Ebook: Science and Technology in Homeric Epics

In the Homeric Epics, important references to specific autonomous systems and mechanisms of very advanced technology, such as automata and artificial intelligence, as well as to almost modern methods of design and production are included. Even if those features of Homeric science were just poetic concepts (which on many occasions does not explain the astonishing details of design and manufacture, like the ones included in the present volume), they seem to prove that these achievements were well within human capability. In addition, the substantial development of machine theory during the early post-Homeric age shows that the Homeric descriptions were a kind of prophetic conception of these machines, and scientific research must be a quest for the fundamental principles of knowledge available during the Late Bronze Age and the dawn of the Iron Age.

Such investigations must of necessity be strongly interdisciplinary and also proceed continuously in time, since, as science progresses, new elements of knowledge are discovered in the Homeric Epics, amenable to scientific analysis.

This book brings together papers presented at the international symposium Science and Technology in Homeric Epics, which took place at Ancient Olympia in 2006. It includes a total of 41 contributions, mostly original research papers, covering diverse fields of science and technology, in the modern sense of these words.

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In the Homeric Epics, important references to specific autonomous systems and mechanisms of very advanced technology, such as automata and artificial intelligence, as well as to almost modern methods of design and production are included. Even if those features of Homeric science were just poetic concepts (which on many occasions does not explain the astonishing details of design and manufacture, like the ones included in the present volume), they seem to prove that these achievements were well within human capability. In addition, the substantial development of machine theory during the early post-Homeric age shows that the Homeric descriptions were a kind of prophetic conception of these machines, and scientific research must be a quest for the fundamental principles of knowledge available during the Late Bronze Age and the dawn of the Iron Age.

Such investigations must of necessity be strongly interdisciplinary and also proceed continuously in time, since, as science progresses, new elements of knowledge are discovered in the Homeric Epics, amenable to scientific analysis.

This book brings together papers presented at the international symposium Science and Technology in Homeric Epics, which took place at Ancient Olympia in 2006. It includes a total of 41 contributions, mostly original research papers, covering diverse fields of science and technology, in the modern sense of these words.

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In the Homeric Epics, important references to specific autonomous systems and mechanisms of very advanced technology, such as automata and artificial intelligence, as well as to almost modern methods of design and production are included. Even if those features of Homeric science were just poetic concepts (which on many occasions does not explain the astonishing details of design and manufacture, like the ones included in the present volume), they seem to prove that these achievements were well within human capability. In addition, the substantial development of machine theory during the early post-Homeric age shows that the Homeric descriptions were a kind of prophetic conception of these machines, and scientific research must be a quest for the fundamental principles of knowledge available during the Late Bronze Age and the dawn of the Iron Age.

Such investigations must of necessity be strongly interdisciplinary and also proceed continuously in time, since, as science progresses, new elements of knowledge are discovered in the Homeric Epics, amenable to scientific analysis.

This book brings together papers presented at the international symposium Science and Technology in Homeric Epics, which took place at Ancient Olympia in 2006. It includes a total of 41 contributions, mostly original research papers, covering diverse fields of science and technology, in the modern sense of these words.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xx
Mycenaean Technology....Pages 3-33
Autagreton....Pages 35-39
Archimedes' Count of Homer's Cattle of the Sun....Pages 43-66
Vortices in Homer's Odyssey — A Scientific Approach....Pages 67-75
The Homeric Automata and Their Implementation....Pages 77-84
The River Ocean: Homer's Cosmogony....Pages 85-91
The Laws of Curvilinear Motion in the Iliad....Pages 93-100
Iron in the Homeric Epics & Homer, a Sensible Ecologist....Pages 103-111
Early Bronze Technology at Land's End, North Western Iberia....Pages 113-131
Porphyra: In Search of Dyeing Methods in Ancient Greece....Pages 133-138
Technology Transfer in the Bronze Age: The Case of a Faience-Like Blue Glaze Produced at Bread-Oven Temperatures....Pages 139-164
From Homer to Hoplite: Scientific Investigations of Greek Copper Alloy Helmets....Pages 167-179
Defensive Weapons in Homer....Pages 181-203
How the Greeks Got Ahead: Technological Aspects of Manufacture of a Corinthian Type Hoplite Bronze Helmet from Olympia....Pages 205-220
Theoretical Analysis of Telecommunication through “Friktories”....Pages 223-229
Elements of Engineering Geology and Geotechnical Engineering in the Homeric Poems....Pages 233-242
Geological Knowledge of Greeks in the Era of Trojan War....Pages 243-255
Static and Dynamic Analysis of the Atreus Vaulted Tomb in Mycenae....Pages 257-265
Homeric Injury Scenes on Ancient Greek Pottery Reveal Medical Knowledge....Pages 269-274
The Healing Art in the Iliad....Pages 275-281
Medicinal Herbs and Plants in Homer....Pages 283-291
Agricultural Development in the Homeric Era....Pages 295-301
The Fauna of Greece and Adjacent Areas in the Age of Homer....Pages 303-315
“Eneoros Minos” and the Minoan Calendrical Abacus....Pages 319-324
The Divine Fires of Creation: Homeric Hephaestos as a Comet/Meteor God....Pages 325-340
A Comet during the Trojan War?....Pages 341-356
Homeric Calendar and Helios Charioteer....Pages 357-368
Homer and Orosius: A Key to Explain Deucalion's Flood, Exodus and Other Tales....Pages 369-374
Homer at Sea (????????? ???????)....Pages 377-384
The Redness of Ulysses' Ships....Pages 385-389
Ambrosia, Nectar and Elaion in the Homeric Poems....Pages 391-399
Dietary Habits in Homer....Pages 401-412
Trojan Plain and Homeric Topography....Pages 415-431
M?tis and the Artificial....Pages 435-442
Interpreting the Representations on the Shield of Achilles....Pages 443-450
Homer and the So-Called Homeric Questions....Pages 451-467
Atlantis in Homer and Other Authors Prior to Plato....Pages 469-508
Did Ulysses Travel to Atlantis?....Pages 509-514
Homer's Reference to Writing in Proitos' Era....Pages 515-523
Linguistic Science and Script Technology: The Homeric Evidence....Pages 525-530
The Miraculous Homeric Metre....Pages 531-536

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In the Homeric Epics, important references to specific autonomous systems and mechanisms of very advanced technology, such as automata and artificial intelligence, as well as to almost modern methods of design and production are included. Even if those features of Homeric science were just poetic concepts (which on many occasions does not explain the astonishing details of design and manufacture, like the ones included in the present volume), they seem to prove that these achievements were well within human capability. In addition, the substantial development of machine theory during the early post-Homeric age shows that the Homeric descriptions were a kind of prophetic conception of these machines, and scientific research must be a quest for the fundamental principles of knowledge available during the Late Bronze Age and the dawn of the Iron Age.

Such investigations must of necessity be strongly interdisciplinary and also proceed continuously in time, since, as science progresses, new elements of knowledge are discovered in the Homeric Epics, amenable to scientific analysis.

This book brings together papers presented at the international symposium Science and Technology in Homeric Epics, which took place at Ancient Olympia in 2006. It includes a total of 41 contributions, mostly original research papers, covering diverse fields of science and technology, in the modern sense of these words.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xx
Mycenaean Technology....Pages 3-33
Autagreton....Pages 35-39
Archimedes' Count of Homer's Cattle of the Sun....Pages 43-66
Vortices in Homer's Odyssey — A Scientific Approach....Pages 67-75
The Homeric Automata and Their Implementation....Pages 77-84
The River Ocean: Homer's Cosmogony....Pages 85-91
The Laws of Curvilinear Motion in the Iliad....Pages 93-100
Iron in the Homeric Epics & Homer, a Sensible Ecologist....Pages 103-111
Early Bronze Technology at Land's End, North Western Iberia....Pages 113-131
Porphyra: In Search of Dyeing Methods in Ancient Greece....Pages 133-138
Technology Transfer in the Bronze Age: The Case of a Faience-Like Blue Glaze Produced at Bread-Oven Temperatures....Pages 139-164
From Homer to Hoplite: Scientific Investigations of Greek Copper Alloy Helmets....Pages 167-179
Defensive Weapons in Homer....Pages 181-203
How the Greeks Got Ahead: Technological Aspects of Manufacture of a Corinthian Type Hoplite Bronze Helmet from Olympia....Pages 205-220
Theoretical Analysis of Telecommunication through “Friktories”....Pages 223-229
Elements of Engineering Geology and Geotechnical Engineering in the Homeric Poems....Pages 233-242
Geological Knowledge of Greeks in the Era of Trojan War....Pages 243-255
Static and Dynamic Analysis of the Atreus Vaulted Tomb in Mycenae....Pages 257-265
Homeric Injury Scenes on Ancient Greek Pottery Reveal Medical Knowledge....Pages 269-274
The Healing Art in the Iliad....Pages 275-281
Medicinal Herbs and Plants in Homer....Pages 283-291
Agricultural Development in the Homeric Era....Pages 295-301
The Fauna of Greece and Adjacent Areas in the Age of Homer....Pages 303-315
“Eneoros Minos” and the Minoan Calendrical Abacus....Pages 319-324
The Divine Fires of Creation: Homeric Hephaestos as a Comet/Meteor God....Pages 325-340
A Comet during the Trojan War?....Pages 341-356
Homeric Calendar and Helios Charioteer....Pages 357-368
Homer and Orosius: A Key to Explain Deucalion's Flood, Exodus and Other Tales....Pages 369-374
Homer at Sea (????????? ???????)....Pages 377-384
The Redness of Ulysses' Ships....Pages 385-389
Ambrosia, Nectar and Elaion in the Homeric Poems....Pages 391-399
Dietary Habits in Homer....Pages 401-412
Trojan Plain and Homeric Topography....Pages 415-431
M?tis and the Artificial....Pages 435-442
Interpreting the Representations on the Shield of Achilles....Pages 443-450
Homer and the So-Called Homeric Questions....Pages 451-467
Atlantis in Homer and Other Authors Prior to Plato....Pages 469-508
Did Ulysses Travel to Atlantis?....Pages 509-514
Homer's Reference to Writing in Proitos' Era....Pages 515-523
Linguistic Science and Script Technology: The Homeric Evidence....Pages 525-530
The Miraculous Homeric Metre....Pages 531-536
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