Technological Animation in Classical Antiquity

Tatiana Bur, Maria Gerolemou, and Isabel A. Ruffell, eds., Technological Animation in Classical Antiquity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024). 9780192857552.

Reviewed by Matthew Walmsley, The University of Queensland, uqmwalms@uq.edu.au.

With the rising interest in the relationship between humans and machines, Technological Animation in Classical Antiquity, edited by Tatiana Bur, Maria Gerolemou, and Isabel A. Ruffell, contends that this is not a new fascination. In fact, the ancient Greeks and Romans consistently utilised devices which granted objects lifelike qualities. The papers collected in this work shine light on this phenomenon and originate from a conference at the University of Exeter in 2019 on the topic of “technological animation.” This type of animation refers to the combination of materials, mechanisms, and expertise of the maker that render artifacts lifelike (p. 2). Rather than concentrating solely on the divine/magical or phantastical (where animation occurs within the minds of readers through written language), this volume distinguishes itself by foregrounding technological animation, an area that remains comparatively underexplored within current scholarship.1

The volume addresses a central, overarching question: how did the ancient Greeks and Romans conceptualise, achieve, and experience animation using technological means? It argues that technologically animated objects were not simply attempts to imitate life, but were also designed to elicit wonder and engagement. To accomplish this, it examines a vast timeframe, with discussions ranging from twelfth century BCE Cypriot bronze tripods to the poet Christodoros in the sixth century CE. As such, this volume will be of immense value to scholars in the field of material culture as it marks a new way of conceptualising ancient technology. Additionally, the work also provides an extensive topical range that will be of interest to scholars of archaeology, philosophy, and classical literature. Likewise, students will find it valuable as an introduction to ancient technology or researching the processes of animating objects.

The volume opens with an insightful introduction by Gerolemou before it is divided thematically into three sections: Theories, Contexts, and Audiences. The first part, Theories, investigates a variety of ways the ancients thought about animation. Ruth Bielfeldt begins this section with a chapter on Homeric timberwork similes. Bielfeldt suggests that these similes reveal moments of technē (craftmanship) that anticipate animation, leading to the conclusion that the early Greeks were already attempting to theorise the animation of artifacts. This is followed by a contribution by the late Richard Seaford. Here, Seaford surveys a range of literary genres, arguing that, unlike Mesopotamian statues that embodied the real thing they were supposed to represent, Greek concepts and practices of representation varied, meaning that their statues inevitably also reflected societal principles, such as gender and hierarchy. Plato and Aristotle provide the philosophical framework for the next chapter by Jean De Groot, which examines the grammar of imitation. From this perspective, De Groot argues that the sustained lifelike movement of inanimate objects exerted a powerful emotional effect upon audiences, often proving more compelling than the technological mechanisms responsible for producing the illusion itself. The next chapter sees Gabriele Galluzzo investigate Aristotle’s refusal to brand automata with the same ontological status as natural beings. Galluzzo backs Aristotle’s position, arguing that artificial beings reflect the intentions of their makers rather than possessing intrinsic purpose. To conclude this section, Courtney Roby reconsiders the instructions in Hero of Alexandria’s Automata as a creative space. Roby posits that Hero’s text provides mere examples of animation so that readers can make and invent their own designs.

The second part, titled Contexts, turns from theory to practice, exploring how technological animation was applied in a range of contexts. It begins with Maya Muratov’s chapter examining Greek and Roman figurines and puppets. Muratov argues that the articulation of figurines was created to primarily imitate movements (e.g., walking, dancing, etc.) during rituals, while puppets required an operator and audience, suggesting that their main purpose was for entertainment. The subsequent chapter by Colin Webster deals with Aristotle’s Motion of Animals. Webster delves into Aristotle’s use of mechanical objects to explain how animals move, deducing that Aristotle’s theories emerged from a combination of observation, philosophical reflection, and material environment. Following these discussions on motion comes a chapter from Gerolemou on the mechanics of sound. Gerolemou demonstrates that, while mechanical devices attempted to replicate sound, they fell short of producing the rational speech of humans. In a similar way, Antje Wessels explores the role of voice in the animation of doors in ancient literature, treating it as a form of technology that operates alongside the door’s physical movement. Rather than separating voice from the material acts of opening and closing, she frames it as part of the door’s expressive capacity, so that entry and confinement become experiences that are both heard and seen. Next is an analysis by Francesco Grillo and Costas Panayotakis of the real and imaginary devices in Petronius’s Satyricon. Here, Grillo and Panayotakis argue that the literary and the mechanical are blended to construct a parody of Roman luxury and spectacle. The final chapter of this section by Carol C. Mattusch highlights the role of bronze in bringing statues to life. Mattusch proposes that the material features of these statues, such as their polished bronze surfaces, inlaid eyes, and paint applications, may well have made them look alive.

The last section, titled Audiences, considers how ancient viewers perceived, responded to, and interacted with technologically animated artifacts. It opens with Deborah Steiner’s chapter, which examines the relationship between observer and animated object. Steiner emphasises that animated artifacts possess their own vitality, and their mechanical designs enable them to interact with the environment around them. SeungJung Kim follows with a chapter on the self-rotating statue of Kairos by the fourth-century BCE sculptor Lysippos. Here, Kim investigates how the statue was possibly mechanised, before positing that it is representative of the scientific and technological currents of its time. The subsequent chapter by Ruffell explores the mechanical ship that was reportedly paraded at the Panathenaea in Athens. Ruffell theorises that the ship was animated by hidden winches and human labour to form an illusion of self-motion, and illustrates how spectacle depended on both engineering and theatrical concealment. Bur follows this discussion with an analysis of automata in religious contexts. In contrast to Ruffell, Bur contends that the visibility of their mechanics was vital to their conception and power as religious objects. The volume closes with Sylvia Berryman’s chapter, which concentrates on the entertainment factor of animated objects. Berryman surveys the appeal and amusement of these objects, and suggests that they relied on both their ingenuity and the audience’s willingness to achieve animation.

From these brief chapter overviews, the strength of this book clearly lies in its interdisciplinary approach. It brings together archaeology, classical literature, material studies, and philosophy to offer a well-rounded account of technological animation. The editors—Bur, Gerolemou, and Ruffell—are leading scholars in areas including ancient religion, material culture, and the history of technology, and their editorial direction ensures both depth and breadth across the volume.

Furthermore, the structure of the volume is both logical and clear with effective footnotes in presentation and elaboration. There is not a chapter that feels out of place with each being a worthy contribution to the volume. One point of particular praise is Gerolemou’s chapter on the mechanical potential to create sounds, especially since most of the volume focuses on the study of motion. While the bestowal of voice upon the inanimate is common in the literary sphere, known as prosopopoeia or the “speaking object” motif, ancient technology’s capacity to artificially create voice was severely limited and can easily be overlooked.2 Gerolemou effectively raises this concern, whilst also bringing to light some of the technologies ancient engineers theorised to replicate sounds, which include whistling and bubbling effects to mimic birds. This aspect of technological animation is particularly interesting because it underlines the ancients’ desire to cast voice upon the inanimate, even though their technology was unable to meet their aspirations.

Another key strength of this volume lies in its capacity to explain how objects were animated to move. From a mechanical ship that seemed to move by itself to the performance of puppets, the contributors ensure that the animative process, as well as its mechanisms, are clearly described and analysed. These studies are accompanied by a range of high-quality images and diagrams, which is consistent across the volume. In fact, the volume generously presents seventy-three figures in total. It is worth noting, however, that the digital version showcases these figures in full colour while the print version only displays them in black and white.

However, as with all works with many contributors, this volume is not without limitations. If you are seeking a book that includes a range of perspectives on Roman technological animation, you will need to look elsewhere. Despite the volume’s title promising to survey classical antiquity, most of the chapters deal only with the Greek world. In fact, only two chapters out of sixteen, those by Wessels and by Grillo and Panayotakis, analyse Roman technological animation extensively, with only a small number of the other papers lightly touching on the subject. It should also be emphasised that most of these discussions are confined to the second section of the volume.

Additionally, there are some variations in formatting, albeit minor. Whether intentional or not, some authors choose to include only translations in their chapters while others present the original text against the translation (see, e.g., p. 97 and p. 70). Some errors in footnoting are present (see, e.g., p. 11, n. 24 and n. 26) as well as inconsistencies within the text itself (e.g., logos is not italicised on p. 186 but is elsewhere). What is more, there is some repetition across the volume, especially in discussions of Hero’s automata and Hephaestus’s self-moving tripods. While this may feel repetitive at times, these examples are important and help reinforce key ideas. Given the thematic focus of the collection, it is also expected that well-known cases like these appear in multiple chapters.

Nonetheless, Technological Animation in Classical Antiquity is a worthy contribution to the study of material culture, one that will hopefully launch further research into this field. It reminds us that our impulse to animate the inanimate is not only ancient, but a condition of what it means to be human.

Table of Contents

Introducing the Technology of Animation in Classical Antiquity / Maria Gerolemou (1–14)

Part I: Theories

1. The Axe’s Heart Work: Technē and Animation in Homeric Craft Similes / Ruth Bielfeldt (17–43)

2. The Ideology of Automata: From Mesopotamia to Aristotle / Richard Seaford (44–56)

3. An Ancient Grammar of Animation and Technē / Jean De Groot (57–83)

4. Automatic Puppets, Toy Carts, and Robots: Aristotle’s Metaphysics of Artifacts and the Question of Automata / Gabriele Galluzzo (84–100)

5. Strange Loops: Experiment and Programme in Hero of Alexandria’s Automata / Courtney Roby (101–19)

Part II: Contexts

6. From ‘Dolls’ to Puppets: Mechanisms and Purpose of Articulated Terracotta Figurines in Antiquity / Maya Muratov (123–58)

7. Manufacturing Movement in Aristotle’s Motion of Animals / Colin Webster (159–83)

8. Technolarynges in Classical Antiquity / Maria Gerolemou (184–99)

9. Speaking Doors: Voice and Materiality in Ancient Literature / Antje Wessels (200–219)

10. Automata and Other Technological Devices in Trimalchio’s Dinner-Party / Francesco Grillo and Costas Panayotakis (220–46)

11. Dead or Alive? Giving Life to Bronze / Carol C. Mattusch (247–74)

Part III: Audiences

12. Affecting Artifacts: Interacting with Objects in Archaic and Early Classical Greece / Deborah Steiner (277–303)

13. Visualizing Time: The Lysippan Kairos in the Scientific Landscape of the Fourth Century BCE / SeungJung Kim (304–32)

14. Trains and Boats and Planes: Animating the Ship in Greek Culture / Isabel A. Ruffell (333–57)

15. The Importance of the Construct: Technological Animation in Ancient Religious Contexts / Tatiana Bur (358–79)

16. Devising Nature / Sylvia Berryman (380–91)

Notes

1. For divine/magical animation, see Sarah Iles Johnston, “Animating Statues: A Case Study in Ritual,” Arethusa 41, no. 3 (2008): 445–77. On phantastical animation, see Michael Squire, “Making Myron’s Cow Moo? Ecphrastic Epigram and the Poetics of Simulation,” American Journal of Philology 131 (2010): 589–634

2. On prosopopoeia, see Barbara Johnson, Persons and Things (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2008), esp. 12–15. On the “speaking object” motif, see Mario Burzachechi, “Oggetti parlanti nelle epigrafi greche,” Epigraphica 24 (1962): 3–54.