Credible Theories
Greece and Rome · Iliad 18.373–377, 417–420

Hephaestus' golden robots

ReferenceIliad 18.373–377, 417–420
Writtenc. 750–700 BCE
SetTrojan War
He was making twenty tripods that were to stand by the wall of his house, and he set wheels of gold under them all, that they might go of their own selves to the assemblies of the gods, and come back again… There were golden handmaids also who worked for him, and were like real young women, with sense and reason, voice also and strength, and all the learning of the immortals.

Translation: Butler, 1898 · About the translator

Read it literally

Self-moving carts and thinking androids in the oldest Greek poem.

What scholars say

Homer.

Looks like technology
People and places hereHomer

Quick answers about Iliad 18.373–377, 417–420

Where is Iliad 18.373–377, 417–420 found?

Iliad 18.373–377, 417–420 (Greece and Rome). Translation quoted: Samuel Butler, The Iliad of Homer (1898).

When was Iliad 18.373–377, 417–420 written?

c. 750–700 BCE.

What do scholars say about Iliad 18.373–377, 417–420?

Homer.

Rabbit holes in this passage

ObjectHephaestus' golden maidensIn the oldest Greek epic, the smith god builds wheeled tripods that move by themselves and golden women who think and speak.

Sources

  1. Samuel Butler, The Iliad of Homer (1898)Primary text
  2. Homer, Iliad 18.369–420, trans. Samuel Butler (1898)Primary text

Scholarly dates are rounded. The wording follows the named public-domain translation.

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