「オデュッセウスの舟」と,艤装品υποξωματαについて
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概要
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Excavated wrecks of ancient Mediterranean ships revealed technical methods of Mediterranean shipbuilding Among them was the so-called "shell-first method" with which modern Western Europe had not been at all familiar By the "shell-first method" they erected first a strong shell of planks by jointing edges together closely with mortises and tenons and then inserted a complete set of frames to stiffen the shell tight The constructing procedure is quite the reverse of the traditional European so-called "skeleton-first method" The discovery of the "shell-first method" brought a new phase in the interpretation of classical literary texts the passage Odyssey 5 234-61 that has puzzled classical scholars turns out to be explicable Odysseus builds his σχεδια with mortises and tenons by the "shell-first method" Carefully reading the passage with the eye of a shipbuilder, I suggest his σχεδια is not a raft, but a real boat and build a tentative model Rudimentary as it is, it is built firmly enough to be seaworthy But for the intervention of Poseidon, Odysseus could have arrived safe at Ithaca by this boat The new findings enabled the project team to reconstruct the Athenian trireme Olympias, too Many specialists in archaeology, nautical history, classical studies and maritime engineering engaged in the reconstruction project found that the υποζωματα previously believed to be outside the hull were inside The υποζωματα are listed in the Piraeus naval inventories and seem to be very important hanging-gear of the triremes, but we have no further prescription in the inventories about how and where they were fitted Relevant passages in the literature are few except Plato's Republic and Laws So far classical scholars had speculated that the υπρζωματα were fitted round outside the hull, but this is overturned by the "inside" theory of the reconstruction project team However, a doubt remains The υποζωματα in the tenth book of the Republic have an important function, being compared to the band of light holding the universe together The light seems to pass not only through the center of the Universe, but also, since it holds the heaven together, round the outer surface of the heavenly sphere In the Acts also, when the freighter St Paul is boarding meets a storm, ropes undergirding(υποζωννυντεζ)the ship are used These ropes seem to be outside the hull In the Argonautica, the Argonauts in launching the Argo strongly gird the ship with a well twisted rope This rope can be recognized as a υποζωμα and must have been outside the hull Moreover in some passages of the Odyssey and the Trojan Women, there are ropes recognizable as υποζωματα girding round outside the hull lengthwise from stem to stern It can be safely said that the "inside" theory of the reconstruction team does not always hold I test it by reappraising as much relevant literature and as many iconographical representations as possible
- 2005-03-08