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Texto Completo (Pdf) ELVIRA SANCHEZ, JOSÉ IVAN, “EL MECANISMO DE ANTICITERA Y LOS THAUMASIOURGOI HELENÍSTICOS” SHJ, ISSUE II, nº 2, 2012 STUDIA José Iván Elvira Sánchez, Independent Researcher EL MECANISMO DE ANTICITERA Y LOS THAUMASIOURGOI HELENÍSTICOS Categoría: Artículo. Resumen: El propósito del presente artículo será el de ubicar correctamente el conocido “mecanismo de Anticitera” en su contexto histórico, a la luz de las fuentes antiguas. Esto nos servirá como óptimo punto de partida para reconstruir el probable marco socio- cultural en el que surgirían éste y otros ingenios mecánicos, como los autómatas. Asimismo, sentaremos las bases para un replanteamiento del grado de tecnificación de la civilización helenística, de la mano de los thaumasiourgoi, los “fabricantes de maravillas”. Para ello nos valdremos de los conceptos fundamentales sostenidos por las ciencias físicas y mecánicas de la Antigüedad. Palabras clave: Mecanismo de Anticitera, Thaumasiourgoi, autómatas. THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM AND THE HELLENISTIC THAUMASIOURGOI Category: Paper. Abstract: The purpose of the present paper is to locate correctly the known “Antikythera Mechanism” in its historical context in light of the Ancient sources. It would serve us as an optimal starting point to reconstruct the probable social-and-cultural framework in which this and other devices have risen, like the automata. Likewise, we will put the basis for a rethinking of the technical degree of the Hellenistic Civilization, by the hand of the thaumasiourgoi, the “wonder-makers”. In doing so, we will make use of the mainstream concepts defended by the physic and mechanic sciences from Antiquity. Key words: The Antikythera Mechanism, Thaumasiourgoi, Automata. ISSN : 2174 - 0399 URL: http://studiahermeticajournal.com Page 4 ELVIRA SANCHEZ, JOSÉ IVAN, “EL MECANISMO DE ANTICITERA Y LOS THAUMASIOURGOI HELENÍSTICOS” SHJ, ISSUE II, nº 2, 2012 Prolegómenos En este artículo argumentaremos partiendo desde lo más concreto hasta lo más abstracto; es decir, desde el resto arqueológico (el mecanismo), hasta los distintos conceptos filosóficos que vertebran la tecnología griega y su mismo sentido, con el fin de despejar la falsa creencia popular de que dicho mecanismo es inexplicable atendiendo a su contexto histórico. Considerando que dicho ingenio es en todo caso una “maravilla” (técnica), se hace ineludible especificar qué entendemos por tal. Pues bien, los términos “fabricante de maravillas” (θαυμασιουργος)1, y el sentido mismo de “maravilla” (θαῦμα)2, se nos han conservado a través de la obra Pappus de Alejandría, del siguiente modo: καλοῦσι δὲ μηχανικοὺς οἱ παλαιοὶ καὶ τοὺς θαυμασιουργοὺς, ὧν οἱ μὲν διὰ πνευμάτων φιλοτεχνοῦσιν, ὡς Ἥρων πνευματικοῖς, οἱ δὲ διὰ νευρίων καὶ σπάρτων ἐμψύχων κινήσεις δοκοῦσι μιμεῖσθαι, ὡς Ἥρων αὐτομάτοις καὶ ζυγίοις, ἄλλοι δὲ διὰ τῶν ἐφ' ὕδατος ὀχουμένων, ὡς Ἀρχιμήδης ὀχουμένοις, ἢ τῶν δι' ὕδατος ὡρο λογίων, ὡς Ἥρων ὑδρείοις, ἃ δὴ καὶ τῇ γνωμονικῇ θεωρίᾳ κοινωνοῦντα φαίνεται. μηχανικοὺς δὲ καλοῦσιν καὶ τοὺς τὰς σφαιροποι ας [ποιεῖν] ἐπισταμένους, ὑφ' ὧν εἰκὼν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κατασκευάζεται δι' ὁμαλῆς καὶ ἐγκυκλ ου κινήσεως ὕδατος3. 1 No confundir con el θαυματοποιῶν aludido por Platón en Sofista, 235b y República, 602d. La figura del “prestidigitador” o “ilusionista” citada por Platón se relaciona con el charlatán; de hecho, algo parecido refiere Eunapio en relación con Máximo de Éfeso, cfr. infra, p. 13. El θαυμασιουργος es un producto genuinamente helenístico-romano, si bien encontramos referencias a autómatas y a ingenios “divinos” (i.e. no mecánicos) en algunos filósofos presocráticos y en textos clásicos como la Ilíada (XVIII, 418-20) y la Odisea (VIII, 557-59), así como en la mitología (el ejemplo típico es Dédalo, cfr. Menón, 97d; Eutifrón, 11b-c, 15b; Hipias Mayor, 282a). 2 En nuestra opinión, el concepto de maravilla debe distinguirse del de “máquina”, mucho más general: “Machina est continens e materia coniunctio maximas ad onerum motus habens uirtutes. Ea mouetur ex arte circulorum rutundationibus, quam Graeci cyclicen cinesin appellant”. (Vitruvio, De Architectura, X, 1). 3 Colección, 8, 2: “Los antiguos también denominan mecánicos (μηχανικοὺς) a los fabricantes de maravillas (θαυμασιουργοὺς), entre los que algunos ejercen su arte mediante el aire (πνευμάτων), como Herón en su Pneumatika; otros parecen imitar los movimientos de las criaturas vivientes mediante resortes y cuerdas, como Herón en su Autómatas y Balanzas (αὐτομάτοις καὶ ζυγίοις), otros mediante cosas portadas por el agua como Arquímedes en su obra Sobre los Cuerpos Flotantes (ὀχουμένοις), o mediante relojes de agua, como Herón en su ὑδρείοις, que está claro que tiene algo en común con la ISSN : 2174 - 0399 URL: http://studiahermeticajournal.com Page 5 ELVIRA SANCHEZ, JOSÉ IVAN, “EL MECANISMO DE ANTICITERA Y LOS THAUMASIOURGOI HELENÍSTICOS” SHJ, ISSUE II, nº 2, 2012 La maravilla es ciertamente un mecanismo utilizado para “impresionar”, “animar” y “representar” (las revoluciones celestes, el tiempo), y supone una aplicación más inventiva y recreativa de las artes mecánicas. Pappus plantea a los fabricantes de maravillas como una rama destacada y heterodoxa de los μηχανικοί, junto a los “artífices de esferas”; unificamos ambos sentidos aquí con la finalidad exclusivamente académica de deslindarlos de las aplicaciones mecánicas más “prosaicas”, como la ingeniería y la arquitectura. Este extracto de sus μηχανικὰ προβλήματα, nos introduce directamente en el contexto científico-técnico del mecanismo de Anticitera, siglos después de Arquímedes, y en particular entre aquellos artífices de esferas que pretenden imitar el orden regular de los cielos, descrito por autores como Pappus o Vitruvio4, una de las bases fundamentales que traería consigo la sofisticación del modelo cosmológico aristotélico- ptolemaico, desarrollado ya bien entrada nuestra era. El mecanismo de Anticitera El enigmático “mecanismo de Anticitera”, rescatado de su lecho marino durante los dos primeros años del pasado siglo XX, arrastra consigo una apasionante tradición de estudio continuado, particularmente meritorio desde la obra de Derek J. de Solla Price, cuya primera contribución a la materia sería publicada en 19555, si bien su trabajo más importante y conocido no se publicaría hasta más de una década después, en 19746, y que aún hoy constituye el texto clásico de referencia sobre el ingenio helenístico. ciencia de los relojes de sol (γνωμονικῇ θεωρίᾳ). También consideran mecánicos a los artífices de las esferas construidas a imagen del cielo, diseñadas en virtud del movimiento regular y circular del agua (δι' ὁμαλῆς καὶ ἐγκυκλ ου κινήσεως ὕδατος)”. El texto en negrita es nuestro. 4 De Architectura, X, 1.4: “Omnis autem est machinatio rerum natura procreata ac praeceptrice et magistra mundi uersatione instituta. Namque ni aduertamus primum et aspiciamus continentem solis, lunae, quinque etiam stellarum, natura machinata uersarentur, non habuissemus interdum lucem nec fructûm maturitatis. Cum ergo maiores haec ita esse animaduertissent, e rerum natura sumpserunt exempla et ea imitantes inducti rebus diuinis commodas uitae perfecerunt explicationes. Itaque conparauerunt ut essent expeditiora, alia machinis et earum uersationibus, nonnulla organis, et ita quae animaduerterunt ad usum utilia esse studiis artibus, institutis, gradatim augenda doctrinis curauerunt”. 5 “Clockwork before the Clock”. 6 Gears from the Greeks (a partir de ahora, abreviado en G.G.) ISSN : 2174 - 0399 URL: http://studiahermeticajournal.com Page 6 ELVIRA SANCHEZ, JOSÉ IVAN, “EL MECANISMO DE ANTICITERA Y LOS THAUMASIOURGOI HELENÍSTICOS” SHJ, ISSUE II, nº 2, 2012 Actualmente, las contribuciones en este sentido se enmarcan en equipos de trabajo multidisciplinares, algunos de ellos dotados de grandes medios económicos y técnicos, y cuyos asombrosos descubrimientos, encauzados a través de prestigiosas revistas como Nature7, han otorgado carta de naturaleza definitiva a nuestro mecanismo8. 7 Concretamente, el extraordinario grupo de trabajo reunió a reputados especialistas en los campos de la astronomía, la historiografía y la mecánica, como son Tony Freeth, Alexander Jones, John M. Steele y Yanis Bitsakis. Hay que decir que otros grupos de trabajo se han ocupado de nuestro mecanismo de una u otra forma, como por ejemplo el The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, el National Hellenic Research Foundation y la Association of Ancient Greek Technology Studies. Asimismo, habría que citar el Centre d’Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques, de la Universidad de Lieja, a cuya dirección se halla Robert Halleux, y el Scientific Instrument Commission of the IUHPS. De hecho, podemos encontrar recientes sesiones de trabajo en el British Council en Grecia (URL: http://www.britishcouncil.org/greece- science-the-antikythera-mechanism.htm), lo que evidencia la actualidad y la fascinación que despierta la materia. 8 No obstante, debemos tener en cuenta que hasta su reconstrucción más “fiable”, entre 2005 y 2006, ha tenido que transcurrir una larguísima fase de escaneo del mecanismo, que comenzó en el año 1971, cuando Price, alertado de la posibilidad de utilizar rayos-x para analizar el resto arqueológico, pidió permiso al Museo Nacional Griego y finalmente a la Comisión de la Energía Atómica del país para llevar a cabo sus pesquisas utilizando tal adelanto técnico. Así, junto con el Dr. Charalambos Karakalos, emprendería una costosa reconstrucción del mecanismo valiéndose de las radiografías efectuadas. Sin embargo, no sería hasta 2001, veintisiete años después de la publicación de
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