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Pytheas and Hecataeus: Visions of the North in the Late Fourth Century B.C.

In 1809 a double-headed herm was erected in Marseille. One of its faces depicts Pytheas, the other Euthymenes, two notable Massaliote explorers. The choice of these two is rather straightforward, as they share a common background and an inclination to geographical exploration. By contrast, and putting their country of origin aside, would anyone today commission a double- headed herm depicting Pytheas together with his near contemporary Hecataeus of Abdera, an author best known for his utopian fiction? I will argue that this would not be unwarranted, for at least two good complementary reasons: one is their shared interest in the far north, the other their appropriation of information on this region from both literary, including mythic, accounts and from scientific, both theoretical and observational, reports and discussions.

Pytheas, Hecataeus, Thule, Hyperborea, North

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