History of Geographical Thought

Weeks 3 & 4: Classical Greek Contributions

Classical Greek Contributions 

Geography is derived from two Greek words, Ge – Earth, and Graphe –  Description. 

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Coined by Greek Geographer Eratosthenes who viewed geography as descriptions of the earth. But others (Egyptians, Sumerians, Phoenicians) thought geographically before him, making geography possibly as old as humanity itself. We are however mostly concerned with geography as a systematic or organized body of knowledge with defined concepts and procedures.

The Greeks had… 

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A geographic curiosity often associated with commercial and military interests – and often extending beyond their empire. Seafaring skills and a need to improve them. A robust mythology closely intertwined with a  polytheistic belief system that contained a god  for just about everything.

The Greeks had… 

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A belief that celestial objects were epitomes of gods, and therefore worthy of close scrutiny. A need for a geometry and associated tools to study the location and movement of  celestial objects.

The Greeks didn’t have… 

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At the beginning, any kind of information source (other than word of mouth) that we now take for granted. Basic location and navigation skills (including the compass). An accurate system of measurement over  long distances. Basic cartographic tools and techniques.

The Greeks didn’t have… 

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An understanding of the shape and size of  earth and of basic earth-sun relationships. A understanding of basic earth science including erosion, deposition and  meteorology. An appreciation of the adaptability of human  beings to different climatic contexts.

Greek contributors 

Homer 

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Alexander the Great

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Thales of Miletus

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Pytheas

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Anaximander 

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Eratosthenes

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Hecataeus

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Hipparchus

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Herodotus

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Posidonius

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Plato

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Strabo

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Aristotle

Homer  

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Reportedly lived  sometime between 1300  – 850 BC. Considered by some to  be “The father of  geography” because The Odyssey, one of his epic  poems, provides the

The Odyssey

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earliest geographical description of the fringe of the Greek world. Also Wrote the Iliad  (1280-1180 BC) –Mostly historical.

Thales of Miletus (ca. 624 – ca. 546 BC) 

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Advocated for a rational explanation of the natural realm without reference to mythology. Major contributor to field of geometry (e.g. circle divided into two by diameter) and astronomy. Credited with the development of the mathematical tradition for his concern with measures of  location, distance and areas of things on the earth’s surface (possibly for personal business reasons). Speculated about the origins of the earth and  roposed a flat disc earth floating on water.

Teleological explanation vs. Mechanical explanation Teleological explanation 

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From the Greek teleos, meaning “purpose” or “end”. Things happen for a reason or purpose that suggests Divine will.

Mechanical explanation 

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As related to geography, God’s will is revealed in nature as well as in scripture. The world we inhabit was created by God and exhibits an order, complexity and purpose as designed by the Creator. A careful inventorying of the world’s attributes, as by geographical exploration and analysis, may help us understand God’s will even as it  proves God’s God’s existence.

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Phenomena and observations are the results of purely natural (non-divine) causes. As related to geography, Earth’s attributes are the products of natural  processes that that may be explained by  physics, mathematics, mathematics, biology and  other realms of human knowledge whose contents rely on careful observation, verification and testing. Established explanations must be able to withstand “the test of time.” Thus, they may be replaced if subsequent observation and analysis provide new explanations that are superior to old  ones.

Anaximander  (ca. 610 – ca. 546 BC) 

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Disciple of Thales Claimed that nature is ruled by laws, just like human society. Introduced the gnomon/Sundial (Babylonian) to Greece.

From the gnomon it was possible to tell the varying positions of the sun, being shortest at noon. Varying noon shadow lengths from season to season also helped to establish whether it was summer solstice (shortest) or winter solstice (longest). The direction of shadows at sunrise and  sunset also helped to tell the time of the equinox (sunrise and sunset shadows are colinear but opposite.

Anaximander  

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Credited for being first Greek to draw a world  map with distance and  direction to scale. Helped establish the cartographic tradition. Tried to explain how sun rises in the east and  sets in the west but rises again in the east.

Hecataeus (ca. 550 – ca. 475 BC) 

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 No known artistic portrayal; name may refer to more than one person. Credited with the literary tradition. Advocated taking stock of what is around us and putting the accumulated knowledge of the world together in a usable form. First known Greek to collect and classify information brought to Miletus not only from the known Greek world, but also from unknown lands beyond.

Hecataeus (ca. 550 – ca. 475 BC) 

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A principal founder of  idiographic/descriptive tradition in geography. Used  Europe  Europe, Asia, and   Libya as regional divisions for his world  geography.

Herodotus (484 – ca. 425 BC) 

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Stressed the interrelationship between history and  geography ‘all history must be treated geographically and all geography must be treated historically’ Travelled widely – knew the shores of the Mediterranean, travelled travelled several days northward across the Russian steppes, went eastwards over the Persian Empire and south to Egypt. Argued against the tradition of dividing Asians from Libyans along the Nile river and insisted Egyptians are

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Applied historical geographical methods to correctly interpret the Nile delta as being formed by silt deposits from Ethiopia. He was also fascinated by the summer flooding of the Nile since other rivers flooded in winter. Also credited with the idea of the wind blowing from colder to warmer places. Sought explanations that reflected the notion of  an earth that was arranged symmetrically.

Herodotus 

Mapped the known world with the Mediterranean in the center and surrounded by Oceanus.

Plato (428 – 348 BC) 

Master at deductive reasoning –  

Deductive Method involves theorizing from the general to particular events. General/intuition/theory

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Particular Event

Proposed the idea that the world was deteriorating from perfect state. Could well be the source of the notion of environmental degradation. Questioned the belief of a flat earth and confirmed  Pythagora’s (6th century BC) hypothesis of a spherical earth.

Plato 

Appears to be the first Greek philosopher to announce and look for  evidence to support the concept of a round earth centrally located in the universe with celestial  bodies in circular  motion around it.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) 

Master of inductive reasoning 

generalizing or formulating theories from particular cases/events 

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Particular

General/Theory

Suggested the physical environment is improving towards a perfect state. Sought an explanation of Plato’s idea of a spherical earth.

Aristotle (384-322 BC) 

Postulated the concept of varying habitability of the earth based on latitude. Accordingly: 

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The world consists of 5 climatic zones The torrid zone centered on the equator is uninhabitable uninhabitabl e – excessive heat. The frigid zone centered on the north and south poles is uninhabitable – too cold.  An intermediate/temperate zone called ekumene located between the tropics and arctic and  Antarctic is habitable habitab le – just right.