As we know, the Hellenes during the Proclassical, Classical and Hellenistic Period of History invented and constructed all instruments, which as a rule are still considered today to contribute to the evolution of a civilisation. They have been rulers of the seas, with the full meaning, and that helped them immensely to accumulate wealth, to concentrate knowledge and experience from other nations, to acquire raw materials and eventually to cover the whole Mediterranean region through the establishment of colonies. Thus, they created an unrivalled civilization, which was never surpassed; on the contrary it has become a source of inspiration even today.

We already know enough about the philosophical pursuits of the ancient Greeks, including the Byzantines, and for their history by studying their texts or observing the archaeological excavations. There is, though, another side of their civilization less known, that of their technical and technological evolution. In this sector too the achievements of the Greeks were impressive. In fact, certain rules of physics, geometry, mathematics, chemistry, statics and a number of other sciences demonstrated, that were not unknown and they became the base and guide for constructions, instruments and tools, which had a direct relation to the every day life. Such impressive for this period inventions were related with war operations, with the life and the structure of every city and each building separately, with their daily occupations, such as agriculture, stock-raising and others, with the handling of water resources, navigation, mixing of metals, entertainment, and, in general, with the finding of ways to facilitate the human life. AEOLOS Publications in Athens, led by the keen interest of the readers for a series of books, which they published with relevant issues, asked for the cooperation of several scientists and specialists to reconstruct mechanisms and instruments of the ancient Greeks. With the close cooperation of the writer Christos D. Lazos and others were organised, several times already, exhibitions for Ancient Greek Technology, with instruments, tables, transparencies, projections and lectures, to which many people corresponded.

Outside of AIOLOS Exhibitions an other special exhibition: “Ancient Greek Technology – Proceedings” 1^st International Conference – Thessaloniki 1997, was held by the Association for the Study of Ancient Technology and the Technology Museum of Thessaloniki, 4-7 September 1997 (In the conference participated 226 Greek and 13 foreign SCIENTISTS, with 79 papers presented). The above Association has organised many exhibitions until now, with the cooperation of the Technical Chamber, and the Technical Museum of Thessaloniki.

The exhibits are categorised, according to the use they had in their operational form during the antiquity. It should be noted that all the effigies-reconstructions are operational, irrelative to their scale to the "original". All the constructors were relied for the closest possible precise outcome, either on archaeological, historical or other relevant studies, or on literature sources, where usually the instrument is described. Moreover, the materials used for their construction are similar or the same, as much as it is allowed from the technical side with those of the "original".

These exhibitions open a window to an unknown aspect of a 4.000 – year history. Analytically, they have been represented: Instruments for War Technology, Hydraulic Instruments and Pumping Mechanisms, Tools of every day life, Metallurgy and Mines, Metrical instruments Agriculture and Chemical Technology, building, mechanology, Musical, Nautical instruments Agriculture and Mines, Metrical instruments, Agricultural and Chemical Technology, building, Mechanology Musical, Nautical instruments, Technical Works etc.

Relations between ancient Technology, Science and Philosophy. Greek technology is a very complex and fascinating topic not yet much examined but still having produced many, quite often, contradictory statements.

Nowadays, it seems obvious to us that technology is based in general on Science and Philosophy, and that it is a determinant factor of the society that helps economic development and progress.

However, we must not generalize from our own specific period of human history while dealing with ancient technology. Things that seem obvious to us were not obvious to people of other civilizations. The question about Greek technology is often raised in comparison with the great and unique contributions of the Greeks in arts, philosophy, science etc. In this way, there is a general tendency among either historians of science and technology of ancient historians to underrate the originality and proficiency of Greek technology. On the other hand, the same authors praise the inventive genius of ancient engineers like Archimedes, Ktesibius, Philon and Heron. Modern philosophers distinguish between pre-industrial and modern technology in the sense that the former was the technology of craftsmen based on experience and traditional rules, while the latter is a system of rational rules grounded on science. But inventions of Archimedes and of some others technicians of the Hellenistic or Roman world show a positive relation between science and technology.

Why then the Greeks did not develop a technology similar to our modern one, focused mainly in labour saving machines? Why the industrial revolution delayed for almost two thousand years? These are questions that many scholars ask and various explanations have been proposed. However, we can easily see that for all reasons about this questions concerning of Greek technology contradict each other. It seems that a common mistake of most of explanations is that they consider the eight or more centuries of Greek civilization to be a period with more or less uniform or similar socio-economic and cultural characteristics.

What I intend to do is to see Greek technology, not separated, but in its relation to science, economy and culture, concentrating also on the ideal of the man and the values of ancient Greeks with relation to science, labour and technique. I think that it will be easy to show that the interrelation of these factors will turn out to exhibit three different periods in ancient history with different characteristics. These periods are the pre-classical, the classical and the Hellenistic. In every period technology presents different relations with the other factors. In this way Greek technology are valid, but have to be qualified in respect with each specific period, in order to see its unique and great contribution to the world civilization and progress.

Especially after me 6th century BC, a gradual infiltration of scientific thinking into technology may be observed. This was for instance the case of Geometry offering services to Engineering, Optics, Geography and Astronomy. Technology, in its turn, reciprocates by offering to Science a series of measuring instruments. This was the fruitful and mutually beneficial relationship Science →Technology →Science in the ancient Greek world, (with the exception perhaps of the Athenian golden age where Technology was serving society, but without any further broadening). In this period we have the emblematic case of Plato who was wrongly considered as being anti-technological minded. The case of his opposition to Archytas, is proved to be of epistemological rather sociological nature, according Professor TASSIOS studies and researches.

Finally I underline here the opinion of Vitruvius that a lot of Greeks have inherited to future generations several machines based on «calculus» and «physical laws»; an opinion which proves the happy marriage of science and technology in ancient Greece, and furthermore their contribution to the world technical progress (In the next pages you will see some technical instruments, which the AIOLOS PUBLICATIONS showed during their Exhibitions concerning the Ancient Greek Technology).