The world’s first robot, known as the Automate Therapaenis—or Automatic Maid—was a remarkable technological achievement of Ancient Greece, created in the third century BC. Designed by the celebrated engineer Philo of Byzantium (c. 280–220 BC), also known as Philo Mechanicus, the invention demonstrated how advanced Greek engineering seamlessly blended mechanical skill with creative imagination.
Philo, the author of the influential work Mechanike Syntaxis (Compendium of Mechanics), was born in Byzantium but spent much of his life in Alexandria, Egypt, a major center of scientific thought in the ancient world.
The Automate Therapaenis was a life-sized figure constructed from wood and copper. In one hand, the maid held an oenochoe, or wine jug, while her other hand extended outward to receive a drinking cup. Hidden within her body was an intricate system of tubes that transported wine and water from internal containers through her arm and into the decanter—an early example of programmable automation.
In keeping with Ancient Greek customs, wine was never consumed pure but carefully diluted with water in precise proportions. The robot was designed to perform this ritual automatically.
How the Ancient Greek Robot Worked
The maid’s left arm was hinged at the shoulder and held upright by a spring. Two tubes descended from the arm into perforated air ducts connected to separate containers—one holding wine and the other water. Each tube contained an opening that controlled airflow.
When a goblet was placed into the maid’s open hand, the added weight caused her arm to lower, lifting the internal tubes. This movement aligned one tube with the air duct of the wine container, allowing air to enter and wine to flow into the cup. Once the goblet reached the halfway point, its increasing weight caused the arm to drop further, sealing the air passage and stopping the flow.
At the same time, the second tube aligned with the water container, allowing water to pour into the goblet and dilute the wine. When the cup was full, the arm descended again, blocking the airflow and halting the water—completing the serving process.
Today, working replicas of this extraordinary Ancient Greek “robot” can be seen at the Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, which operates four locations: Athens, Katakolo in Elis, Ancient Olympia in the Peloponnese, and Heraklion, Crete.
Source: Greekreporter Edited by Bernie
