Gods and Robots
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Aristides (historian), 183
Aristides of Thebes, 98
Aristophanes, 81; Cocalus, 89; Daedalus, 91
Aristotle, 67, 145, 183; on Archytas, 190, 192; on automata, 93–94, 152; on blood, 27, 35; on hope, 176; mechanical knowledge of, 122; observations on living beings, 27, 43, 58, 93, 122, 228n3; on slaves, 152, 241n39
armor, 32, 130–32, 130, 132, 133, 134. See also exoskeleton
Arnobius, 108
Arsinoe II, queen of Egypt, 100, 197, 199
Artemis, 36
Artificial Intelligence (AI): ancient Greek precursors of, 11, 150, 214; anthropomorphizing of, 11; black box technology and, 3; capabilities of, 215–17; culture of, 218; defined, 219; ethical issues concerning, 93, 107, 144, 215–17; Hephaestus’s Golden Maidens as, 150; learning as issue in, 215–17; sexual uses of, 107; Talos as, 11; Tay experiment in, 215; warnings about, 215, 216
artificial life: ancient conceptions of, 1–2, 4–5, 22–23; defined, 219; forms of, 3–4
artificial moral agents (AMAs), 30. See also ethics and morality
Asilomar AI Principles, 144, 178
Asimov, Isaac, 144, 177–78
Asoka, King, 203–8, 211
Athena (Minerva): Athenians’ veneration of, 93, 124; and creation of humans, 106, 112, 113; Demetrios’s musical statue of, 187; in Heron’s Theater, 202; and manufacture of animal statues, 97; and manufacture of horse statues, Plate 9, 139, 141; in modern science fiction, 153; and Pandora, 156, 158, 162–63, 163, 164, 170–71; Phidias’s sculpture of, for Parthenon, 124, 170–71, 191
Athena (modern miniature robot), 216
Athenaeus, 71, 109, 198, 199
Athens, 90, 92, 93, 124, 170–72, 175, 192–93
athletes, 25, 47; realistic paintings and sculptures of, Plate 7, 97, 98, 99
automata: ancient conceptions of, 1–3, 95–96, 153–54, 211–15, 223n2; ancient examples of, 23, 145, 180–212, 214; Apega, 194–95; in China, 207–8, 231n19; Chinese tale about, 118, 121; controllability of, 29–30, 65–66, 206, 215; Daedalus’s moving statues, 90–95; defined, 220; desire of, to become human, 29; early uses of term, 145; economic motivations for creating, 152–53, 241n39; emotional responses to, 102–3; functions of, 180; guardians of Buddha, 203–11; historical, 179–212; in India, 203–11; Nysa, 198–99; Philo of Byzantium’s works, 199–200; philosophical questions raised by, 4, 211; slaves compared to, 93; Talos, 7–8, 22–23; terminology concerning, 3–4, 223n1. See also biotechne; robots
autonomy, 108, 111, 122–23, 157, 160
Ayrton, Michael, 86–88, 98
Baghdad Batteries, 189–90
Banu Musa brothers, 201
Bentham, Jeremy, 138
Berlin Painter, 148; hydria with Apollo, 146, 147
Berryman, Sylvia, 22, 95, 153, 211, 224–25nn23–24, 233n21
biotechne (life through craft): ancient conceptions of, 1, 23, 28, 154, 179, 213–15; black box technology and, 3; defined, 220; and extension of human capacities, 59–70; for extension of life, 33–34, 36; and human creation, 114–24; persistence of stories about, 217; vulnerabilities of, 51. See also automata
birds, metallic/mechanical, 127–28, 190–91, 200, 214. See also eagle, mechanical; Eagle of Zeus
black box technology, 3, 96, 150, 220
blacksmiths, and their tools, Plate 3, Plate 4, 25, 135, 136, 139, 164–65, 243n21. See also Hephaestus
Blade Runner (film), 11, 29, 45, 108, 123, 160
Blade Runner 2049 (film), 2, 11, 29, 108, 121, 123, 160
Blakely, Sandra, 24
blood: bloodletting and circulation of, 27–28; bull’s, 35; transfusions of, 34. See also ichor
Bonfante, Larissa, 115
Bosak-Schroeder, Clara, 22, 223n2
bots. See robots
bovine thrombin, 35
Boxer of Quirinal (detail), Plate 7, 99
Brazen Bull of Phalaris, 182–87, 185
bronze: connotations of, in ancient culture, 23–24; technology of producing, 20, 23–26, 86–88, 121–22
Bronze Bull of Phalaris. See Brazen Bull of Phalaris
Bronze Bulls of King Aeetes (Khalkotauroi), 63, 65, 138
Bronze Ram of Syracuse, Plate 6, 86, 87
Buddha, 203–5, 208–9, 209
Buddhism, 102, 110–11, 203–10, 204
Bulfinch, Thomas, The Age of Fable, 31
bulls: Hephaestus’s making of, 9, 65, 138, 186; Perilaus’s making of, 182–87, 185; of Rhodes, 186
bull’s blood, 35
Burdunellus, 184
Byron, George Gordon, Lord, 125
Cabeiroi, 138
Cadmus, 230n10
Caesar, Julius, 196
Caligula, 183
Callistratus, 95
Callixenus of Rhodes, 197–98
Calypso, 45–46, 54
Camarini, 48
Čapek, Karel, 153
Carafa, Giovanni, Duke of Noia, 116
Cassander, King, 192
Castor and Pollux, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 43–44
catapults, 195
Cauldron, Medea’s Golden. See Medea
Cayley, George, 84
Cecrops, 101
Censorinus, Aemilius, 184
Cephalus, 142
Chaluchasu (Talos), 17, 18, 19
China: creation of lifelike automata in, 118, 121; flying machines in, 83–84; mechanical innovations in, 201, 203, 207–8, 248n44; quest for immortality in, 49
Chiron, 43, 51–52
Cicero, 95, 184
Circe, 36
clapper toy, 192
Clarke, Arthur C., 3, 24
Claudian, 101–2
Cleisophus of Selymbria, 109
Cleoetas, 191
Cleopatra, 197
cloning, 41, 227n12
Cocalus, King, 75, 85–86, 88, 182
Cohen, Signe, 111, 206
coins: with Nabis’s image, 194; with Talos’s image, 12, 13
Colossi of Memnon, 187–89, 188
Colossus of Rhodes, 10, 24, 186
control, of automata and robots, 29–30, 65–66, 206, 215
Cook, A. B., 24
cow, artificial, 70–72
Craddock, Paul, 189–90
Cratinus, Thracian Women, 91
Crete, 7–9, 12, 17, 19–20, 72
Criminal’s Leap, 181
Cronus, 142
Crowder, Ray, 216
Ctesias, 48
Ctesibius, 199
Ctesicles, 109
C-3PO, 21
cuirass, 131–32, 132, 133, 134
cyborgs: defined, 220; military use of, 66; Talos, 27, 28
Dactyloi, 142
daedala (moving statues/technological wonders), 69, 90, 94, 158
Daedalus: animal replicas made by, 67, 70–72, 73, 86, 185; architecture ascribed to, 85–86; as artificer, 1, 2, 69, 103; in Athens, 90, 92, 124; in Crete, 5, 70–75, 90; Hephaestus confused/compared with, 19, 91–92, 103–4; historical existence of, 69–70; honeycomb made by, 86–88; inventions of, 90; Labyrinth designed by, 5, 72, 75; legacy of, 125; locations of, 69; Medea linked to, 79; modern re-creations of works by, 86–88, 88; moving statues of, 90–95; Prometheus confused/compared with, 103–4; sails invented by, 75, 84; in Sardinia, 85–86; in Sicily, 85–89, 182; Socrates’s references to, 92–93; waterworks created by, 88–89; wings constructed by, 75–81, 76–79, 181
Daedalus 88 (aircraft), 84
D’Angour, Armand, 96
Daoxuan, 208
DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, 32
Dawn. See Eos
Death. See Thanatos
death, naturalness of, 59. See also immortality
De Grey, Aubrey, 57, 59
Deimachus, 207
Demeter, 148
Demetrius of Alopece, 98
Demetrius of Phaleron, 192–93
Demochares, 192–93
Democritus, 93–94
Descartes, René, 123
Deucalion’s Flood, 105, 107
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deus ex machina technology, 196–97
Dian Cecht, 68
Dinocrates of Rhodes, 100
Dio Cassius, 95
Diodorus Siculus, 19, 71, 95, 183–84
Dionysia, 191–93
Dionysius (Greek ambassador), 207
Dionysius of Syracuse, 195
Dionysius Skytobrachion (“Leather-Arm”), 68
Dionysus, 34, 198
Dioscuri. See Castor and Pollux
Diosophos Painter, amphora with Zeus and Pandora, Plate 13, 162–63, 163
Dippel, Johann, 125
Disney, 52
diving bells, 81–82
Dolly (cloned sheep), 41, 227n12
dolphin, mechanical, 191
Dove (Archytas), 128, 190–91, 192, 246n23
dragon-teeth army, 9, 65, 230n10
drone-like automata, 7, 127
drugs. See pharmaka; under military
eagle, mechanical, 191
Eagle of Zeus, 63, 64, 127–28, 138
Earnshaw’s theorem, 101
Egypt and Egyptians, 6, 20, 35, 52, 67, 69, 85–86, 91, 100–101, 151, 187–89, 192, 197–98. See also Alexandria
18 Bronzemen (film), 209
electricity, 31, 125, 169, 189–90
elephants, 66–67, 71
Eleusinian Mysteries, 148
Elpis (Hope), 173–77, 173, 174, 244n39. See also hope
emotions: elicited by lifelike automata, 102–3; in Greek vase paintings, 166; learning and, 216–17; projected onto automata, 11; of Talos, 11–12, 15; of viewers of ancient art, 97–98, 102–3. See also empathy; Uncanny Valley
empathy, 11–12, 15, 216–17
Enkidu, 47, 51
Eos (Dawn), 53–57, 54–56, 188
Epeius, 97, 139, 239n13
Epimetheus, 61, 156, 158–61, 159, 172, 176, 215, 216
Erichtho, 125, 126
Eros/Cupid, 101, 161
ethics and morality: AI, 93, 107, 144, 215–17; automata and, 29–30; cloning and, 41–42; military applications of human enhancements, 62; robots, 93, 107, 144; sexual uses of robots and AI, 107; technological hubris and, 126
Ethiopia, 48
Etruscans: and Daedalus, 78–79; and Medea, 38–39, 79; and Pandora, 161, 173–74; and Prometheus/Prumathe, Plate 10, Plate 11, 114–16, 115, 117, 118, 119, 120, 125, 162; and Sardinia, 20; and Sethlans/Hephaestus’s horse, Plate 8, 138–41, 140; and Talos/Chaluchasu, 17, 18, 19; and Tithonus, 55
Etule, 139, 140, 239n13
Euripides: Daedalus’s statues as subject in tragedy by, 103; Eurystheus, 91; Glaukos as subject of tragedy by, 48; Hecuba, 91; Laodamia as subject of tragedy by, 109; Sisyphus as subject of tragedy by, 53
Eustace, 184
Eve, 2, 112, 157
evil eye, 10, 28, 157
Ex Machina (film), 29
exoskeleton, 32, 62, 132, 134, 138
Fa Hsien, 207
Fantasia (film), 52
Faraone, Christopher, 36
ferrum vivum (“live iron,” magnet), 100–101
Firdowsi, Shahnama, 67, 230n14
Flaxman, John, 172
flight, human-powered, 75–84, 181–82
floating statues, 100–101
flying chairs, 146, 148–49
foresight, 156, 172, 216
Foundry Painter: kylix and foundry scene, Plate 3, 25, 25, 26; kylix with Athena and sculptor, 97; kylix with Hephaestus and Thetis, 130
fountain of youth, 48–49. See also rejuvenation
Frankenstein (film), 125
Franklin, Benjamin, 125
free will, 29, 111, 122–23, 157
Freyja, 68
Furtwangler, Adolf, 162
Future of Life Institute, 144
Galatea, 2, 108, 111, 143, 160
Galvani, Luigi, 125
galvanism, 125
Ganymede, 42
Gao Yang, 182
Gates, Bill, 215
Gellius, Aulus, 190
gems: Pandora myth, 157, 159; Prometheus creating humans, Plate 10, Plate 11, 114, 115, 117, 119, 120, 125–26, 238n41
Genesis, 157
Gesar of Ling, 127–28
giants. See Colossi of Memnon; Colossus of Rhodes; Nuragic civilization; Talos
Gilgamesh, 47, 51
Gilgamesh (epic), 47
Glaukos, 48
gliders, 84
Global Positioning Systems (GPS), 151
Gnosticism, 123
gods: consequences of attachments to mortals, 54–55; diet of, 27, 57–58; humans created by, 105–6; humans in relation to, 122–24; ichor as blood of, 8, 10, 27, 32, 43, 50, 57; immortality of, 8, 27, 43; life bestowed by command of, 2, 21, 23, 106–8, 111–12; mechanical devices serving, 19; punishments given by, 51–53, 58; use of technology by, 22, 23, 112, 114–15, 122, 129–54, 179, 224n23, 225n24, 225n28; virtues of, 46
Godwin, William, 125
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 52
Golden Charmers, 149, 187, 188
Golden Fleece, 8–9, 13
Golden Hound, 7, 142–43, 143. See also Laelaps
Golden Maidens, 149–50, 152–55, 160, 214
Graces, 158–59
Grand Procession, of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, 197–99, 207
Gray, John, Soul of a Marionette, 123
Great Snail, 192–93
Group of Polygnotos, 161–62; volute-krater with Epimetheus, Pandora, Zeus, and Hermes, Plate 12, 161, 161, 175
guardian warriors, Hindu and Buddhist, 203–6, 204, 208–9, 210
Hales, Thomas C., 88
Hamilcar Barca, 184
hang gliders, 84
Harmony (modern sex robot), 236n16, 241n34
Harrison, Evelyn, 175
Harryhausen, Ray: dragon-teeth army for Jason and the Argonauts, 65; Talos model and animation for Jason and the Argonauts, 8, 8, 12
Hawking, Stephen, 215, 216
Hebe, 42–43
heel/ankle, vulnerability of, 10–11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 50–51
Hegesistratus, 68
Heidelberg Painter, cup with Golden Hound made by Hephaestus, 143
Hekate, 36
Helen of Troy, 64, 146
Helios, 10, 101
Hephaestus, 1, 2, 129–55; Achilles’s armor made by, 130–31, 130; as artificer, 129; automata and lifelike devices by, 138–55, 160, 214; background of, 129; bellows made by, 152; bulls made by, 9, 65, 138, 186; creations of, 129–30; Daedalus confused/compared with, 19, 91–92, 103–4; devices for harm or punishment, 129, 134–35, 156, 177, 180; dogs made by, 143–44; Eagle made by, 127–28, 138; fountains made by, 198; as god of technology and craft, 22, 23; Golden Hound made by, 142–43, 143; horses made by, 138–39, 140, 141, 141; Laelaps created by, 7, 12, 142; lion made by, 144; mechanical servants made by, 146, 149–50; Pandora created by, 1, 123, 156–64, 157, 170–72, 215; quiver of arrows made by, 142; scapula made by, 68; singing statues made by, 149–50, 187, 188; Talos created by, 7–8, 10, 20, 22, 51, 138; tripods made by, 145–46; working conditions of, 130, 134
Her (film), 29
Hera, 134–35
Heracles: armor of, 129; and Chiron, 43, 51; Daedalus’s statues of, 91; and the Hydra, 51–52; Icarus buried by, 75; immortality granted to, 42–43, 57; and India, 208, 209; as model for cuirass, 132, 134; and Prometheus, 127, 156; and Stymphalian Birds, 127; vulnerability of, 53
Hercules (miniature modern robot), 216
Hermes, 142, 159–63, 159, 161, 163, 172
Herodotus, 19, 43, 46, 48, 68
Heron of Alexandria, 94, 145, 190, 199–200, 214, 234n30; Theater of Heron, 200–201, 202
Hersey, George, 110
Hesiod, 23, 105, 154, 209; Aegimius, 135; “Age of Bronze,” 223n4; Theogony, 156–58; Works and Days, 8, 156, 158–60, 166, 172–73, 175–76
Hesychius, 121
heteropaternal superfecundation, 43
Hinduism, 102, 123
Hippocratic writings, 27
historiography, of ancient cultures, 4–5
&n
bsp; Homer, 23, 50, 69, 154, 214; Epigoni, 142; Iliad, 19, 130–31, 145, 149–52, 160, 172, 176, 201, 223n1; Odyssey, 21, 45–46, 54, 57, 64, 139, 143–44, 151, 201
Homeric Hymns, 53–55
honeycomb, 86–88, 88
hope, 11, 42, 63, 81, 173–77, 213, 216, 244n39. See also Elpis
Horace, 57, 190
Horn of Themistius, 187
horses, made by Hephaestus, 138–39, 140, 141, 141
Huffman, Carl, 191
human enhancements, 62–65, 68–69, 75, 131–34
HUMANS (television show), 31
humans and human nature: ancient speculation on, 29, 213; artificial creation of, 105–6, 114–26; automata as means of inquiry into, 29; autonomy of, 122–23, 157; hope and, 175–77; Mill on, 241n39; natural lifespan associated with, 48, 229n26; Pandora as punishment for, 156–58, 160–61, 172; Prometheus as creator of, 105–6, 112, 113, 114–27, 156; in reference to immortality, 45–46; weakness of, 60, 61
Huxley, T. H., 123
Hydra, 51
Hyginus, 70, 109, 127
Ibycus, 57
Icarus, 75–81, 76–80, 181
Icarus Cup, 84
ichor, 8, 10, 11, 13, 24, 26–27, 31, 32, 43, 50, 51, 57, 63–64, 64
Idas, 55–56
identity, time as factor in formation of, 45–46
imagination, role of, in contemplating artificial life and technological invention, 1–5, 13, 22–23, 28, 95–96, 103, 112, 134, 146, 150, 153–54, 159, 177, 179, 211–12, 214, 233n22
immortality: of Castor and Pollux, 43–44; Chinese tales about, 49; consequences of, 45–46, 50–59; contemporary quest for, 58; fatalism as substitute for, 47–48; glory as substitute for, 47, 50; of the gods, 8, 27, 43; gods’ granting of, 42; human desire for, 44–60, 58; Medea and, 42; Talos and, 8, 10–11, 27, 29. See also rejuvenation
Immortals, as designation of military units, 46–47
India, 48–49, 71, 102–3, 110–11, 203–9, 211
Indra, 204
Io, 135
Iolaus, 43
Iolcos, 33
Iron Knight. See Talus
Iron Maiden, 195
Iron Man (film), 32
James, William, 123
Japan, 209–10
Jason and the Argonauts, 1, 7–11, 13, 16, 17, 33, 35, 38, 42–43, 63–66, 127, 150
Jason and the Argonauts (film), 8, 11–12, 65
al-Jazari, 146, 201
Jerome, 189
Jesus, 2, 189
kanaboi (armatures), 121–22
Kanellopoulos, Kanellos, 84
Kang, Minsoo, 21–22, 111–12, 153–54, 247n37
Kant, Immanuel, 125, 126
Karloff, Boris, 125
Kerle, Hanfried, 199
Kipchak, 67, 134
kites, 83–84, 182