The Museum has permanent collections and pieces that are on display on rotation.
The moving automatic servant of Philo and Heron (Therapaenis)
Scale: 1:1
Study: Th. P. Tasios, M. Korres, Sp. Oikonomopoulos
Construction: M. Korres, Sp. Oikonomopoulos
This is an automaton in the form of a female wine-pourer, capable of moving and serving wine mixed with water, when someone places their glass in her hand.
This automaton was based on an idea presented in a lecture by Professor Theodosis Tasios. Specifically, he suggested that an ancient engineer could combine two automaton mechanisms, separately described by Philo from Byzantium and Heron from Alexandria
The idea was brought to life by academic Manolis Korres in the summer of 2017, just before the exhibition “EUREKA, Science, Art, and Technology of the Ancient Greeks” (*) traveled to China.
In collaboration with his team and under the discreet supervision of Prof. Tasios, Prof. Korres completed the construction and testing of the automaton with absolute success.
The automaton operates in two phases:
I) Upon releasing the brake, the Maidservant moves forward towards the symposium area. The movement is ensured by a counterweight that slowly descends inside the statue. The rope holding the counterweight winds around an axle, which is forced to turn and move two hidden wheels. When the counterweight reaches the bottom of the container, the Maidservant stops and is ready to serve wine.
II) The guest places their cup in the Maidservant’s left hand, the weight of the cup pushes the hand down and activates a horizontal “latch” which, sliding slowly, allows atmospheric pressure to enter a hidden closed wine container – and the wine begins to flow from the jug held by the Maidservant in her right hand. Shortly, as the latch continues to move, it will again block the entry of atmospheric air into the wine container – causing the wine to stop flowing. However, the latch continues to move and will repeat the same process, this time from a closed water container. Then, the guest removes their cup from the Maidservant’s left hand, who is now ready to serve the others in the same manner.
(*) The EUREKA exhibition was created by merging the model collections of the EDAByT (Society for the Investigation of Ancient Greek and Byzantine Technology) and the Herakleidon Museum and is permanently exhibited at the Herakleidon Museum.
Design - Construction of the statue and hand mechanism: M. Korres.
Study - Construction of the serving mechanism: Sp. Oikonomopoulos.
Study - Construction of the movement mechanism: M. and D. Korres.
Heron’s automated temple gates
Scale: 1:1
Study: D. Kalligeropoulos
Construction: D. Kalligeropoulos, B. Nikolis, P. Vasileiadis
"A temple is constructed such that as soon as a fire is lit on the altar before it, and the sacrifice is made, the doors of the temple open automatically; and as soon as the fire is quenched, they close again" (Heron, Theorem 38, “Pneumatika”). In this mechanism, Heron exploited the expansion of air heated beneath the altar. The pressure of the air forces a liquid to move from a fixed vessel into a movable one, after which a system of pulleys and counterweights is activated to pivot the doors of the temple.
The Antikythera Mechanism
Scale: 3:1
Research: Prof. K. Efstathiou, Prof. J. H. Seiradakis, A. Basiakoulis, M. Efstathiou, Dr. M. Anastasiou
Design & Construction: 3D Solidforms powered by the Hellenic made Laser systems Steelburner
Copyright @ 2017. All rights reserved by 3D Solidforms
This is a large scale didactic model, made of transparent materials, fully operational as the prototype.
The Antikythera Mechanism was an analog computer of astonishing technical capacity. It was constructed 2,000 years ago and could accurately calculate the position of the sun, the moon and possibly the planets in the sky. It calculated the phases of the moon, predicted eclipses of the sun and the moon and determined the dates on which the ancient Olympic and the other “Crown” games (called “Stefanites”) were held. On its covering plates and on its interior front and rear surfaces it bore astronomical, geographical and technical inscriptions, all written in Greek characters. The height of most of the letters is between 1.5 and 2.5 mm. Thanks to innovative investigative techniques these texts, lost for more than 2,000 years, have now been read (about 3,400 letters).
The mechanism was enclosed in a wooden case with dimensions approximately 30 x 20 x 10 cm, a bit larger than a modern laptop, and contained at least 30 cooperating gears. It had a double circular dial on the front surface and two helical spiral dials on the rear surface.
John H. Seiradakis | Kyriakos Efstathiou | Magdalini Anastasiou
Siege of fortifications
In addition to field battles, a large part of war technology development was devoted both to the siege and the defense of cities. There are many written sources describing siege machines like onagers, catapults or even flame-throwing weapons!
The first known reference to the construction of siege machines dates back to the 17th cent. B.C. by the Hittites in Mesopotamia. It is probable that the Achaeans knew about the use of such machines. Moreover, many ancient writers considered the Trojan Horse to be a poetic metaphor for such a siege machine.
The elementary protection means of a city under siege were the walls.