The Inventors of Various Things
Pliny the Elder
Before we quit the consideration of the nature of man, it appears only proper to point out those persons who have been the authors of different inventions. Father Liber was the first to establish the practice of buying and selling; he also invented the diadem, the emblem of royalty, and the triumphal procession. Ceres introduced corn, the acorn having been previously used by man for food; it was she, also, who introduced into Attica the art of grinding corn and of making bread, and other similar arts into Sicily; and it was from these circumstances that she came to be regarded as a divinity. She was the first also to establish laws; though, according to some, it was Rhadamanthus. I have always been of opinion that letters were of Assyrian origin, but other writers, Gellius, for instance, suppose that they were invented in Egypt by Mercury; others, again, will have it that they were discovered by the Syrians; and that Cadmus brought from Phoenicia sixteen letters into Greece. To these, Palamedes, it is said, at the time of the Trojan war, added these four, Th, X, Ph, and Ch. Cimonides, the lyric poet, afterwards added a like number, Z, E (long), Ps, and O (long); the sounds denoted by all of which are now received into our alphabet.
Aristotle, on the other hand, is rather of the opinion that there were originally eighteen letters, A B G D E Z I K C M N O P R S T U Ph, and that two, Th namely, and Ch, were introduced by Epicharmus, and not by Palamedes. Aristides says that a certain person of the name of Menos, in Egypt, invented letters fifteen years before the reign of Phoroneus, the most ancient of all the kings of Greece, and this he attempts to prove by the monuments there. On the other hand, Epigenes, a writer of very great authority, informs us that the Babylonians have a series of observations on the stars, for a period of seven hundred and twenty thousand years, inscribed on baked bricks. Berosus and Critodemus, who make the period the shortest, give it as four hundred and ninety thousand years. From this statement, it would appear that letters have been in use from all eternity. The Pelasgi were the first to introduce them into Latium.
The brothers Euryalus and Hyperbius were the first who constructed brick kilns and houses at Athens; before which, caves in the ground served for houses. Gellius is inclined to think that Toxius, the son of Caelus, was the first inventor of mortar, it having been suggested to him by the nest of the swallow. Cecrops gave to a town the name of Cecropia, after himself; this is now the citadel of Athena. Some persons will have it that Argos had been rounded before this period by King Phoroneus; others, again, that Sicyon had been previously built; while the Egyptians declare that their own city, Diospolis, had been in existence long before them. Cinyra, the son of Agriopas, invented tiles and discovered copper-mines, both of them in the island of Cyprus; he also invented the tongs, the hammer, the lever, and the anvil. Wells were invented by Danaus, who came from Egypt into that part of Greece which had been previously known as Argos Dipsion. [p.307]
The first stone-quarries were opened by Cadmus at Thebes, or else, according to Theophrastus, in Phoenicia. Walls were first built by Thrason; according to Aristotle, towers were first erected by the Cyclopes, but according to Theophrastus, by the Tirynthii. The Egyptians invented weaving; the Lydians of Sardis the art of dyeing wool. Closter, the son of Arachne, invented the spindle for spinning wool; Arachne herself, linen cloth and nets; Nicias of Megara, the art of fulling cloth; and Tychius, the Boeotian, the art of making shoes. The Egyptians will have it that the medical art was first discovered among them, while others attribute it to Arabus, the son of Babylonis and Apollo; botany and pharmacy are ascribed to Chiron, the son of Saturn and Philyra.
Aristotle supposes that Scythes, the Lydian, was the first to fuse and temper copper, while Theophrastus ascribes the art to Delas, the Phryian. Some persons ascribe the working of copper to the Chalybes, others to the Cyclopes. Hesiod says, that iron was discovered in Crete, by the Idaean Dactyli. Erichthonius, the Athenian, or, as some people say, aeacus, discovered silver. Gold mines, and the mode of fusing that metal, were discovered by Cadmus, the Phoenician, at the mountains of Pangaeus, or, according to other accounts, by Thoas or Eaclis, in Panchaia; or else by Sol, the son of Oceanus, whom Gellius mentions as having been the first who employed honey in medicine. Midacritus was the first who brought tin from the island called Cassiteris. The Cyclopes invented the art of working iron. Choraebus, the Athenian, was the first who made earthen vessels; but Anacharsis, the Scythian, or, according to others, Hyperbius, the Corinthian, first invented the potter’s wheel. Daedalus was the first person who worked in wood; it was he who invented the saw, the axe, the plummet, the gimlet, glue, and isinglass; the square, the level, the turner’s lathe, and the key, were invented by Theodorus, of Samos. Measures and weights were invented by Phidon, of Argos, or, according to Gellius, by Palamedes. Pyrodes, the son of Cilix, was the first to strike fire from the flint, and Prometheus taught us how to preserve it, in the stalk of giant-fennel.
The Phrygians first taught us the use of the chariot with four wheels; the Carthaginians, the arts of merchandize, and Eumolpus, the Athenian, the cultivation of the vine, and of trees in general. Staphylus, the son of Silenus, was the first to mix water with wine; olive-oil ant the oil-press, as also honey, we owe to Aristaeus, the Athenian; the use of oxen and the plough to Buzyges, the Athenian, or, according to other accounts, to Triptolemus. [p.308]
The Egyptians were the first who established a monarchical government, and the Athenians, after the time of Theseus, a democracy. Phalaris, of Agrigentum, was the first tyrant that existed; the Lacedaemonians were the introducers of slavery; and the first capital punishment inflicted was ordered by the Areiopagus. The first battles were fought by the Africans against the Egyptians, with clubs, which they are in the habit of calling phalangaee. Proetus and Acrisius were the first to use shields, in their contests with each other; or, as some say, Chalcus, the son of Athamas. Midias, the Messenian, invented the coat of mail, and the Lacedaemonians the helmet, the sword, and the spear. Greaves and crests were first used by the Carians; Scythes, the son of Jupiter, it is said, invented the bow and arrows, though some say that arrows were invented by the aetolians; the javelin, with the thong attached, by aetolus, the son of Mars; the spear of the light infantry by Tyrrhenus; the dart by Penthesilea, the Amazon; the axe by Pisaeus; the hunting-spear, and the scorpion to hurl missiles, by the Cretans; the catapulta, the balista, and the sling, by the Syrophcenicians. Pisaeus, the Tyrrhenian, was the first to invent the brazen trumpet, and Artemon, of Clazomenae, the use of the testudo. The battering-horse, for the destruction of walls, which is at the present day styled the "ram," was invented by Epeus, at Troy. Bellerophon was the first who mounted the horse; bridles and saddles for the horse were invented by Pelethronius. The Thessalians, who are called Centauri, and who dwell along Mount Pelion, were the first to fight on horse-back. The people of Phrygia were the first who used chariots with two horses; Erichthonius first used four. Palamedes, during the Trojan war, was the first who marshalled an army, and invented watchwords, signals, and the use of sentinels. Sinon, at the same period, invented the art of correspondence by signals. Lycaon was the first to think of making a truce, and Theseus a treaty of alliance.
The art of divination by birds we owe to Car, from whom Caria derives its name: Orpheus extended it to other animals. Delphus taught us the art of divining by the inspection of entrails; Amphiaraus divination by fire; and Tiresias, the Theban, presages from the entrails of birds. We owe to Amphictyon the interpretation of portents and of dreams, and to Atlas, the son of Libya, the art of astrology, or else, according to other accounts, to the Egyptians or the Assyrians. Anaximander, the Milesian, invented the astronomical sphere; and aeolus, the son of Hellen, gave us the theory of the winds.
Amphion was the inventor of music; Pan, the son of Mercury, the music of the reed, and the flute with the single pipe; Midas, the Phrygian, the transverse flute; and Marsyas, of the same country, the double-pipe. Amphion invented the Lydian measures in music; Thamyris the Thracian, the Dorian, and Marsyas the Phrygian, the Phrygian style. Amphion, or, according to some accounts, Orpheus, and according to others, Linus, invented the Lyre. Terpander, adding three to the former four, increased the number of strings to seven; Simonides added an eighth, and Timotheus a ninth. Thamyris was the first who played on the lyre, without the accompaniment of the voice; and Amphion, or, as some say, Linus, was the first who accompanied it with the voice. Terpander was the first who composed songs expressly for the lyre; and Ardalus, the Troezenian, was the first who taught us how to combine the voice with the music of the pipe. The Curetes taught us the dance in armour, and Pyrrhus, the Pyrrhic dance, both of them in Crete.
We are indebted to the Pythian oracle for the first heroic verse. A very considerable question has arisen, as to what was the origin of poetry; it is well known to have existed before the Trojan war. Pherecydes of Scyros, in the time of King Cyrus, was the first to write in prose, and Cadmus, the Milesian, was the first historian.
Lycaon first instituted gymnastic games, in Arcadia; Acastus funereal games, at Iolcos; and, after him, Theseus instituted them at the Isthmus. Hercules first instituted the athletic contests at Olympia. Pythus invented the game of ball. Painting was invented in Egypt by Gyges, the Lydian, or, according to Aristotle, in Greece, by Euchir, a kinsman of Daedalus; according to Theophrastus, again, it was invented by Polygnotus, the Athenian.
Danaus was the first who passed over in a ship from Egypt to Greece. Before his time, they used to sail on rafts, which has been invented by King Erythras, to pass from one island to another in the Red Sea. There are some writers to be found, who are of opinion that they were first thought of by the Mysians and the Trojans, for the purpose of crossing the Hellespont into Thrace. Even at the present day, they are made in the British ocean, of wicker-work covered with hides; on the Nile they are made of papyrus, rushes, and reeds.
We learn from Philostephanus, that Jason was the first person who sailed in a long vessel; Hegesias says it was Paralus, Ctesias, Semiramis, and Archemachus, Egaeon. According to Damastes, the Erythraei was the first to construct vessels with two banks of oars; according to Thucydides, Aminocles, the Corinthian, first constructed them with three banks of oars; according to Aristotle, the Carthaginians, those with four banks; according to Mnesigiton, the people of Salamis, those with five banks; and, according to Xenagoras, the Syracusans, those with six; those above six, as far as ten, Mnesigiton says were first constructed by Alexander the Great. From Philostephanus, we learn that Ptolemy Soter made them as high as twelve banks; Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, with fifteen; Ptolemy Philadelphus, with thirty; and Ptolemy Philopater, who was surnamed Tryphon, with forty. Hippus, the Tyrian, was the first who invented merchantships; the Cyrenians, the pinnace; the Phoenicians, the passage-boat; the Rhodians, the skiff; and the Cyprians, the cutter.
We are indebted to the Phoenicians for the first observation of the stars in navigation; the Copae invented the oar, and the Plataeans gave its broad blade. Icarus was the person who invented sails, and Daedalus the mast and yards; the Samians, or else Pericles, the Athenian, transports for horses, and the Thracians, long covered vessels,—before which time they used to fight only from the prow of the stern. Pisaeus, the Tyrrhenian, added the beak to ships; Eupalamus, the anchor; Anacharsis, that with two flukes; Pericles, the Athenian, grappling-irons, and hooks like hands; and Tiphys, the helm and rudder. Minos was the first who waged war by means of ships; Hyperbius, the son of Mars, the first who killed an animal; and Prometheus, the first who slew the ox.—Natural History, Bk. VII.
Translations Of Bostock And Riley.