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Ancient Greek Inventions

Can you name these inventions and discoveries of ancient Greece?
Includes one Byzantine invention
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: January 10, 2020
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First submittedMay 12, 2014
Times taken14,935
Average score55.6%
Rating4.14
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Clue
Answer
Rule by the people
Democracy
Quadrennial sporting competition
Olympics
Construction tool for making tall buildings
Crane
One-wheeled device for hauling things
Wheelbarrow
Measures the distance traveled by a wheel
Odometer
Infantry formation with interlocking shields
Phalanx
Tool for measuring inclines
and making astronomic observations
Astrolabe
More powerful way to shoot an arrow
Crossbow
Napalm-like substance used
in naval warfare
Greek Fire
Clue
Answer
Shore-based beacon for ships
Lighthouse
Device for waking up on time
Alarm Clock
Staircase that can fit in
a small space
Spiral
Staircase
Euclid's science
Geometry
Circular performance venue
Amphitheatre
Way to pump water
Archimedes'
Screw
Musical instrument with pipes
Organ
Study of triangles
Trigonometry
Way to get clean indoors
Shower
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31 Comments
kalbahamut
+3
Level 81
May 22, 2014
There were several tools they invented that could be useful in building tall buildings
MidnightCentury574
+1
Level 33
May 22, 2014
i wouldn't really call trigonometry the study of triangles at all. trig is more about angles generally, not just triangles
Arp2600
+11
Level 86
May 22, 2014
tri = 3, gonos = angle. So yes, trigonometry is about triangles...
BlackJohn
+8
Level 76
Nov 30, 2018
It literally means the "measuring/study of triangles" in greek.
FractalDoom
+2
Level 43
May 22, 2014
How is an astrolabe a tool for measuring inclines? It can replicate the positions of the stars to give some information, but you couldn't use it to measure the angle of a hill's slope, as far as I know.
martay
+1
Level 70
Sep 19, 2019
It references the horizon to measure the inclination of celestial bodies in the sky. With that, all sorts of other useful information can be derived.
AlexanderTheLarge
+3
Level 60
May 22, 2014
The crossbow was invented by the Chinese, not the Greeks/Byzantines.
Quizmaster
+4
Level ∞
May 22, 2014
Both cultures invented it during or before the 5th century BC. Hard to say which came first.
Dfizzle
+1
Level 21
Sep 23, 2019
Greek....Of course! We invented everything!
Duzza
+2
Level 32
May 22, 2014
Amphi - on both sides

Theatron - place of viewing

Therefore - Amphitheatre is 'a theatre on both sides'

An amphitheatre is a circular theatre NOT semicircular

uclj
+4
Level 19
May 24, 2014
Greek fire is not an ancient Greek invention. It was invented in the so called Byzantine empire.
Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
May 25, 2014
Read the disclaimer!
buck1017
+9
Level 78
Jun 19, 2014
Ohhhh...you got burned.......with Greek Fire!
smartcookie17
+1
Level 45
Jul 3, 2014
AHH! AHH! WATER! I NEED WATER!
smartcookie17
+1
Level 45
Jul 3, 2014
It BURNS us!
Quizmaster
+3
Level ∞
Aug 5, 2019
Water won't help you @smartcookie17. This is Greek fire we are talking about!
Sifhraven
+2
Level 72
Sep 20, 2019
Ouzo?;)
YantheMan
+2
Level 66
Sep 22, 2019
Probably a significantly worse idea.
zuni
+2
Level 32
Apr 16, 2015
Geometry was 'revolutionized' by Euclid...it was already present in Indus Valley, Babylonia...there are many Vedic manuscripts about this and both Egyptians and Babylonians used forms of geometry...so it would be wrong to say that Greeks 'invented' geometry...
BlackJohn
+4
Level 76
Nov 30, 2018
Euclid made it an actual science and documented its basic principles and axioms. What you suggest is like saying that Arabs didn't invent algebra because other peoples would count and perform addition or subtraction.
Gassu
+2
Level 70
Aug 9, 2018
Hey QM, you‘ve made a mistake in this one. You wrote semicircular performance venue, which is clearly an indication of (and only of!) a theatre. An amphitheatre (Latin: amphi- meaning "to both sides") was something different - the Colosseum was an amphitheatre because it was extended to both sides (i.e. round). Why are the Amphibians called Amphibians? They can live in both kinds (land and water).

Source: I studied Latin for three years, but nevertheless, here‘s a proof

Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Aug 9, 2018
Fixed it
olafus
+1
Level 68
Sep 19, 2019
The amphitheatre, though a greek word, is of Roman origin.
cornflakesfu
+1
Level 87
Jan 1, 2019
I thought the primary significance of the crossbow was not that it was more powerful than a traditional bow but rather that it was significantly easier to learn to use. From Wikipedia:

"The traditional bow and arrow had long been a specialized weapon that required considerable user training, physical strength and expertise to operate with any degree of practical efficiency. . . . In contrast, the crossbow was the first projectile weapon to be simple, cheap and physically undemanding enough to be operated by large numbers of conscript soldiers, thus enabling virtually any nation to field a potent force of ranged crossbowmen with little expense beyond the cost of the weapons themselves."

Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Aug 5, 2019
That's the Middle Ages version of the crossbow. The Greek crossbow was much different.
Walacama
+2
Level 82
Sep 20, 2019
I tried "wild fire" first, then it it dawned on me. GOT
nicksin
+2
Level 38
Mar 20, 2020
I typed "pipe organ" for the musical instrument with pipes clue, and it wasn't accepted. Any reason why it wasn't accepted?
LivinAWestLife
+3
Level 81
Dec 14, 2021
When you write "alarm" and proceed to not do that question because you didn't know you had to type "alarm clock" ...
barmanitan
+1
Level 79
Nov 24, 2023
To me it seems weird not to accept it. It's not like it's a potential answer to any other clue, and clearly anyone typing it is referring to the alarm clock, commonly known as just an alarm including by Oxford, Cambridge, and Merriam-Webster
AbiA
+1
Level 85
Apr 28, 2023
Maybe “travelled by a wheeled vehicle” might be more specific as surely surveyor’s wheel/trundle-wheel/hodometer/clickwheel/waywiser also/better fit the definition given. Also, is sextant not a valid answer for measuring inclines and making astronomical observations?
GrammarBeane1
+1
Level 83
Nov 16, 2023
I guessed sextant at first too, but it doesn't seem that it was invented by the Greeks. From the wiki:

"The principle of the instrument was first implemented around 1731 by John Hadley (1682–1744) and Thomas Godfrey (1704–1749)"---who were English and American respectively.

Although weirdly both Hadley and Godfrey were known not for the sextant, but for the octant, which was the precursor to the sextant. In the wiki page for octants, Admiral John Campbell (again not Greek, but Scottish) is said to have suggested a larger instrument than the octant which then led to the creation of the sextant. He, however, is not mentioned at all on the sextant wiki page!

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