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| after he told the goddess that he didn't intend on desecrating | | after he told the goddess that he didn't intend on desecrating |
| the animal. | | the animal. |
| |-|C | | |-|Ships= |
| |-|C | | The Greeks have long been known as a naval powerhouse. The |
| |-|C | | development team created multiple ship models, covering the |
| | Trireme (with three rows of oars], the bireme (with two), |
| | merchant ships and other smaller boats. Historical pop |
| | culture sources, including a visit to a life-size replica of a |
| | trireme, 3rd century BCE graffiti, depictions on vases and |
| | stone relief, and movies like Hercules [1958], Jason and the |
| | Argonauts (1963) and many others, all served to inform the |
| | design team to create realistic and functional digital replicas |
| | of these classic ships. |
| | |
| | The color and animal based designs of the ships are also |
| | significant. To the far right, the Athenian ship is clear, not just |
| | from its blue coloring but also the owl adorning its sail - the |
| | owl being the symbol of wisdom, associated with Athena, the |
| | protector goddess of Athens. In the center is a darker colored |
| | ship common among pirates, to the left a Spartan ship, and in |
| | the far left, the smaller and less streamlined ship is a fishing |
| | boat. |
| | |
| | 3D renders of the figureheads featured in Odyssey range from |
| | the proud griffin and Pegasos to the terrible hydra and |
| | medusa. |
| | |-|Euboean Banner= |
| | Euboea was an important source of grain and cattle - its |
| | name even means “rich in cattle”. Knowing this, it isn't that |
| | surprising to find depictions of bulls on their coins. |
| | |
| | The banner was inspired by the head of a bull, taken from the |
| | silver drachmae of the Euboean league. Bulls are sometimes |
| | presented in full on other Euboean coinages, like those of |
| | Eretria, Karystos, or Histiaia. |
| | |
| | Because of its resources, Euboea was a strategic region to |
| | control, and Athens invaded in 506 BCE. The Athenians |
| | defeated Chalkis, confiscated the land, and gave it to 4,000 |
| | settlers [clerouch] who could retain their Athenian |
| | citizenship. |
| | |-|Workshops and Metal Workers= |
| | Metal workshops of different sizes coexisted in ancient |
| | Greece. By the second half of the óth century BCE, the |
| | development of armament workshops [ergasteria] employing |
| | a few craftsmen or up to a few dozen slaves is quite |
| | noticeable. Larger production units soon appeared, making |
| | metalworking one of the most lucrative crafts in Classical |
| | Greece - at least, it is assumed so by historians. As with many |
| | other crafts, metalworking was exclusively practiced by men. |
| | |
| | The smallest workshops for local supply might have been |
| | comprised of only three workers: one smith, and two slaves to |
| | assist him. On the other hand, the largest workshops |
| | resembled factories. They could be very large and employ |
| | more than fifty slaves. For example, in Athens, on the slopes |
| | of the Akropolis, four giant 40-meter-long workshops dating |
| | back from 470-440 BCE have been excavated. The Athenian |
| | metic Kephalos might have possessed such a weapons |
| | workshop, since it was said that he had 120 slaves working for |
| | him. By contrast, the metal workshops found in the sanctuary |
| | of Nemea are smaller, but they are not necessarily the more |
| | common scale. |
| | |
| | The overall trend was super-specialization; the sword |
| | makers, for example, were not the same as helmet or shield |
| | makers. There were doryksoi [lance makers) and |
| | machairopoioi, who crafted swords or knives. Helmets |
| | workshops could also produce greaves, but the cuirasses, |
| | especially the “muscle armors”, were manufactured by |
| | specific craftsmen. Moreover, in the large workshops, one |
| | could assume that all the workers were assigned very |
| | narrowly-defined tasks. |
| | |-|Statue of Poseidon= |
| | The Bronze Statue of Poseidon at the Archaeological Museum |
| | of Athens [National Museum of Athens) depicts either Zeus or |
| | Poseidon. It is one of the few remaining original bronze |
| | statues from Greece's Classical period, but it is also one of the |
| | most impressive. |
| | |
| | The statue depicts a thick-bearded, curly-haired god with a |
| | muscular, well-detailed anatomy. It is missing its eyes, which |
| | were made of a different material - perhaps semi-precious |
| | stone or glass. The statue's right hand clutched either a |
| | lightning bolt, if it depicted Zeus, or a trident, if it depicted |
| | Poseidon. For the purposes of the game, we decided it was |
| | Poseidon. |
| | |
| | The sculpture was made by an artist of great skill. It's |
| | possible it was created by the renowned sculptor Kalamis. |
| | |-|The Ram: The First Naval Weapon= |
| | The offensive weapon of triremes was the ram [embolos). The |
| | objective of all naval tactics was to bring the ram to bear on |
| | the enemy's flank or quarter. The ram was made of bronze |
| | and attached to a protruding plank at the front of the ship. The |
| | ram was a warship's most expensive piece of equipment, but |
| | luckily, it could be salvaged and reused when a ship was |
| | broken up. |
| | |
| | The ram was located at the forward tip of the keel. This area |
| | was heavily-armored and built up to a sharp point with three |
| | chisel-like blades just above water level. Building a ram |
| | required a high level of metallurgical expertise and |
| | complicated foundry facilities, as they were cast in one single |
| | huge piece. The ram's tip flared into fins rather than coming |
| | to a pointin order to prevent it from getting wedged into the |
| | hull of its opponent, and the timbers that the bronze casing |
| | covered were carefully designed to distribute the shock of |
| | impact over the entire length of the Light hull. The ram could |
| | smash a hole in an enemy vessel and therefore cripple it, but |
| | could not literally sink it. The shape of the ram was designed |
| | to cause maximum damage without penetrating the hull too |
| | far, and make it difficult for the attacking vessels to back off. |
| | |
| | The prow, with its ram and heavy buildup of timbers, was both |
| | the offensive weapon and the best-protected area of the ship. |
| | The stern and sides were its vulnerable quarters. As long as a |
| | warship kept its prow toward the enemy, it was poised for |
| | both offensive and defensive action. Its role was to disable |
| | other ships in battle. The Athenians in particular were very |
| | adept at maneuvering their ships to utilize this weapon |
| | effectively. |
| | |-|Miltos and the Protective Eye= |
| | Miltos is a type of red fine-grained ochre made up of red iron- |
| | oxides often mixed with earth, sand, clay, wax, resin or other |
| | impurities, creating a reddish pitch. It played a vital role in |
| | waterproofing and ship maintenance due to its astringent, |
| | binding, and drying properties. |
| | |
| | lts use is attested to in Mycenaean clay tablets, inscribed in |
| | the script known as "Linear Bº and dating from the 2nd |
| | millennium BCE. Specifically, by the Classical period, miltos |
| | from Kea was prized in Athens due to its effectiveness in the |
| | maintenance of ships, protecting the hull from rot and |
| | infestation. The high lead levels meant that the powder, once |
| | mixed into an organic medium, would make a very effective |
| | anti-fouling agent, preventing the growth of bacterial colonies |
| | on vessel hulls that could slow the ship down. In this way, |
| | applying lead-rich miltos paint mixed with pitch to the hull of |
| | a ship could inhibit biotic growth and prevent fouling. |
| | |
| | The prow of a trireme was often decorated to look like the |
| | head of an animal, with the ram as its snout. Aischytos called |
| | the triremes "the dark-eyed ships”. The eye was a regular |
| | decoration for the triremes. It was made from a piece of |
| | polished marble, then shaped and painted to resemble an eye. |
| | Sometimes oculi could be rather large and, if not painted, |
| | were an inlaid decoration occasionally made of expensive |
| | materials. Seafarers attached oculi to their ship because they |
| | looked upon their vessel as a living entity that needed eyes to |
| | find its way. Black warships with red or purple painted bows |
| | and large dark-blue enamel oculi seen sailing on the dark |
| | seas would have had a powerful effect on any observer - |
| | especially enemy forces. |
| | |-|Types of Boats and Organization of Shipyards= |
| | The various kinds of ships used by the Greeks could be divided |
| | into two main types: ships of war, and ships of burden. The |
| | latter were not designed for quick movement or rapid sailing, |
| | but to carry the greatest possible quantity of goods. Their |
| | structure was therefore bulky, their bottom round, and |
| | although they were not without rowers, the chief means by |
| | which they were propelled were their sails. |
| | |
| | The most common ships of war were triremes. This warship |
| | was an example of ancient engineering at its highest level. |
| | The trireme derives its name from its three rows of oars, with |
| | one man per oar. They were very fast and maneuverable, |
| | which gave them a critical advantage in the close-quarter |
| | battles that were typical of ancient naval engagements. The |
| | triremes could move fast under sail, reaching maximum |
| | speeds of perhaps fourteen knots under the most favorable |
| | weather conditions, while their speed without the sails was |
| | probably around eight knots. |
| | |
| | They'd also become waterlogged if left in the sea for too long. To prevent this fromm happening, ships would have to be pulled |
| | from the water, and kept and maintained in shipsheds, These |
| | were buildings built on limestone bedrock. They incorporated |
| | an inclined slipway which the triremes were normally hauled |
| | up on when not at sea. The remains of the Zea shipsheds at |
| | the Athenian port of Piraeus offer useful archaeological |
| | evidence about triremes' maximum dimensions: about 115- |
| | 120 feet long, 16 feet wide and about 8% feet tall above the |
| | waterline. As for the order of the rowers and their positioning, |
| | valuable information could be extracted by the famous |
| | Lenormant relief, which shows the middle of a trireme, with |
| | three clear levels of oars coming out at different angles. |
| | |
| | The trireme was first used in Greece during the óth century |
| | BCE by the tyrant of Korinth, Periander, and then by |
| | Polykrates, the tyrant of Samos. It became the dominant |
| | warship type of the eastern Mediterranean, playing a vital role |
| | in the Greco-Persian Wars, the creation of the Athenian |
| | maritime empire, and its downfall in the Peloponnesian War. |
| | |-|Achaian Banner= |
| | The Achaian banner appropriately depicts a trireme, since the |
| | region includes Patrai, which served as naval base for the |
| | Spartans during the Peloponnesian War. |
| | |
| | The trireme was the most famous Greek ship. It was first built |
| | in Korinth in the 7th century BCE and became an important |
| | war ship for centuries - a fleet of triremes defeated the |
| | Persians in Salamis. |
| | |
| | Ships are a common image in iconography. They're present on |
| | vases and also on coins, with most of them depicting only the |
| | prow, like this bronze coin from Megaris. |
| | |-|Armor and Weapons= |
| | The source material concerning weapon manufacturing in |
| | Ancient Greece is not prolific. However, we do know that as |
| | early as the 7th century BCE, more specialized-production |
| | centers emerged in regions already known for their |
| | metallurgical activities. |
| | |
| | Chalkis, in Euboea, specialized in the production of swords, |
| | while Korinth was renowned for its bronze helmets - both |
| | crucially important elements of hoplite equipment. Sykyon, in |
| | the Peloponnese peninsula, provided the iron for the |
| | manufacture of Spartan weapons. Athens, famous especially |
| | for its cuirass workshops, was also an important location in |
| | the world of Greek weapons production. |
| | |
| | During what's called the “Dark Ages” in Greek history [1200- |
| | 800 BCE), a transition took place in weaponry. The material |
| | used switched from bronze to iron - a substance that was |
| | lighter, tougher, and able to take a sharper edge. Swords |
| | became shorter and larger than the preceding bronze |
| | specimens. Both conical helmets with ornamented crests and |
| | all shapes of shields may have also been made of that metal. |
| | |
| | Around the 7th century BCE, a new tactical formation, the |
| | phalanx, gradually made its appearance in Greece. It marked |
| | the return of the use of bronze in weaponry. The new |
| | infantryman, the hoplite, was required to pay for his panoply, |
| | a set of weapons and pieces of equipment including a cuirass, |
| | greaves, helmet with cheek plates, shield, spear, and sword. |
| | Bronze was used to make all or some parts of the body armor, |
| | shield, and helmet, while the sword and spearhead were |
| | crafted with iron. |
| | |
| | The costliness of the panoply made it difficult or altogether |
| | impossible for lower-class citizens to purchase one. |
| | Therefore, only members of the elite could afford the entire |
| | set. |
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