Discovering the Genius of Ancient Greek Inventions at the Kotsanas Museum

When we think of the ancient Greeks, we probably think of philosophy, drama, comedy, myths of the gods, political thought, fine arts like sculpture and pottery, and less so technological advances.

Living in Greece though, you can’t help but hear people say all the time that the ancient Greeks had it all and did it all. After visiting the Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek technology, you’ll be amazed at what you see and you’ll totally agree.

The museum is housed in a buttercup yellow art nouveau building of the late 19th century on Pindarou near Academias St. In a residence that originally belonged to Queen Aspasia Mainou, wife of King Alexander I, the museum is a treasure trove of facsimiles of technological inventions from the ancient Greek world.

The replicas of inventions were done by Kostas Kotsanas, who trained as a mechanical engineer. His fascination with the ancient world led him to spend 22 years researching old sources in Greek, Latin and Arabic about inventions and studying pottery and archaeological finds. In those years, he constructed what you see today in the museum, which was nominated in 2019 for “best European museum.” (The winner was the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam) 

What are some reasons for the inventiveness of the ancient Greeks? Surely Greece’s strategic position as a crossroads between East and West, Europe, Asia and Africa is a factor. The ancient Greeks were seafarers, explorers and merchants with a curiosity about the world they lived in.

A veritable technological and scientific revolution occurred at the end of the 4th century BC, the Hellenistic era, encouraged by Alexander the Great’s military campaign and cities that were colonized. Aristotle’s school of thought, emphasizing logic based on empiricism, also set in motion great inventions of the time. 

These inventions, we’re told, peaked the 3rd century BC. Afterwards, the ancient world fell into a kind of “ethical and political decline” for many centuries. Think of it, for nearly 1000 years afterwards, technology hardly advanced. It wasn’t  until the 13th century AD that inventions started to approach once again the level the ancient Greeks had.

Let’s start with one of the most interesting creations on display. Robots? The Greeks had their own version in the robot servant of Philon of Byzantium, so-called although during his lifetime (3rd century BC) he mostly lived in Alexandria.

Philon must have had great dinner parties showing off this full size woman robot. Here she is, fully clothed, presumably how his guests would have seen her, holding her jug or pitcher.

But inside as you can see, instead of breasts, she’s got tanks of wine and water. The ancients always drank their wine diluted — not wanting to get drunk.

With her wine jug in one hand, her other hand is free to receive the cup that you give her. When you place your cup in her left hand, the mechanism inside of liquid and air tubes starts to work. Air pressure pushes the liquids, first wine, then water, through the right arm into the pitcher and then into the cup with the appropriate proportion.

(Centuries before Philon’s servant robot, the ancient Greeks had been exploring themes about automatons and artificial intelligence, especially in the story of Talos, a mythical bronze robot who guarded Crete. Talos, who was created by Hephaestus, the god of fire and craftsmanship, got his strength from a single vein of ichor, the blood of the gods. The sorceress Medea found a way to remove his bronze nail that kept the ichor, and it went flowing out of him, taking his strength with him.)

Philon’s robot servant, in making sure that your wine was diluted with the right amount of water, shows the importance of moderation or metron ariston to the ancient Greeks.

The Pythagoras cup shows this principle very well. This was a “smart” wine cup that had a siphon and a line that determined how much you could fill it. If you put too much wine in the cup, it emptied automatically and spilled through the bottom. In a way it was like you were being punished for taking too much, as designed by Pythagoras, 6th century BC philosopher and mathematician from the island of Samos, who is credited with many scientific and mathematical discoveries and who greatly influenced Plato, as well as mathematicians of later centuries.

A museum note tells us more about this cup:

It is also called the cup of justice (hubris and nemesis) When the limit was exceeded, (hubris), lost was not only that which exceeded the limit but also that which had been acquired up to then (punishment — nemesis). It shows the proverb “The one who wants all will get nothing.”

Also on display is a wine jug, again attributed to Philon, from which water, wine or watered down wine, was poured automatically. Outside the jug it appears like there’s only one outlet, but there are actually two, one inside the other. The cupbearer can control the flow with air holes.

Maria, our helpful museum guide, showed us another invention of Philon’s in this room of his creations, again involving water and air pressure. When you poured water, the air forced it up into a pretty fountain. The Pre Socratic philosophers used to argue about which element was most important, air, water or fire. In the museum, you see the amazing results of using just air and water.

Holy water. This invention, designed by Heron of Alexandria, a Greek Egyptian mathematician and inventor from the 1st century AD, again shows air pressure and water at work in “the first vending machine.” When you put in a coin, it falls on a pan attached to a lever. This lever opens a valve to let water flow out. And presto, you’ve got holy water that made people at the time see this as a religious miracle.

Besides air and water, we see how fire was used in this invention of temple doors that opened automatically, powered by lighting a fire over the altar and a hydraulic system that was hidden under the temple. Another event that made people believe in a miracle from divine intervention.

What’s that high chirping sound we hear as we enter another room? It’s drawing us to the corner to this contraption with four jug-like vessels. Let’s see, this was an invention of…Plato? He too was caught up in inventions in the 5th century BC.

Using only water and air pressure, he invented an ingenious hydraulic clock. How did it work? The upper vessel gave water to the next vessel and when the 2nd was full (after 7 hours), it emptied quickly through an axial siphon to the 3rd vessel. This one was airtight and forced the contained air to come out with pressure, whistling through a syringe at its top and making a chirping sound  with notes of different frequency. Then the 3rd vessel emptied slowly thru a small hole in the bottom, to the lowest storage vessel to be used once more.

It seems that the ancient Greeks had a great interest in measuring time. Beyond the hourglass and the sundial used in the ancient world, we can see some more innovative ways the ancients used.

Moving on from time instruments, the museum also features catapults and hoisting machines, many of which were used centuries later in constructing the huge medieval cathedrals. In terms of lifting heavy objects, we can see two of Archimedes’ inventions, still used today, the hydraulic screw, which lifts water from one place to another and a windlass, often used to hoist up water from a well.

Actually, the windlass maximizes human power so much that it was even used to pull such heavy objects as a ship from sea to shore. This was demonstrated by Archimedes himself, certainly winning the amazement of the public!

Archimedes, in the 3rd century BC was certainly one of the greatest ancient Greek mathematicians, engineers and inventors. We know him by the probably apocryphal story of excitedly discovering the principle of buoyancy while in his bathtub and running through the street naked calling “Eureka,” (“Evrika“) — I found it! (And realizing that the supposed gold crown made for the king wasn’t all gold.) Whether true or not, the story shows his mind was constantly working, even in his bath!

This total dedication actually led to his death in Syracuse in Sicily, part of Magna Grecia, where he was born and lived throughout his life. The story goes that during the Roman siege, Archimedes was contemplating a mathematical diagram and didn’t realize what was going on. A Roman soldier commanded him to come and meet Marcellus, the Roman leader, but Archimedes declined, saying that he had to finish working on a problem. This enraged the soldier, who killed him with his sword.

Note Archimedes’ name on this model known as the Siracusia, the first “cruise ship,” that went from Syracuse to Alexandria.

The boat model is exhibited downstairs next to the room of armour, worn by soldiers from as far back as the Trojan War era, to later medieval times. If you like to see armour, you’ll love this room. The display reminded on a small scale of what you can see at the Tower Museum in London.

Back to inventions. It was in astronomy that the ancient Greeks excelled. One of the most technologically complex objects ever found in the ancient world is the Antikythera mechanism. Because of a 1st century BC shipwreck, the mechanism, found in many fragments, was preserved and discovered along with many other valuable objects by some sponge divers in 1900 off the coast of the island of Antikythera.

Sometimes called the first analog computer, this bronze mechanism or calculator, dating from the 2nd century BC, had a complex system of gears moved by a handle and was used to calculate positions of the sun, moon and planets, as well as predict calendar events, like the dates of the Panhellenic games.

The original is in the National Archaeological Museum. Scientists, who were amazed at the mechanism’s sophistication, also found some inscriptions that are regarded as kind of a “manual” (!) to explain how it worked.

Other objects of astronomical computation include a 2nd century AD spherical astrolabe used to measure longitude and latitude of observed stars anywhere on earth and also a locator of position (the first GPS).

The ancient Greeks were also into cartography, as shown in this clay sphere. As far back as the 6th century BC, Pythagoras had showed the sphericity of the earth.

Not in the museum, but just to note, the pre-Socratic philosopher Anaximander, also 6th century BC, is credited with having drawn the first map of the world, showing three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa (which he called Libya).

Ptolemy constructed a map in the 2nd century BC of the known world.

We’ve been looking at geographical and astronomical observations and measurements. Let’s not forget medical inventions and advances.

Known as the Father of Medicine, Hippocrates, 5th and 4th century BC physician, set aside some advice to doctors, most of which sounds pretty common sense and certainly ahead of his time.

–Disease is not caused by divine will, but by human himself or nature.

–Physical and mental health is affected by environmental conditions.

–Every organism possesses an innate natural defense against disease, which the doctor must strengthen using a holistic psychosomatic approach

–Sound health is the result of healthy dietary habits according to age, season & natural environment

Some of the medical objects displayed include cranial drills, forceps, suture needles, catheters, even vaginal speculums.

As we’ve seen with some of Philon’s achievements, the ancient Greeks seemed to love illusion and “fooling” people with how their contraptions worked. The fully automatic theater, described by Philon and then improved later by Heron of Alexandria, uses ropes, pulleys and gears, a lead weight, and an hourglass of sand to present a story with sound effects of doors opening between scenes, as well as battles and storms with thunder and lightning.

The myth we see is of Naufplius who seeks revenge on the Achaeans for the death of his son, Palamedes, in Troy.

The first scene opens with men repairing their ships and you can see and hear them hammering and sawing.

Ships start appearing, with occasional dolphins, and then the sea starts getting rough.

Near the end of the play, the goddess Athena appears as a deus ex machina and then disappears.

In one of his books, Heron gives detailed instructions of how to construct this miniature theater. It must have been a tremendous hit with whoever was lucky enough to experience it!

He also had another automatic theater, this one circular, a puppet theater, where the myth of Dionysos, god of wine and festivities, is presented. You see such things as fire being lit on the altar, water from his staff, and wine being poured. Also you hear the sound of drums and cymbals. The figures move from small threads pulled from the force of a lead weight.

Museum of Ancient Greek Musical Instruments

When you tire of seeing engineering feats, you can go upstairs to the museum of ancient Greek musical instruments (with another ticket).

Inseparable from poetry and dancing, music permeated ancient Greek culture. In drama, the chorus recited and often sang their lines as they danced.

In fact, music, the word originating from the “muses” that inspired you, was important in every walk of life. It was even believed that music affected your ethos, or ethical stance.

This entertaining video gives you more of a picture of the role of music in ancient Greece.

Of course we have no certainty of how music sounded, but …one of the earliest known instruments is the lyre, already popular and widespread in Mycenaean times.

The lyre symbolized wisdom and moderation and was associated with the worship of Apollo, the god of music. Here is the lyre-guitar of Apollo.

Various string instruments are on display, including those of Homer, Orpheus and Sappho.

This instrument, that looks like a shovel, is called a sambuca (like the drink) and was played in the 6th century BC only by women at symposia and orgiastic cults.

Of the percussion instruments shown, including a drum, these too were played only by women at religious events and cults, for example for Dionysos.

A couple of “poor man’s” instruments are on display, a conch with its natural trumpet sound, along with a horn from an animal, which resembles a shofar.

The first worldwide keyboard instrument known as the hydraulic or water organ of Ktesibios, was a pipe organ blown by air, where the power source pushing the air is derived by water from a natural source, like a waterfall or a manual pump. Ktesibios (or Ctesibius) was another Greek inventor and engineer living in Alexandria in the 3rd century BC.

The Song of Seikilos is the earliest surviving complete musical composition, including musical notation. It’s also called the Seikilos epitaph because he wrote it to be inscribed on his wife’s gravestone.

When you call the museum, before your call is answered, first you hear a little of the Seikilos melody.

Besides musical instruments, games were an important part of life.

Here’s a version of chess called “polis.”

On our last visit to the museum, we were given a copy of this game from the store, Trias, a circular version of tic tac toe.

The Kotsanas museum has expanded to other cities in Greece — Heraklion in Crete, Rhodes, Katakolo and ancient Olympia in the Peloponnese. In addition, the museum offers many educational programs, all to inspire a love of learning about ancient Greek technology.

Who knows centuries, even millenia from now, people might look back on our use of robots and also artificial intelligence…. In a way there’s nothing new under the sun. Remember how people used to write letters? And in illiterate societies, there were scribes who wrote letters for you. This is what the The Greek chocolate “lacta” campaign called “AI love you”, reminds me of. Take a look at their video:

So, I hope you enjoyed your tour through the world of ancient Greek technology and ancient musical instruments at the Kotsanas Museum, and to visit in person if you can someday!

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Sherri Moshman Paganos is a writer and former educator, inspired by her life in Athens, where she and her husband are happily retired and enjoying their travels in Greece and abroad. You can check out her writing — fiction, non-fiction, poetry and articles here.