ABSTRACT
The earliest Western discussions of the antipodes primarily occur within philosophical and scientifi c writings. They address the place of the antipodes in the sense of their location and their landmass; the habitation of the antipodes in terms of whether habitation is possible and the nature of their population if it is possible; and, lastly, communication with the antipodes in physical terms, meaning the ability of people or news of people to reach the antipodes or knowledge of the antipodes to reach Europe. The discussion that follows begins with a brief exploration of the tropological, that is, the constitutively discursive features of Greek and Roman thought about the antipodes. The subsequent main body of the chapter is structured around the topics of antipodean place, habitation, and communication.
