While the contribution of the ancient Greeks in the fields of rational thought, science, and fine arts remains unique, the history of ancient Greek technology is still quite unknown. A thorough study of the ancient Greek, Latin, and Arabic literature, the angiographic information, and the few relevant archeological finds point to a world full of technological achievements that we might still be envious of today.
More than 300 inventions of the Greeks are known today and raise questions: From the "robot maid" of Philo, the hydraulic telegraph of Aeneas, and the "cinema" of Heron, to the automatic clock of Ctesibius, the astrolabe of Ptolemy, and the analog computer of Antikythera, Greek craftsmen drew on pioneering mathematicians, geographers, astronomers, and philosophers to conceive inventions that would become the structural features of modern technology.
But it was the scientists themselves too who found practical applications for their theories, creating a technological world of inventions, automata and computers as if they had sprung from the pages of science fiction. Plato (alarm clock), Aristotle (alarm clock), Pythagoras (beaker), Archimedes (hydraulic clock), Architas (flying machine) filled technology with marvelous works and gave Alexandrian engineers the ideal pass to build amazing things like robots, "cinema", "moving puppet theaters" and many other. Greek engineering spread to all fields and involved, besides the legendary "automatic", astronomical clocks (astrolabe etc.), measuring mechanisms (binoculars, spirit levels, odometers, nautical odometers, foot-powered lathes, pantographs, goniometers, windmills, drills, taps, etc.), in medical technology ("Pyulkos", i.e. the syringe), in agriculture (olive mills, mills, oil presses and plows), in the textile industry ("Penelope loom"), in sports (equestrian sports), in mechanical engineering (cranes, lifting machines, rails, winches, connectors, dowels and implants), in hydraulics (cylinders, chain pumps, hydraulic wheels, fire pumps, fire pumps, wind turbines and air coolers), telecommunications(Pyrrexia and Fryctories, hydraulic and acoustic telegraphs, cryptographic plates), siege equipment (Hovering Aries of Gira, Tortoise of Epiados of Epidaeus, Elepolis of Epimachus, Samviki of Damios, Flogovolo of Boeotia, Gastrafetis, but also many types of catapult) and so much more.
The Museum of Ancient Greek Technology "Kostas Kotsanas", located in Katakolo, Ilia, houses incredible technologies covering a long period from 2000 BC. Costas Kotsanas after 25 years of research has managed to reconstruct the most authoritative and complete exhibition of ancient Greek technologies. All photos of ancient Greek technologies are from his wonderful museum.
The "Cinema" of Heron
The automatic theater of Heron was another famous invention. Heron the Alexandrian was a versatile engineer, an excellent mathematician, and a unique inventor.
In his book, "Pneumatika" Heron describes eighty automatons, practical applications of all the principles of science known at that time, and in his next book "Automation" he tells us about the "mobile automatic" (a self-propelled programmable vehicle) and the amazing automatic theater, the cinema of the ancient Greeks with animation and sound.
In Heron's early films, you could see the whole myth of Nafplios, who seeks revenge on the Achaeans who killed his son, Palamidis, in Troy. The curtain opened and closed, figures moved, sounds were made, scenes changed, fires were lit, lightning struck, thunder was heard, and much more that happened automatically. The theater is still a model for modern mechanics of automation because of its complex and harmonious operation. Heron improved on the automatic theater of Philo of Byzantium (3rd century BC) by performing a true miracle. In fact, everything happened automatically by pulling the rope at the front (or, as we would say today - with the push of a button).
The "Bird that Cries" of Heron
The ancients called it "Rotating Flying Peak" and it was a temple shrine, in which a bird revolved and chirped when the visitor turned the outer wheel of its case. Two axles, a series of radial wheels, a curved lumen, and an inverted hollow vessel immersed in water did all the magic.
The bird spun rapidly and chirped at different frequencies to accurately convey the real chirping of different species.
The "Philosopher's Stone" of Heron
Another incredible invention of Heron of Alexandria that worked as a pure magic trick, as its purpose was to transform one liquid into another (usually wine into water). In the "Philosopher's Stone" you would pour water and take an equal amount of wine, and vice versa, as told by the scientist in his book "Pneumatika".
The "automatic pen with coin tester" of Heron
The first vending machine in history. The believers dropped a five-drachma coin into the receptacle and got automatically holy water. As Heron relates in "Pneumatika," the coin fell on the pan of a scale and, by deflecting the pan from its position, opened a conical valve that released a corresponding (depending on the weight of the coin) amount of holy water.
The Aeolipile of Heron
Long before James Watt and his Industrial Revolution, Heron the Alexandrian had constructed the first locomotive of mankind. Again, in the "Pneumatika," book, the great scientist tells us that there were two tubes above the boiler, and around their curved ends a sphere with two nozzles. When the water in the boiler was heated, it evaporated and entered - through the two vertical pipes - the sphere and flowed out of the two nozzles, setting the sphere into (opposite) continuous rotation.
The forerunner of the locomotive brought the Industrial Revolution almost into the Hellenistic era, for all that was missing was a pulley for the transmission of motion.
The magic fountain of Heron
A very intelligent fountain that apparently violated the principles of hydrostatic pressure and communicating vessels, as it splashed water higher than the available level of its tank.
Using a mechanism of replenishing the liquid and mobilizing the principle of trapped air, as revealed to us in "Pneumatika," Heron enchanted the audience of the time with his tricks. The fountain splashed the water higher than it should, automatically because the process was self-sustaining, and lasted until the tank was completely empty.
The "robot-maid" of Philo
Philo's automatic maid is actually mankind's first functioning robot. It was just a life-sized humanoid holding a jug in its right hand. When the user placed a cup in the palm of the robot, it automatically poured wine.
Inside the maid were two watertight containers, one with wine and one with water, and through a complex joint mechanism all the automatic work was done. When the glass was half full of wine, the pointer continued to go down (due to weight) and the flow of wine stopped. If one wished (that is, if the cup continued to be left in the maid's hand), water would flow to dilute the wine, according to the popular custom of the ancients.
The maid would fill the cup with pure wine or diluted with water in the amount you desired, depending on when you would pull the cup from its hand. Incredible, but true.
The intelligent winemaker of Philo
It has been called the first "intelligent" household appliance in the history of the world. Its function was similar to that of the robotic maid. So, the Philo the Byzantine produced the "intelligent" jug, which automatically dispensed water, wine or watery wine, depending on the will of the winemaker.
A vertical membrane divided the jug into two compartments (water and wine) and depending on the ventilation holes that the winemaker covered with his fingers each time, the jug performed all the magic! Every wish of the accomplices was immediately ordered for the magic wine.
The automatic clock of Ctesibius
The hydraulic clock of Ctesibius was a marvel of automation with the continuous operation without human intervention! The Greeks were enchanted by timekeeping, and from the 6th century BC, they invented an amazing collection of clocks that featured amazing variety, high esthetics and, of course, superb ergonomics. From sundials that told time by the shadow on a specially calibrated surface to hydraulic clocks (hourglasses) that relied on the constant and continuous flow of water between two vessels, the ancients literally performed miracles in the measurement of time.
Of course, none was like the automatic clock of Ctesibius, which could work continuously without human intervention, showing the 365 different hours of the year! An intelligent tank system was connected to a water source, and safety valves and water level regulators moved the hand, which showed the time of 24 hours on a rotating drum that contained the table of day and night hours, depending on the date. At the end of the 24 hours, the water emptied quickly and the process repeated itself forever.
The hydraulic clock of Archimedes
It was a complex hydraulic clock with many automatically moving sidewalls, which made the two columns of the façade indicate the elapsed or remaining hours by means of corresponding movable rings (and two statuettes).
At each hour, the pupils of a human face changed color, and from the (automatically) opening beak of a crow, a pearl tumbled into a container! Simultaneously, water was poured into a volumetric container which automatically tipped over after an hour, whereupon two snakes moved, whistling as they flew towards the birds in the trees, who whistled in fright. It was an impressive way to learn the time!
The alarm clock of Aristotle
Aristotle did not want to spend his day in bed because he did not have enough time for his odyssey to logically analyze our world. Therefore, he had to invent a hydraulic alarm clock so that he would wake up after a short sleep and quickly return to his studies. The testimony is preserved in Diogenes Laertius ("Lives of the Philosophers"), although it does not describe the operation of his mechanism, which was based on the corresponding alarm clock of Plato.
A container of water was emptied at a predetermined rate of discharge into another container that had a hinged hemispherical float. At the predetermined moment when the container was full, the float was inverted and the beads placed on its flat surface fell into a metal cup (or plate), making a deafening noise!
Plato's alarm clock
The world's first alarm clock woke Plato with whistles! A ceramic vessel filled a second vessel through a nozzle and was emptied at a specific moment by a pulse (via an internal axial pipette) by filling the next closed vessel. The trapped air came out with whistling pressure from a syringe above.
In fact, after its use, the alarm clock automatically returned to its initial state, to be reset for the next alarm.
The portable watch of Parmenion
Its function was based on three modular rings: the outer one was oriented east-west, the middle one consisted of two semicircles defining the months for four different latitudes (i.e. cities), and the inner ring was divided into 12 equal parts defining the 12 hours.
While the clock was in operation, the half-ring containing the area's data was rotated to a 90-degree position and the inner ring was placed in the correct month so that a dot of light showed the exact time on the screen! Parmenion's multi-clock also calculated latitudes, azimuths, and stellar altitudes.
The steamer of Archimedes
The most eminent scientist of ancient Greece, when not making colossal discoveries in the fields of mathematics, geometry, physics, astronomy, engineering, hydraulics, architecture and shipbuilding, he made inventions of timeless value. The hydraulic screw, the Roman yoke, the famous hydraulic clock with knocking sign, the astronomical planetarium, the powerful winches, the construction of the giant "Syracuse" and the terrific siege engines are just some of the incredible achievements.
The steamer was part of his siege engineering and was a cannon powered by steam! It consisted of a metal cylindrical boiler with a closed container of water on top (connected by a tap). The kettle had a built-in wooden barrel at its open end, into which the stone ball to be fired was placed. When the kettle with fire reached the appropriate temperature, the soldier opened the tap, the water fell into the kettle, it quickly evaporated, the wooden bar broke and the bullet was fired.
The range of the bullet was adjusted by the inclination of the weapon and the chosen thickness of the wooden beam. Archimedes' ingenious steamer was redesigned centuries later by Leonardo da Vinci.
The Pythagorean Cup of Law
The famous philosopher and mathematician wanted to teach his students the principles of moderation in life so that they would live with justice and virtue. And so he made a teaching cup that summarized his reasoning. The "wise" Pythagorean wine cup had a line defining the filling limit and an axial or curved pipette. If someone overfilled it, the liquid level covered the pipette and emptied automatically!
The Cup of Law worked in a way where if you exceed the measure (and commit offenses), you lose not only what crossed the line, but also what you had gained up to that point.
The "hydraulic telegraph" of Aeneas
Telecommunication determined and continues to determine the fate of civilizations, and the ancient Greeks placed a great emphasis on it here. Without this great knowledge, neither the spread of the Greek city-states throughout the Mediterranean nor the famous campaign of Alexander the Great would have happened. The Greeks made use of the simple torch (message transmission by fire) and built an extensive network of Fryctories (message relay stations), but they did not stop there.
The need for rapid transmission of multiple and diverse messages led them to invent the "hydraulic telegraph" (4th century BC), an amazing hydraulic device that required the use of a single torch to transmit pre-arranged messages!
The method was described by Aeneas Tacticus in the 4th century BC in his "Poliorkitika"(translated as Sieges) book and as Polybius tells us (in his "History" book), the "hydraulic telegraph" was used primarily for the rapid transmission of messages to the vast empire of Alexander the Great. At a suitably chosen height, the messengers use clay or metal vessels of equal size, containing water, in which float floating corks, somewhat narrower than the openings, in the center of which are fixed rods, divided into equal parts, and on which are written pre-arranged messages, e.g., "Horsemen have come into the country."
The "sender" operator signals the "receiver" operator to send a message by raising a lighted torch, waits for the "receiver" torch to be raised in confirmation, and then, lowering the torch, releases two lights of equal size simultaneously. When the desired message appears on the "sender's device, the operator "sender" raising the torch signals the "receiver" to complete the discharge simultaneously. Due to the similarity of the devices, the outlets, but also the same water level, the "receiver" device will display the desired pre-agreed message.
The Astrolabe of Ptolemy
The GPS of the ancient Greeks was an excellent astronomical instrument, which was used to measure the longitude and latitude of the observed stars from any point on the earth, and also to determine the distance between the sun and the moon. It consisted of seven concentric, articulated rings showing the meridians, the poles and equator, the direction of the sun, the daily rotation of the earth, the longitudes and latitudes of the stars.
It was a true astronomical multi-machine, combining the geographical and astronomical knowledge of the Greeks, Babylonians, etc. Ptolemy describes it in detail in his great work "Mathematical Syntax".
The "Flying Dove" of Archytas
The flying dove of Archytas of Tarantino was the first autonomous flying machine. It consisted of a light but a strong shell, shaped like a dove and like the bladder of a large animal inside.
The aerodynamic dove was connected with the bladder opening to the open end of a heated, watertight boiler (or a powerful, reciprocating air pump). When the pressure of the steam (or air) exceeded the mechanical strength of the connection, the pigeon repelled itself and continued its flight for a few hundred feet using the momentum of the outflowing compressed air of the bladder, according to the principles of aerodynamics.
Source: Kotsanas museum
