Hellenic periplus, supposedly a translation of a tablet Hanno had reportedly hung up on his return to Carthage in the temple of Ba’al Hammon, whom the Greeks identified with Cronus. Its full title was The Periplus of Hanno, commander of the Carthaginians, round the parts of Libya [Africa] beyond the Pillars of Heracles, which he deposited in the Temple of Cronus.⁽⁷⁾ Obviously, the tablet contained falsified information, so that Carthage’s competitors, especially the Hellenes, could not profit. The sole purpose of the tablet was to gratify the pride of the Punics in their achievements. The very purpose of the voyage – the consolidation of the route to the African gold market – is not even mentioned…

• ⁽⁷⁾ This translation, into rather mediocre Greek, was not a complete rendering. The abridged text was copied repeatedly by Hellenes, as well as Byzantines. Two copies are still extant: one is the Palatinus Graecus 398 (9th century CE) in the University Library of Heidelberg. The other is the Codex Vatopedinus 655 (14th century) found in the Vatopedi monastery on Mount Athos, and divided between the British Library and the French Bibliothèque Nationale (it was probably sold: the monks in this monastery have an age-old strain of business acumen in their DNA)…

● Herodotus gives a story based perhaps upon Hanno’s original report:

“The Punics tell us that they trade with a race of men who live in a part of Libya beyond the Pillars of Heracles. On reaching this country, they unload their goods, arrange them tidily along the beach, and then, returning to their boats, raise a smoke. Seeing the smoke, the natives come down to the beach, place on the ground a certain quantity of gold in exchange for the goods, and go off again to a distance. The Punics then come ashore and take a look at the gold; and if they think it presents a fair price for their wares, they collect it and go away; if, on the other hand, it seems too little, they go back aboard and wait, and the natives come and add to the gold until they are satisfied. There is perfect honesty on both sides; the Punics never touch the gold until it equals in value what they have offered for sale, and the natives never touch the goods until the gold has been taken away.”

Herodotus, I’m afraid, lacks the business acumen that characterizes the monks at Vatopedi…

Himilco’s “report”: sea monsters!

● Along with the Massaliote Periplus, sailing to the North Atlantic, the explorations extended south also with the voyage of Euthymenes of Massalia (early 6th century or, according to other writers, second half of the 5th century BCE). Unfortunately, the original text of his Periplus in the Outer Sea was lost; only some quotations survived, such as those by Plutarch, or Seneca the Younger, who was very skeptical. During his exploration, Euthymenes arrived at a large river with hippopotami and crocodiles, whose outflow made the sea at its mouth fresh or brackish. It seems that it was the Senegal River. The Massaliotes should have known that the Punics, led by Hanno, had undertaken a great expedition in the same area and perhaps in the same period. There is no information, however, that the two fleets met. The results of Euthymenes’ venture were probably considered poor. So, the Massaliotes abandoned their effort in the South Atlantic.

● It was the Punics’ turn to expand into the North Atlantic, in the area described by the Massaliote Periplus. The expedition was headed by Himilco the Navigator (late 6th century BCE), with a periplus sailing by the coasts of Iberia and France. Following Tartessian routes, he reached Ophiussa (Portugal-Galicia) to trade for tin and other precious metals. Himilco gave a new dimension to the propaganda of Carthage: his voyage was presented as particularly painful; he painted a grim picture while referring to sea monsters and giant seaweed, so that the competitors, especially the Greeks, would not dare sail out into the Atlantic. It seems that this tactic was particularly effective: the Punic stories about sinister “signs and wonders” became the source of the myths discouraging voyages beyond the Pillars of Heracles.

● The Periplus of Scylax of Caryanda (late 6th – early 5th century BCE), on behalf of the Persians, explored the mouth of the Indus River, the Indian Ocean and Red Sea coasts as far as Suez. Scylax was born in Caria; he was a renowned Hellenized Carian explorer and writer in the years of Darius I. His expedition’s aim, circa 515, was to find the Indus River estuary. Sailing out into the Indian Ocean, he turned west until he arrived at the Red Sea, which he also explored. His voyage took 30 months. His report, perhaps entitled Periplus, and dedicated to king Darius, was lost, except for the quotations by later writers – such as Strabo in his Geography, Herodotus in his Histories, and Aristotle in his Politics, when he refers to the Indian kings. There are seven quotations in all, indicating his Periplus was not merely a log, but contained accounts of people, landscape, the natural conditions and political affairs. Hence it contained information intended for the expansion of the Persian Empire. Written in Greek, it was among the first works to be written in Hellenic prose. Moreover, it was the first account of the peoples of the Orient reaching the Mediterranean world and served as a model for later Greek writers. More lastingly, it registered the name of India and the Indians in geography.

● Periplus Outside the Pillars of Heracles, a work of the historian, chronographer, and logographer Charon of Lampsacus (1st half of the 5th century BCE), who lived before Herodotus; Periplus of the Inner Sea (the Mediterranean), a work of the astronomer, meteorologist and geographer Euctemon of Athens (mid-5th century), who was a student and partner of his compatriot, Meton; and also Ocean Periplus, of the great Abderitan “atomic” philosopher Democritus (c. 460 – c. 370 BCE): none of them has survived; especially in the case of Democritus, there are other reasons beyond fate (see Chronicle 22, intermediate reference to Abdera and Democritus).

● The epic exploration of the top Massaliote navigator, Pytheas (c. 380 – c. 310, or c. 350 – c. 285 BCE), took place around 325, and led him to Britain, Scandinavia, the Baltic Sea and, via river routes, to the Black and Mediterranean Seas, completing a periplus of Europe! His work, Τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ (Things about [or Description of] the Ocean, or even Περίοδος γῆς (Travel around the Earth), survives only in excerpts quoted by other writers, some of whom treat him with skepticism, e.g. the constantly doubtful Strabo, and also Polybius. Pytheas said he “travelled over the whole of Britain that was accessible”, and explored the entire North. He saw the inhabitants of Cornwall to be involved in the manufacture of tin. Some of his observations may be the earliest report of Stonehenge; he also introduced the idea of ultimate Thule to the geographic imagination.⁽⁸⁾ He is the first person to describe the Midnight Sun and polar ice, and to state that the tides are caused by the moon. He measured latitude by the gnomon, and observed Germanic and possibly Finnic tribes.

• ⁽⁸⁾ Thule was believed in the past to be Iceland that was uninhabited until the second half of the 9th century CE. Yet, Pytheas had seen people on the island. By the late 19th century, Thule was identified with Norway. Others linked Thule to Greenland, where human presence dates back to 2500 BCE. Still, the likelihood of Pytheas sailing that far north is considered completely unreal.

Excerpts from his work are quoted or paraphrased by many others, such as Diodorus Siculus, Pliny, Geminus of Rhodes. Late writers gave titles to his book. Other simpler titles are Periplus, On the Ocean, or Ocean. After Britain and Norway, there followed the discovery of the Baltic and the voyage to the Don. And there, Polybius, willingly or not, created uncertainty, claiming that Pytheas turned back at the mouth of the Vistula, at the border of Scythia: “… on his return hence, he traversed the whole of the coast of Europe from Gades to the Tanais”… Was it a second leg in his exploration? And he didn’t pass by Massalia to refit and refresh the crew? Others claimed that the “Tanais” was not the Don, but the Elbe. Some writers raised questions on the first leg of the voyage, implying it had never happened! Since the Punics had blockaded the Pillars of Heracles – is the “incontestable” argument of the “armchair intellectuals” – how could Pytheas pass? Thus we need to examine the relations among Punics, Massaliotes and Romans at the time of his exploration.

Massaliotes, Punics and Romans as… “bitter friends”

Thule (or “Tile” on Olaus Magnus sea map, 1539), located NW of Scotland with monsters, was identified by some other “monsters”,
the Nazis, with Hyperborea (see Chronicle 15) as the cradle of the “Aryan race”: the Nazi party was hatched within the Thule Society.

The Punics had imposed a blockade of the Pillars of Heracles to all ships from other nations. However, by the 4th century BCE, the western Hellenes, especially the Massaliotes, were more or less on “amicable” terms with them. First of all, Massalia was militarily superior to Carthage: they had defeated the empire in the late 6th and early 5th centuries. Not wishing to test the issue any further, the Punics had made an independent treaty with the Massaliotes; and the latter had no trouble to place and maintain colonies on the Mediterranean Iberian coast. Archaeologically the sites of the western Mediterranean show no diminishment of Grecian wares at any time; on the contrary, there was an increase due to their better quality – which is a good indication of trade. Second, Massalia was an old ally of Rome. The Massaliotes had helped the Romans in their conflicts with the Etruscans and the Gauls. In the mid-4th century, Carthage and Rome came to terms over the Sicilian Wars, defining with a treaty their mutual interests. Rome could use Sicilian markets and Carthage could buy and sell in Rome. If Carthage had enslaved allies of Rome, they were to be set free. Rome was to stay out of the western Mediterranean – excepting Massalia. During the last half of the 4th century – the time of Pytheas’ voyage – relations between Rome and its allies on the one hand, and Carthage on the other, were totally amicable. The Massaliotes were free to operate as they pleased. Neither is there any evidence in any of the sources about some kind of problem emerging “in the last moment” in relation to Pytheas’ exploration. On the contrary, mentions of Gades, Tartessos, and the “sacred promontory” (Sagres), at the southern tip of Portugal – all testify to his passing through the Pillars “in broad daylight” and heading north…

Nearchus Paraplus

Nearchus Paraplus

● While Pytheas was circumnavigating Europe, Nearchus, as Alexander’s admiral, was carrying out his Paraplus, under the instructions to steer the fleet from India to the Persian Gulf, sailing by the coast, and meet the Macedonian king at Susa. Nearchus Paraplus is preserved in Arrian’s Indica.⁽⁹⁾ Nearchus was appointed as satrap of Lycia and Pamphylia in 334-333. In 328 he rejoined Alexander in Bactria, bringing with him reinforcements. Two years later, he was made admiral of the fleet that had been built at the Hydaspes (Jhelum) river, and steered it from the Indus to the Persian Gulf – a voyage that he recorded in every detail. Then he became the first Greek to visit Tylos (Bahrain), marking the area’s inclusion in the Hellenic world with the worship of Zeus (as the Arab sun goddess, Shams), and Greek being spoken as the language of upper classes. Nearchus Paraplus was intended by Alexander as a way to learn about the mouth of the Indus and the sea between India and Babylon. After many adventures, Nearchus arrived in Carmania (Kermā, in SE Iran, where one of the Alexandrias was founded), meeting with Alexander after the latter’s crossing of the Gedrosian desert. The king sent him off to complete his voyage – he went as far as the Euphrates river before turning back to rejoin Alexander at Susa, in early 324. He then took the fleet up to Babylon. Nearchus had a place in Alexander’s final plans, as he was to be the admiral of the Arabian invasion fleet – perhaps also in his other plans against Rome, Carthage and Iberia. But these plans were cut short by Alexander’s death in 323 BCE.

Pataliputra, where Megasthenes was sent: one of the largest cities in the world. Mathura: controlled by the Graeco-Indians (180-70 BCE). Sagala:
capital of Menander’s Graeco-Indian kingdom.

• ⁽⁹⁾ Arrian (late 1st – 2nd centuries CE) was one of the main historians of Alexander the Great, born in Nicomedia, the capital of Bithynia, in NW Asia Minor. His Indica tells the story of Nearchus’ voyage to the Persian Gulf after the Macedonians conquered the Indus Valley. But much of the importance of the work comes from his in depth writing about the history, geography, and also culture, of the Indian subcontinent. Arrian, who had Herodotus as a model, relates the stories of Heracles and Dionysus in India, as well.

Indica is also the title of a similar book by Megasthenes describing the history of India; this was a major source from which Arrian drew. Megasthenes (c. 350–290 BCE), also born in Anatolia in the Hellenistic period, was a Greek ethnographer, who became an ambassador of Seleucus I to Chandragupta at Pataliputra, in Bihar of NE India, some time before 298, the year this Indian chief died. Megasthenes had lived before in Arachosia, southern Afghanistan. At the beginning of his book, he referred to the old Indians who knew about the arrival of Dionysus and Heracles in India, and mentioned the devotees of Heracles (Krishna) and Dionysus (Shiva or Indra). Indica served as an important source to many later writers such as Strabo, Diodorus and Pliny; it also introduced India to the Mediterranean world. Its scope is wide-ranging, from the Himalayas in the North to Taprobana (Sri Lanka) in the South.

Hellenistic culture in the Indian subcontinent: Graeco-Indian banquet, with Hellenic clothes, amphoras, wine, music (1st–2nd centuries CE)

● Androsthenes of Thasos was another admiral of Alexander’s, and also a trierarch (commander of a trireme) of Nearchus’. The account of his voyage is a Paraplus of Indica. Alexander sent him down the Euphrates in an exploration, skirting the coast of Arabia and sailing farther than Archias of Pella. The latter was a geographer and officer who also served as trierarch under Nearchus. Archias was dispatched with a galley and reached Tylos; as he reported, the island was “about a day and a night’s sail” from the mouth of the Euphrates. Onesicritus was also an officer serving under Nearchus as a helmsman. Some quotations of his own Periplus referring to ancient India and its inhabitants have survived. Nevertheless, he was regarded as unreliable and conceited.

● The Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax (330s BCE) was written by an unknown Athenian. He entitled it as Periplus of the Sea of Universal Europe and Asia and Libya, and signed it as “Scylax” for reasons of prestige. He presented the Mediterranean and Black Seas clockwise, starting from Iberia and concluding in western Africa beyond the Pillars of Heracles.

● The Stadiasmus, i.e. Periplus of the Great Sea, is a work of an unknown geographer-helmsman (late 4th – early 3rd century BCE). Extant is only the part about distances, sailing directions, and descriptions of the Mediterranean harbours.

● The ten-volume Periplus of Timosthenes (early 3rd century BCE) was intended to describe more precisely countries already known, specifying the location of harbours and stations in the Mediterranean. Timosthenes of Rhodes was a major navigator, geographer, cartographer, and admiral of the Ptolemaic fleet. He additionally wrote On Harbours, On Islands, and Stadiasmi, drawing up several nautical maps. He was an expert on winds in antiquity, and the first Hellene geographer to use the winds for geographic orientation, rather than merely as meteorological phenomena. There are only quotations surviving in the works of other writers, who referred to him with admiration, such as Erathosthenes, or Strabo. The latter revealed another talent of this versatile man: he composed a Pythic nomos (law), a Pythian “canon”, if you like, for aulos and cithara to be played at Delphi in the Pythian Games in celebration of the victory of Apollo over Python.⁽¹⁰⁾

Apollo slaying Python, by Eugène Delacroix (1850)

Musical Nomos (Law)

• ⁽¹⁰⁾ “Nomos [law, canon] in music was the most important form of composition and interpretation in ancient Greek music. It seems that it evolved from a very old tradition, according to which the laws were sung by the people to be easily memorized and followed [unlike what happens now that the legislators do their best for the laws to be incomprehensible, although – or precisely because – ignorance of the law is not forgiven]… The composition and interpretation of nomoi were very demanding and set high professional standards in the four Hellenic games (Olympian, Pythian, Isthmian, Nemean), where the most distinguished musicians (composers-performers) of their time took part. The Pythian nomos, the most important nomos for aulos, invented by Sakadas, was the first known type of program music and was meant to describe the contest between Apollo and the dragon Python, in five parts…” (Solon Michaelides, Encyclopedia of Ancient Greek Music).

● Timosthenes either innovated, combining the aulos with the cithara in his Pythian nomos, or such a combination was already established in his time. These instruments were mostly played by professional musicians: aulos, a wind instrument, connected with Dionysus; cithara, a string instrument, identified with Apollo. The lyre, instead, was played only by amateurs. (On laws in verse see also Chronicle 11, footnote 1, and Chronicle 21, footnote 5 and the relevant text).

The duel between the citharoedus Apollo and the aulete Marsyas

● Note that no celebration was established, nor was any nomos composed, for another victory of Apollo in a musical contest against the satyr aulete Marsyas from Phrygia. The god, in order to win, was obliged to sing, as well, something that the Muses, who were the judges, permitted, of course. It was a “win on points”, infuriating Apollo, who over-reacted: he flayed Marsyas alive and nailed his skin to a pine tree for his “hubris” to challenge a god! That is how the Hellenic music prevailed over the Phrygian, and the Apollonian spirit subdued the Dionysian… However, in the Hellenistic years, according to Diodorus Siculus, Marsyas was admired for his intelligence (σύνεσις) and self-control (σωφροσύνη), while the Romans praised him for his free speech and boldness (παρρησία), and also “speaking truth to power”. His statue near the Roman forum was regarded as an indicium libertatis, a symbol of liberty, and associated with demonstrations of the plebs, the common people.

● Two great Greek navigators, who might have worked together in the Indian Ocean, were Eudoxus of Cyzicus (c. 150–100), and Hippalos (late 2nd – 1st centuries BCE). Eudoxus explored the Arabian Sea on behalf of the Ptolemies in Egypt. According to Poseidonius and Strabo, he was the first to sail on the monsoon wind system on the Indian Ocean in 118–116. They said that a shipwrecked sailor from India had been rescued in the Red Sea and taken to Alexandria. This Indian offered to guide Greek navigators to India. Eudoxus was appointed for the first voyage, in 118 BCE, guided by the Indian sailor. After he returned with a cargo of aromatics and precious stones, a second voyage was undertaken, in 116, sailing without a guide. Until then, Greek and Indian sailors met to trade at Arabian ports such as Aden, called by the Hellenes Εὐδαίμων (Felix: Fertile and Happy; while Yemen was named Eudaemon Arabia). Attempts to sail beyond Aden were rare and discouraged, involving a long, laborious sailing by the coast to India. On the contrary, Indian ships used the monsoon winds to sail to Arabia. If the Greeks acquired the know-how, they would have no need of the Arabian ports, trading directly with India. Having this accomplished, very soon, by mid-1st century BCE, there was a marked increase in the number of Hellenic and Roman ships sailing this way to India.

Greek ships and a sea monster near the Pillars
of Heracles, sketch by Walter Plitt Quintin

When Eudoxus was returning from his second voyage to India, the wind forced him south and down the coast of Africa for some distance, where he found the remains of a ship. Due to its appearance and the story told by the natives, he concluded that the ship was from Gades (Cádiz) in Andalusia, sailing south around Africa. Therefore, he was inspired to attempt a periplus of Africa. Organizing the expedition on his own, he set sail from Gades, but the difficulties were too great, so he was obliged to go back. He didn’t give up though. He again set out to circumnavigate Africa, but his eventual fate is unknown. Although some, such as Pliny, claimed that Eudoxus did achieve his goal, the most probable conclusion is that he perished on the journey…

● Concerning Hippalus, he is sometimes referred to as Eudoxus’ captain. The writer of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea credited him with discovering the direct route from the Red Sea to India, correcting the map of the area. Greek geographers before him thought that the Indian coast stretched from west to east. Hippalus recognized the north-to-south direction of India’s coastline. Only someone who had this insight would foresee crossing the Indian Ocean might be a faster way to South India than sailing by the coast. Since the 1st century BCE onwards, we witness the prosperity of trade between Egypt and India. Sometimes Hippalus is credited with introducing to Europe the idea of sailing to India aided by the monsoon winds.

● The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (40–70 CE),⁽¹¹⁾ written by an unknown Alexandrian, gives the shoreline itinerary of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, starting each time at the port of Berenice Troglodytica (also known as Baranis). Beyond the Red Sea, the manuscript describes the coast of India as far as the Ganges River and the east coast of Africa (called Azania).

• ⁽¹¹⁾ Although “Erythraean Sea” literally means “Red Sea”, the term for the ancient Greeks included the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, as well.

● The Periplus Ponti Euxini (130–131 CE) described the trade routes along the Euxine (Black Sea). It was written by Arrian in a letter to the emperor Hadrian, and contains an accurate topographical survey of the coastline. It is possibly connected with his instructions, as a legate of Cappadocia, for a march of the Roman army against the Alani. Its purpose was to inform the emperor of the “lay of the land” – the distances between cities and locations that would provide safe harbour, in case of a military expedition to the region.

● The Anaplous Bosporou (Voyage through the Bosporus, or De Bospori navigatione), written by the geographer Dionysius of Byzantium (2nd century CE), describes the Bosporus coastline and ancient Byzantium, before becoming Constantinople in the 4th century. The text has been described as “one of the most remarkable and detailed of ancient geographic texts.”

Periplus, by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld.

● The Periplus of the Outer Sea is an original work of the Greek geographer Marcian of Heraclea Pontica (4th century CE). He also prepared some epitomes: The Periplus Inside the Sea, an epitome of Menippus of Pergamon, and Geography, an epitome of Artemidorus Ephesius.

● Finally, a Periplus by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832-1901), a Finn arctic explorer, geologist and mineralogist, most remembered for the expedition along the northern coast of Eurasia in 1878-79. This was the first complete crossing of the Northern Sea Route, or Northeast Passage. It was a great feat as it opened the way to a periplus of Eurasia. Except his monumental Periplus (5 volumes, 1897), and a popular summary (2 volumes), he published the monograph Early History of Cartography (1889), for he was interested in the history of Arctic exploration as evidenced in old maps.

The Periplus of Eurasia through the North Sea and the Suez Canal Routes

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