One of the guest lecturers on the ship recommended something called the Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology in Kotokolon. Really? Ancient Technology? He raved, so we went.
OMG. We were the peedie wee museum’s first visitors of the day, and the curator gave us a personal tour of each of the 2,000+ year-old inventions. Seriously, the following (fully working) contraptions were invented between 600 B.C.E. & 100 C.E., and these are just a small percentage of the inventions we saw. We were absolutely rivetted.
- The Axial Siphon Cup by Pythagorus
- Plato’s Whistling Water Alarm Clock
- The Automatic Wine Servant of Philon (a real robot. Honestly.)
- and, of all things, the Speculum (hunh)
I believe Kotsanas has a similar museum in Athens – if you ever get the chance, go. Trust me.
Ancient Olympia, the home of the original Olympic Games was a wonderful site – we were in amongst ruins that were between two thousand and three thousand years old, stepping up ancient staircases, sitting on the remains of doric and ionic columns, and listening to the guide explain how the games worked (she seemed to spend a lot of time on the fact that the competitors were naked. A lot.) It was broiling hot that day, but I was glad we went – even the drive through the countryside was breathtaking.
10 October, 2023