5th c. B.C. Archives - Kotsanas Museum

The “hysplex”

admino — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 10:09:55 +0000

It was a starting mechanism used in Ancient Greece during the Olympics and other athletic competitions in order to prevent the false start of the athletes. It consisted of two vertical poles fixed to the starting line, bearing two horizontal ropes (one at the height of the knees and the other at the height of the athletes’ abdomen). When the referee pulled the rope of ring latches that released the poles, they fell with momentum on the ground –because of the force of the twisted string at the base– thus permitting the start of the race.

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The alarm clock of Plato

admino — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 10:06:41 +0000

It was a hydraulic alarm clock which was invented by Plato. The upper ceramic vessel supplied the next vessel with water through a tap (appropriately calculated provision for each case). When the second vessel was full at the programmed moment (e.g. after 7 hours), it emptied quickly through an axial siphon to the next airtight vessel and forced the contained air to come out with pressure, whistling through a syringe at its top. Because the flute led to water, the vibrating sound length produced a chirp with notes of different frequency. After its operation, the third vessel emptied slowly (through a small hole located at its bottom) to the lower storage vessel in order to be reused.

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The flying pigeon of Archytas

admino — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 10:07:22 +0000

It was the first autonomous volatile machine of antiquity. It consisted of a light but powerful shell that had the form of a pigeon and had internally the bladder of a big animal. The aerodynamic pigeon was placed with the opening of the bladder adapted to the utmost opening of a heated airtight boiler (or a powerful piston air-pump). When the pressure of the steam or air exceeded the mechanical resistance of the connection, the pigeon was launched and continued its flight for some hundreds of meters, with the help of the compressed air force coming out of the bladder, according to the principles of aerodynamics.

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The gastraphetes (belly-releaser)

admino — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 10:06:49 +0000

In the land battles, the weapon range was quite often a comparative advantage; for example, an archer was superior to a sword-bearer. So, all peoples tried to have stronger bows. However, the range of the conventional bows was limited by two anthropometric factors; both the length-tension of the bow, which cannot exceed the distance from the outstretched arm to the shoulder of the archer, and the tensile strength of the bow cannot exceed half the weight of the archer. Both, however, were overcome with the invention of gastraphetes, the first catapult. It was a bow that the operator cocked by placing and pressing between his belly [Ancient Greek γαστήρ (gastēr) > gastro-] and a stable obstacle. Thus, the application of greater force was ensured but also the greater stretch of the bowstring. It consisted of a powerful and not so flexible bow that had an inflexible –as all bows of antiquity– bowstring and a transverse wooden case (syrigx) with a jagged board on each side. The case had dovetail form in which a wooden beam (slider) could run securely. The slider had, on each side through articulations, two small parts (pawls or blocks), that locked when it cocked on the jagged boards. On the upper part it had a semi-circular groove, on which the arrow was placed. Furthermore, at the rear there was a ratchet and pawl system. This consisted of a metal claw (retaining pin) articulated on two stanchions (holders) and two teeth that held the bowstring, and by a rotating rod (trigger), that secured or released the claw.

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