• Did Solon travel to Egypt?

    Author(s):
    Oliver D. Smith (see profile)
    Date:
    2021
    Subject(s):
    Egypt, History, Ancient, Greece
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Solon, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/5arv-wd60
    Abstract:
    Solon is widely thought by classicists to have once travelled to Egypt during his lifetime; this paper in contrast denies Solon set foot in Egypt based on issues with Herodotean chronology as well as puts forward a new argument: Egypto-Greek contact during Solon’s lifetime was limited to commerce mostly by Greek merchants from Asia Minor (such as Ionia), rather than mainland Greece or Aegean. Solon therefore unlikely considered travelling to Egypt for his apodemia (10-year period abroad). It is concluded that since Solon had never visited Egypt, Plato’s story of Atlantis that Solon supposedly overheard from Saitic priests is fiction.
    Metadata:
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    2 years ago
    License:
    Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
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