Vᵉ siècle av. J.-C. – Vᵉ siècle av. J.-C.
Atlantic coast of Africa
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Sataspes’s voyage was a reported attempt to circumnavigate Africa by sea after Xerxes commuted his death sentence to this assignment. Herodotus describes a southward journey lasting several months, ending when the vessel could no longer make headway. The passage argues that Sataspes probably reached no farther than southern Morocco and that prevailing winds would have prevented a continued voyage toward the southern African coast.
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Le récit
Sataspes was a Persian condemned to death by Xerxes, whose reign is dated here to 485–465 BC. His sentence was commuted to an apparently harsher task: he was required to circumnavigate Africa by sea, beginning from the west. The episode is preserved through Herodotus’s account of the voyage and of its failure.
According to the reported narrative, Sataspes sailed south for several months before reaching a country inhabited by small people who wore garments made from palm leaves. They fled into the hills after he landed. Sataspes then stopped because his vessel could make no headway, and on his return Xerxes judged that he had lied as well as failed in the assignment; he was impaled.
The historical interpretation offered here is sharply skeptical. Sataspes is thought to have fabricated much of the story, perhaps remaining in an isolated anchorage in southern Morocco while waiting for Xerxes’s anger to subside. Even a voyage reaching the Gulf of Guinea would, under the prevailing winds described, have faced serious obstacles to continuing toward the Cape of Good Hope.
Vᵉ siècle av. J.-C. – Vᵉ siècle av. J.-C.
Atlantic coast of Africa
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Sataspes’s voyage was a reported attempt to circumnavigate Africa by sea after Xerxes commuted his death sentence to this assignment. Herodotus describes a southward journey lasting several months, ending when the vessel could no longer make headway. The passage argues that Sataspes probably reached no farther than southern Morocco and that prevailing winds would have prevented a continued voyage toward the southern African coast.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Sataspes was a Persian condemned to death by Xerxes, whose reign is dated here to 485–465 BC. His sentence was commuted to an apparently harsher task: he was required to circumnavigate Africa by sea, beginning from the west. The episode is preserved through Herodotus’s account of the voyage and of its failure.
According to the reported narrative, Sataspes sailed south for several months before reaching a country inhabited by small people who wore garments made from palm leaves. They fled into the hills after he landed. Sataspes then stopped because his vessel could make no headway, and on his return Xerxes judged that he had lied as well as failed in the assignment; he was impaled.
The historical interpretation offered here is sharply skeptical. Sataspes is thought to have fabricated much of the story, perhaps remaining in an isolated anchorage in southern Morocco while waiting for Xerxes’s anger to subside. Even a voyage reaching the Gulf of Guinea would, under the prevailing winds described, have faced serious obstacles to continuing toward the Cape of Good Hope.