Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to the Ancient Greek Economy
- The Cambridge Companion to the Ancient Greek Economy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Maps
- Notes on the Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Maps
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Diachronic Perspectives
- Part II Regional Perspectives
- Part III Structures and Processes
- Part IV Networks
- Part V Performance
- Theoretical Approaches
- Empirical Approaches
- 25 Climate, Environment, and Resources
- 26 Technological Progress
- 27 Inequality
- References
- Index
- Cambridge Companions to the Ancient World
26 - Technological Progress
from Empirical Approaches
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 July 2022
- The Cambridge Companion to the Ancient Greek Economy
- The Cambridge Companion to the Ancient Greek Economy
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Maps
- Notes on the Contributors
- Abbreviations
- Maps
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Diachronic Perspectives
- Part II Regional Perspectives
- Part III Structures and Processes
- Part IV Networks
- Part V Performance
- Theoretical Approaches
- Empirical Approaches
- 25 Climate, Environment, and Resources
- 26 Technological Progress
- 27 Inequality
- References
- Index
- Cambridge Companions to the Ancient World
Summary
This chapter analyses the concept of technological progress in Greek antiquity. It briefly surveys the historiography of technological progress, in particular Moses Finley’s view and its links with his view of the ancient economy, and more recent reactions to Finley. The chapter charts the idea that technology has helped humankind develop from a semi-brutish state to a more civilised condition in some classical Greek sources, including Greek tragedy, and focusses on the case-study of ancient accounts of catapults, which include a history of discovery and of cumulative improvement. The last section is devoted to the ambiguous morality of technological progress.
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- Information
- The Cambridge Companion to the Ancient Greek Economy , pp. 392 - 403Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022