Table Of ContentThe Unknown Technology in Homer
HISTORY OF MECHANISM AND MACHINE SCIENCE
Volume9
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MARCOCECCARELLI
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S.A. Paipetis
The Unknown Technology
in Homer
S.A.Paipetis
Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Aeronautics
University of Patras
Patras 26500, Greece
From the original Greek “The Unknown Technology in Homer”, Esoptron Publications,
Athens, Greece,2005.
Every effort has been made to contact the copyright holders of the articles and figures which have
been reproduced from other sources. Anyone who has not been properly credited is requested
to contact the publishers, so that due acknowledgements may be made in subsequent editions.
ISSN 1875-3442 e-ISSN 1875-3426
ISBN 978-90-481-2513-5 e-ISBN 978-90-481-2514-2
DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-2514-2
Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010926584
© Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2010
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Contents
Preface...................................................... ix
Part1 Introduction
1 HomerandtheHomericEpics ............................. 3
1.1 TheHomericEpics.................................... 3
1.2 Homer .............................................. 6
1.3 TheHomericTradition................................. 7
1.4 TheDevelopmentofWriting............................ 9
1.5 BardsandRhapsodists ................................. 10
2 TroyandtheMythologicalCausesoftheWar................ 13
2.1 TheMythological CausesoftheTrojanWar ............... 17
3 AchillesandtheMe¯nis .................................... 25
4 TheSiegeandFallofTroy................................. 33
5 Odysseus’LongWayHome................................ 41
5.1 TheDescent toHadesandtheNekyomanteion ofAcheron
River................................................ 45
6 TrojanWarandCulturalTradition......................... 49
6.1 AnArchitectural Masterpiece inHonourofAchilles ........ 52
7 ScientificKnowledgeintheHomericEpics .................. 57
8 OnScienceandTechnology................................ 61
v
vi Contents
Part2 PrinciplesofNaturalScience
9 ChariotRacingandtheLawsofCurvilinearMotion.......... 67
9.1 TheMycenaean Chariot................................ 67
9.2 Nestor’sInstructions toAntilochos....................... 70
9.3 OnCurvilinear Motion................................. 72
9.4 TheChariotRace ..................................... 74
10 CreepinWood ........................................... 77
11 HydrodynamicsofVorticesandtheGravitational Sling ....... 81
11.1 Hydrodynamics ofVortices ............................. 87
11.2 TheGravitational Sling ................................ 90
Part3 AutomationandArtificialIntelligence
12 TheForgeofHephaestus .................................. 95
13 TheRobotsofHephaestus .................................107
14 TheShipsofthePhaeaciansandtheUAVs...................113
Part4 DefensiveWeaponsintheEpics
15 StructuralMaterialsandAnalyticalProcesses ...............121
15.1 MetalsinHomer ......................................121
15.2 CompositeMaterials...................................122
15.3 NumericalAnalysisoftheContact-Impact Problem.........128
15.4 ExplicitIntegration Scheme.............................129
15.5 Contact-Impact Algorithm..............................131
15.5.1 Elastic-Plastic Constitutive Equations ..............133
15.5.2 FrictionModel .................................134
16 TheShieldofAchilles .....................................135
16.1 NumericalAnalysisandResults .........................141
17 TheShieldofAjax........................................147
17.1 AnalysisofResults....................................150
17.2 Experimental .........................................152
17.3 Discussion ofResultsandConclusions ...................154
TheUnknownTechnologyinHomer vii
18 MoreDefensiveWeapons..................................157
18.1 TheShieldofHeracles.................................157
18.1.1 Cyanus ........................................158
18.1.2 Electrus .......................................160
18.1.3 Ivory..........................................160
18.1.4 Helmets .......................................161
18.2 ThePanoplyofAtreide¯s................................163
18.3 TheRomanShield ....................................165
Part5 FurtherIssues
19 TheTrojanHorse ........................................169
19.1 WoodasStructuralMaterial ............................175
19.1.1 AnElementaryStructuralAnalysis.................177
20 MycenaeanBuilding ......................................179
20.1 TheTreasuryofAtreus.................................180
21 TheMiraculousHomericMeter............................197
21.1 Meditation ...........................................197
21.2 TheHomericMeter ...................................201
21.3 TheDactylicHexameter ...............................202
Apppendix:TheForge–ALiterary-Symbolic Approach..........205
Preface
Using such terms as science and technology, which have been relatively re-
centlyadopted,towriteaboutsituationsandeventsthatoccurred2,500years
ago, maybeaparadox. TheHomericEpics, theIliadandtheOdyssey, refer
totheMyceneanEra,acivilisationthatflourishedfromthe16thto12thcen-
tury BCE. The seeming paradox ceases to be one when modern specialists,
searching through the ancients texts, discover knowledge and applications
soadvanced, thatcan betermedasscientific ortechnological inthemodern
senseofthewords.
Thepresent book isbased onextensive research performed bythe author
and his associates at the University of Patras, along with the presentations
of other researchers at two international symposia, which he organized in
AncientOlympia.1
It consists of five parts, of which Part I is introductory, including such
chapters asHomerandHomericEpics,Troyandthemythological causesof
the War, Achilles and his wrath, the siege and fall of Troy, Odysseus’ long
wayhome,theTrojanwarandthecultural tradition, scientificknowledge in
theHomericEpicsandfinallyanaccountonscienceandtechnology.
PartIIincludes threechaptersonapplications ofprinciples ofnaturalsci-
ence, including chariot racing and the laws of curvilinear motion, creep in
woodandhydrodynamics ofvortices andthegravitational sling.
PartIIIconsistsofthreechaptersonautomationandartificialintelligence,
namely,ontheforgeofHephaestus,therobotsofHephaestusandthePhaea-
cianshipsandtheUAVs.
1“ExtraordinaryMachinesandStructures”(2001)and“ScienceandTechnologyinHomeric
Epics”(2006).
ix
