Antikythera Mechanism
conceptAn ancient Greek geared computing device from around 100 BC, used to predict eclipses and track the cycles of the Olympic Games and other Panhellenic festivals.
The Myth
The Antikythera Mechanism was recovered from a Roman-era shipwreck off the island of Antikythera in 1901. Its bronze gears encoded astronomical knowledge attributed to traditions stretching back to Hipparchus and the Babylonians. The device tracked the movements of the Sun, Moon, and probably the five known planets across the zodiac. One dial predicted solar and lunar eclipses using the Saros cycle. Another tracked the Metonic cycle of 19 years. Remarkably, a subsidiary dial tracked the four-year cycle of Panhellenic games: the Olympics at Olympia sacred to Zeus, the Pythian Games at Delphi sacred to Apollo, the Nemean Games at Nemea sacred to Zeus, and the Isthmian Games at Corinth sacred to Poseidon. The mechanism revealed that Greek technology was far more sophisticated than previously believed.
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Antikythera Mechanism is often called the world's first analog computer, and nothing of comparable complexity appeared again for over 1,000 years. When it was first X-rayed in the 1970s, scientists refused to believe ancient Greeks could build geared computers. Modern CT scans have revealed 37 interlocking gears — technology that wasn't matched until medieval cathedral clocks in the 14th century.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Isthmian Games
conceptOne of the four Panhellenic Games held at Corinth every two years in honour of Poseidon, with...
Nemean Games
conceptOne of the four Panhellenic Games held at Nemea every two years, traditionally founded as funeral...
Olympic Truce
conceptThe sacred truce declared before and during the ancient Olympic Games, protecting athletes,...
Pythian Games
conceptOne of the four Panhellenic Games held at Delphi every four years in honour of Apollo, unique for...
Apollo
godGod of light, music, poetry, and prophecy. Apollo embodied the Greek ideal of youthful masculine...
Apollo (Light)
godApollo was the most complex Olympian — god of light, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, plague, and...
Apollo Loxias
godAn epithet of Apollo meaning "the Oblique One," referring to the deliberately ambiguous nature of...
Corinth
placeCorinth was a wealthy trading city on the narrow isthmus connecting mainland Greece to the...
Delphi
placeThe most important oracle in ancient Greece, where the Pythia delivered Apollo's prophecies. The...
Delphi Treasury of Athens
placeThe marble treasury built by Athens at Delphi from Marathon spoils, the best-preserved building on...
Nemea
placeNemea was the valley in the Argolid where Heracles slew the Nemean Lion and where the biennial...
Nemean Lion
creatureThe Nemean Lion was a monstrous lion with an impenetrable golden hide that no weapon could pierce —...