Euthymenes | |
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Euthymenes of Massalia (/juːˈθɪməniːz/;Ancient Greek:Εὐθυμένης ὁ ΜασσαλιώτηςEuthymenēs ho Massaliōtēs; fl. early sixth century BCE) was a Greek explorer fromMassalia (modernMarseille), who explored the coast of West Africa as far, apparently, as a great river, of which the outflow made the sea at its mouth fresh or brackish.
His published accounts have not survived, but seem to have been known, at least at secondhand, byPlutarch, who writes "Euthymenes the Massilian concludes that the Nile is filled byOceanus and that sea which is outward from it, the latter being naturally sweet."[1] Euthymenes thought that this river was theNile, but the river in question may have been theSenegal.[2]
Seneca the Younger also knew Euthymenes' account, which he reported inNaturales quaestiones (iv.2.22) and refuted, for various reasons:
The statue of Euthymenes (byAuguste Ottin) is featured on the façade of the Marseillebourse along with the one ofPytheas.
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