Ships

Ancient Greek Ships by: Edward

The naval history of ancient Greece evolved from the lowly reed raft to the sea-ruling Trireme. Being on the ocean, Greece needed to control it for a successful society. Powerful Greek boats controlled the Mediterranean.

The Greeks had a vast navy that was constantly evolving. Some of the earlier types of their warships consisted of a single level of rowers along the sides of the ships. These were smaller and slower than the majestic Trireme with three levels of rowers. These earlier warships include the Pentekonter and the Triakonter, whose designs were most likely introduced by Phoceans (ancient1). The predecessor to the Trireme was the Phoenician Bireme ( bireme ). Greek trade vessels were much different, because they were far smaller and had a simple crew of four (ancient).

Greek triremes were built of fir and oak. Fir was used for the siding of the ships. Oak was used for the keel. Ropes on the ship were made of twisted strands of [|cannabis] soaked in tar. The trade ships were of similar construction but on a smaller scale (4).

Apotropaic eyes were painted on every Greek ship(2). These eyes were intended to scare off evil spirits and protect the journey. Warships were at times painted in flat colors to identify armies. The smaller sized boats would have plain or striped sails. Large boats would have creatures like lions and dogs painted on their sails to scare the enemy. The Triremes had mythological creatures as figureheads (tamu).

With Greece’s mountainous terrain farm land was limited, so they produced fine pottery, metal goods, and mountain growing crops such as grape and olives. By refining these skills, Greek products were of high quality and in great demand. Trade was vital to the Greeks; because they needed to import foods and raw materials. To the Greeks foods such as Garum was essential in everyday cooking and was shipped into all of the main ports. Materials for jewelry such as gems and metals were brought in from the East. All of the materials were shipped in vase-shaped pottery called Amphora. media type="custom" key="7849241" width="260" height="260" align="left"he Amphora was shaped perfectly for the bottom of boats because they would nest tightly together so they wouldn’t shift or break mid-transit (anchient).

media type="youtube" key="Oo9Uf0n-jyc?hl=en" height="289" width="264" align="right"The trireme was the most capable ship out on the seas at the time.Sailing at a steady seven knots, the trireme was a fast and agile ship. With a bronze ram on the bow, the Trireme would ram a hole in the side of enemy ship, almost always sinking it. With hide covering the oar wells, the trireme could transport troops and horses, without getting water inside (trireme).­­

Hellenistic period boats (300-150 BC) are similar in size to the smaller modern naval cruisers. The largest ship, //Syracusia//, had a crew larger than that of a modern aircraft carrier. Archimedes was requested to aid in the boat’s construction because all the man power in Syracuse could not get the boat out of the harbor. Archimedes built machines to aid in sailing the //Syracusia//; with his machines a single man could navigate the ship. With the Archimedes screw just one man could pump even large amounts of water from the bilge of the ship. The //Syracusia// was a floating city, with 78 tons of water, water heating, and towers with catapults. It was 420 ft. long, 72 ft. high, and 57 ft. wide. The uppermost oars were 57 ft. long and were counter balanced with lead. Having a massive crew of 7,250 men, consisting of 4,000 rowers, 400 sailors for the rigging, and 2,850 marines, this boat was of little practical use. The unusual thing about this ship was that it was built in Egypt, which has no forests so the wood had to be imported from places such as Lebanon( Giant ).

Powerful Greek boats controlled the Mediterranean. The trireme was fast and strong. The Hellenistic period ships were large and ineffective. The boats were built of durable materials. Their trade ships had small crews and were capable of carrying large amounts cargo.[|Marijuana]