Ancient Greek Sailing

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in a day’s journey. They navigated by keeping sight of land and following the coast. On the landing stages shelter, food, water

and, supplies could be found. They learned how to use the sun and stars as directions. Ships could be moved into dryland if needed. Navigation was based on observation. Since there wasn’t a lot of technology, like a compass, it was hard to find landmarks using the north star. Sailors had to use total concentration when navigating their ships to be safe and lookout for any possible dangers. The settlement of Troy became a protected harbor because ships would stay there while they waited for direction of the wind to change so they can go to the Black Sea from Dardanelles. A mechanism that was found on a shipwreck dating to the end of the first century in Antikythera, a Greek island, may have been used to calculate astronomical positions (Rowlands). People were kinda able to predict where stars and constellations would move. The Greeks would use this to their advantage to navigate their boats and ships. By the Greeks learning mathematics and also learning a few things about physics new engineers and craftsmen created more and better ships (Lang)

Ancient Greece influenced the modern life: they developed advances in ship building, construction, ceramics, and naval warfare. (Nusphere) They also freed many slaves. Every trireme was worked with a combination of their slaves and free men. Every person that manned a trireme was paid for and slaves would be free men if they came back alive (Ancient Greece) As there wasn’t more early ship builders long vessels would have been very hard to move, as in greeks way of fighting, ramming is he reone of Greeks best way of fighting offensively which influenced others to fight in the same way. (Holmes 43)

The ships used by the Greeks were used for battle and trading. Different ships were built depending on what they were used for. Several o row of oars were equipped on almost every boat either trade or battle. The ships used a lot of manpower and coordination to gain speed and steer the ship. Large cargos were carried by Greek ships. Homer described these ships as being fast and hollow. They navigated by staying close to the coast and using stars. And manoeuvring was their prime importance. Triremes were very tight and cramped. They had 3 rows of oarsmen they were mostly sitting on top of each other with little or no freedom at all of moving (Ancient Greece).

Works Cited

Ancient Greece. Eagle Rock Entertainment. Films Media Group, 1996. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.

Holmes, George C. V. Ancient and Modern Ships. N.p.: WYMAN AND SONS, 2010. Gutenberg.org, 06 July 0210. Web. 2 Oct. 2015.

Lang, Philippa. "Science in Ancient Greece." Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World. Facts On File, 2007. Ancient and Medieval History Online. Web. 6 Oct. 2015.

Nusphere, Tsohost, and User Voice. "Ancient Greece." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Joshua J. Mark, 13 Nov. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2015. <http://www.ancient.eu/greece/>.

Rowlands, Edward M. W. A. "Seafaring and Navigation in Ancient Greece." Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient World. Facts On File, 2007. Ancient and Medieval History Online.

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