It's hard to believe that 2,000 years ago people sat comfortably on the couch in their living room watching a movie and even had the sound and movement on the "screen" from their... remote control.
Despite the impression we have today that in ancient times technology was an unknown word and automation was non-existent, modern studies are bringing to light the talent of ancient engineers.
One of the "miracle workers" of the Hellenistic period, Heron, lived and worked in Alexandria in the 2nd century and offered his contemporaries many impressive automated systems.
The invention
Heron's automated, portable theater is designed to tell a specific story through mechanisms that seem to automatically open doors, make birds fly and sing, and make gods appear out of thin air.
This theater had such dimensions that it could be easily moved so that the "cinematic" work could be presented to the public or even for private performances. It was a mechanism that represented a temple of Dionysus with various figures(priestesses) that could move, light fires, and simultaneously hear various drum and cymbal sounds. These constructions are considered ingenious because they were programmable, meaning they could do different things with similar settings. During their operation, they displayed scenic "effects" such as moving ships in a fleet formation, storms, fires, and disasters.
Heron describes its function:
"First we put the automaton in a certain position and after we move away, after a while the automatic moves to another certain position. And when it stops, the fire is lit on the altar in front of Dionysus. And from the stick of Dionysus flows milk or water, and from his cup is poured wine. And with flowers is crowned the whole space around the four pillars of the pedestal. And the Bacchae, set up in a circle, revolve dancing around the little temple. And the sound of drums and cymbals is heard. " (Heron, Automation, 4, 2).
Extremely complex and complicated automatic systems that were considered unnatural by some at the time - such as hydraulic valves, mechanical switches, wheels, valves - appear naturally and are even explained logically. Even the fact that they offered the possibility of programming movements with an external command (remote control).
The case of the project
Heron's theater automatically represents the myth of Nafplios that wants to take revenge on the Achaeans, who killed the son of Palamidis in Troy.
Scene 1: The Achaeans are repairing their ships, figures are moving, hitting with hammers and saws, tool clicks are heard.
Scene 2: The Achaeans push the ships into the sea.
Scene 3: The Achaeans' ships appear to be sailing and dolphins leap out of the sea between them. As the scene progresses, the sea storms and the ships accelerate.
Scene 4: Nafplios on a cape, with a burning torch, gives a false signal to the Achaeans at Athena's insistence.
Scene 5: Scattered shipwrecks are seen in the stormy sea and Aiantas swimming. Athena appears, wanders and disappears, while lightning flashes, thunder is heard and the figure of Aiantas disappears.
The curtain opens and closes between scenes.
All these movements and sounds are performed according to the principles of engineering and without electricity, but mainly with the force of a lead weight falling evenly into an hourglass with sand. To start the show, they simply pulled the rope at the front of the base.
So it seems that entertainment in ancient times was not much different than it is today. In fact, the technology and science of that era - the 2nd century BC - has many corresponding technological achievements, a fact that reveals the high level of intellect and knowledge, but also the timeless tendency of people to seek convenience and pleasure through technology.
