Having an understanding of wind, currents, and tide was
vital to maintain the correct course. For long-distance voy-
ages, the Greeks made use of the sun and the stars. Since no
compass, chronometers, sextants, or octants existed, and as
it could be diffi cult to observe landmarks, using the North
Star (known to the Greeks as the Phoenician Star) and fol-
lowing the sun were vital in gaining direction. By 600 b.c.e.
a philosopher named Th ales (ca. 625–ca. 547 b.c.e.) was able
to teach sailors how to get to Miletus (on the Aegean coast
of modern-day Turkey) by following the Ursa Minor constel-
lation of stars. However, a mechanism found on a wreck off
the Greek island of Antikýthēra, dating to the end of the fi rst
century b.c.e., may have been used to calculate astronomical
positions and could have been used in seafaring.Th e weather and the season of the year in which the
voyage was to take place were very important factors. Large
cargoes were carried by Greek ships all across the Mediter-
ranean, and it would have been wise to avoid the autumn and
winter rains and storms. Goods could be lost and crews of
men killed, and ship owners would have been well aware of
the fi nancial risks. In the spring and summer, as the Greek
writer Hesiod (ca. 800 b.c.e.) says, “You are not likely to
smash your ship, nor the sea to destroy your crew.... At that
time the breezes are well defi ned and the sea harmless.”
Seafaring could be a harsh experience for sailors. For
hundreds of years little accommodation was given to living
space or preparation of food on ancient Greek ships. Th ere
was a threat from being attacked by pirates, and iron spear-Early Greek sailors were able to travel throughout the Aegean Sea and from there eventually to other locations in the Mediterranean and the
Black seas.958 seafaring and navigation: Greece0895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i958 958 10/10/07 2:30:34 PM