Prow of trireme, obverse type of a bronze coin from Megara / 275-250 BCE (Hellenistic Greece)
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.
Red-figure stamnos with the scene of Odysseus and the sirens, the protective eye cleary visible on the trireme / 480-470 BCE (Classical Greece)
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.
Stater of Phaselis depicting the prow (and rostra) of a trireme, and the stern on the other side / 4th cent. BCE (Classical Greece)
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 point in 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.
Terracotta model of a ship. This Cypriot model depicts the features of a contemporary vessel, including the helmsman sitting in the bow / 600-480 BCE (Archaic Greece)
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.
