The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek

Rating:
Summary: Compensates for unmet expectations..........
Review: Perhaps, Barry Cunliffe didn't name this book "What Little is Known About the Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek" because then the title might compete for length with the content. Granted, Pytheas' journey occured some 2,300 years ago so source material is spotty. However, I couldn't help but be a little disappointed in the lack of narrative one expects given the title Cunliffe did bestow on his effort.

To Cunliffe's credit, he admits as much and attempts to draw the reader in through an archaeological perspective of the people and places Pytheas might have encountered. And, since Pytheas' own writings are long since lost, Cunliffe spends much time on the works of his near contemporaries; portions of which are still surviving.

A lack of source material is something with which all books of ancient history must contend. Nevertheless, Cunliffe's enthusiasm for his subject is palpable and this brings it's own level of enjoyment to the reader. Cunliffe is careful to separate theory from fact and though this is, in itself, the prime reason that a narrative never really appears, one has to admire his integrity.

Bottom line, The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek is an analytical, clinical, dissection of what little is known of a Greek wanderer who stretched the envelope of the known world. It is short, informative, and, in the end, worthy of the reader's time.

Rating:
Summary: Travels of an ancient mariner
Review: The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek is a wonderful examination of life along the Atlantic seaboard of Europe during the Greco-Roman period. Essentially it's a much more readable version of Cunliffe's book Facing the Ocean, and the reader of the latter will find familiar passages throughout the volume. While the focus and time period of Facing the Ocean is much broader than that of The ExtraordinaryVoyage, the narrower time period of the latter makes the ancient world come more alive for the reader.

On the Ocean, written by the fourth century B.C. explorer Pytheas of Massalia (modern day Marseille in France) is itself lost to modern day scholarship, but it does exist in short excerpts found in the works of later authors. Professor Cunliffe is both an archaeologist as well as an historian of the period and is able to use his understanding of the cultural remains of the period and of the region in which Pytheas traveled to verify many of the traditions surrounding the great adventurer's voyage. In essence, he uses both Pytheas and his travels to create the structure and theme of his own work on life and trade along the Atlantic coasts during the fourth century.

For those with a general knowledge of Greco-Roman history, this book adds detail to the image of the ancient world. Many of the more general texts of the period, while discussing the colonization period of ancient Greece, fail to really give more than a gloss-over of the cultural phenomenon that restructured the Mediterranean world and led to the more widely known events of the Roman Republic and Imperial periods, with its cast of characters made popular in literary form from Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra and Julius Caesar to Ridley Scott's Gladiator. The book takes the reader to the ends of the earth from the point of view of the contemporary Mediterranean world and provides a personality whose adventures match those of the great explorers of the fourteenth and fifteenth century A.D.

The book is brief and concise, and would be understandable to most readers from junior high level and beyond with an interest in history. The bibliography contains a number of references that would provide further reading sources. Most of these are a little old, 1893-1994, and some are in French or German, but several of the general sources are more recent and in English.

Rating:
Summary: Travels of an ancient mariner
Review: The Extraordinary Voyage of Pytheas the Greek is a wonderful examination of life along the Atlantic seaboard of Europe during the Greco-Roman period. Essentially it's a much more readable version of Cunliffe's book Facing the Ocean, and the reader of the latter will find familiar passages throughout the volume. While the focus and time period of Facing the Ocean is much broader than that of The ExtraordinaryVoyage, the narrower time period of the latter makes the ancient world come more alive for the reader.

On the Ocean, written by the fourth century B.C. explorer Pytheas of Massalia (modern day Marseille in France) is itself lost to modern day scholarship, but it does exist in short excerpts found in the works of later authors. Professor Cunliffe is both an archaeologist as well as an historian of the period and is able to use his understanding of the cultural remains of the period and of the region in which Pytheas traveled to verify many of the traditions surrounding the great adventurer's voyage. In essence, he uses both Pytheas and his travels to create the structure and theme of his own work on life and trade along the Atlantic coasts during the fourth century.

For those with a general knowledge of Greco-Roman history, this book adds detail to the image of the ancient world. Many of the more general texts of the period, while discussing the colonization period of ancient Greece, fail to really give more than a gloss-over of the cultural phenomenon that restructured the Mediterranean world and led to the more widely known events of the Roman Republic and Imperial periods, with its cast of characters made popular in literary form from Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra and Julius Caesar to Ridley Scott's Gladiator. The book takes the reader to the ends of the earth from the point of view of the contemporary Mediterranean world and provides a personality whose adventures match those of the great explorers of the fourteenth and fifteenth century A.D.

The book is brief and concise, and would be understandable to most readers from junior high level and beyond with an interest in history. The bibliography contains a number of references that would provide further reading sources. Most of these are a little old, 1893-1994, and some are in French or German, but several of the general sources are more recent and in English.

Rating:
Summary: Informative although difficult to research and write about
Review: The topic itself intriguing, Pytheas a remarkable man (the Explorer of the explorers), the relationship between Ancient Greeks and Celts and not only highly interesting and... Hyperborea, whether a legend or not, fascinating to say the least!

Despite the limited available information the author skillfully manages to recreate Pytheas' journey both from the historical and anthropological point of view.

Having read this book it stimulated my interest of reading more about Pytheas and his findings.

Worth reading!

Rating:
Summary: Ordinary Voyage
Review: With a title like THE EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGE OF PYTHEAS THE GREEK, and a strong interest in ancient history, I was expecting an interesting, readable account. Instead, I got convoluted bits and pieces of info. Not a whole lot of it had to do with Pytheas.

I won't even go into the historical relevance of this book, because frankly I didn't pay a lot of attention to it. As an ancient history grad student & writer myself, I really wish that historians paid more attention to writing well.

Rating:
Summary: Ordinary Voyage
Review: With a title like THE EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGE OF PYTHEAS THE GREEK, I was expecting an interesting, readable account. Instead, I got convoluted bits and pieces of info. Not a whole lot of it had to do with Pytheas.

I won't even go into the historical relevance of this book, because frankly I didn't pay a lot of attention to it. As an ancient history grad student & writer myself, I really wish that historians paid more attention to writing well.