In the reading passage, there is ample support for the author’s claim that it is highly unlikely that the Phoenicians’ journey to Africa ever took place. However, the professor in the lecture gives several reasons as a rebuttal to the author’s point.
First, the professor contends that the food issue was not a problem for Phoenicians. He states that Phoenicians might have been settled at the coast of Africa regularly and yield enough crops to store on their ship. With this strategy, even though the ship was small, they could take a long journey to Africa without being starved. This cast doubt on the reading passage’s claim that it would have been impossible for the Phoenicians to take a long trip to Africa, more than months or years, since the ship was not big enough to carry enough food to feed the sailors.
Next, the professor argues that Pheonocians had a good reason in circumnavigating Africa. He came up with the fact that Pheonocians were suffering from an economic crisis because at that period, Greek dominated most of the land. Therefore, they needed to establish a new trade. This counters the reading passage’s assertion that there were no reasons for Pheoenicians to bear the highly costly trip in Africa because there were no practical benefits.
Finally, the professor insists that Herodotus’s works are reliable. The professor further states that Herodotus was the first person who developed the way of systematically gathering sources and organizing them. Also, albeit Herodotus was known for his exaggerated writing styles, however, it was discovered by archeologists that he was actually right and the details were not exaggerated. This refutes the reading passage’s suggestion that the historical document, the evidence of the trip, is not reliable.