Changing Perspectives - Philosophical Talk Series Cycles of Time: Reconstructing the Antikythera Mechanism with Ancient Greek Tools

The Antikythera Mechanism, a unique geared device of the Hellenistic era, stands as the world’s first known analog computer. Designed to measure time and could predict astronomical events, such as the lunar phases, the Sun’s position on the Ecliptic, the date, and the exact hour of the lunar and solar eclipses, as well as the date of the Olympic Games and more. Its construction demanded extraordinary precision, achieved with ancient machine tools, gears, axles, and calibrated scales.

In this talk, Aristeidis Voulgaris will guide us through his journey of reconstructing the Antikythera Mechanism using only tools and techniques available to ancient Greek craftsmen. He will reveal how his hands-on approach solved mysteries that had puzzled the archeological community for over a century, including the function of the mysterious “Fragment D” and the discovery of the lost Draconic cycle. He will explain the advanced methods of eclipse prediction developed more than two millennia ago, and how, even today, true progress often requires us to step back, change our perspective, and rediscover forgotten ways of thinking in order to move forward.