The Edges of the Earth in Ancient Thought: Geography, Exploration, and Fiction

Front Cover
Princeton University Press, Oct 9, 1994 - History - 228 pages
Introduction: Geography as a Literary Tradition --The Boundaries of Earth --Boundaries and the Boundless --Ocean and Cosmic Disorder --Roads around the World --Herodotus and the Changing World Picture --Aristotle and After --Ethiopian and Hyperborean --The Blameless Ethiopians --The Fortunate Hyperboreans --Arimaspians and Scythians --The Kunokephaloi --Wonders of the East --Before Alexander --Marvel-Collectors and Critics --The Late Romance Tradition --Ultima Thule and Beyond --Antipodal Ambitions --The North Sea Coast --The Headwaters of the Nile --The Atlantic Horizon --Geography and Fiction --Ocean and Poetry --The Voyage of Odysseus --Pytheas, Euhemerus, and Others --The Fictions of Exploration --Epilogue: After Columbus.
 

Contents

The Boundaries of Earth
9
Boundaries and the Boundless
11
Ocean and Cosmic Disorder
20
Roads around the World
26
Herodotus and the Changing World Picture
32
Aristotle and After
41
Ethiopian and Hyperborean
45
The Blameless Ethiopians
49
The Late Romance Tradition
109
Ultima Thule and Beyond
121
Antipodal Ambitions
124
The North Sea Coast
140
The Headwaters of the Nile
149
The Atlantic Horizon
156
Geography and Fiction
172
Ocean and Poetry
176

The Fortunate Hyperboreans
60
Arimaspians and Scythians
67
The Kunokephaloi
77
Wonders of the East
82
Before Alexander
83
MarvelCollectors and Critics
94
The Voyage of Odysseus
183
Pytheas Euhemerus and Others
196
The Fictions of Exploration
202
After Columbus
215
Index
223
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About the author (1994)

James S. Romm is Assistant Professor of Classics at Bard College.

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