Frankenstein, the Golem &co.
Cecilia Rennie
Hi! Do you know of any Frankenstein-like myths (an android created by a
human). The only one I can remember is the Golem.
Thanks a lot.
--
Cecilia Rennie
John K. Taber
Cecilia Rennie wrote:
>
> Hi! Do you know of any Frankenstein-like myths (an android created by a
> human). The only one I can remember is the Golem.
> Thanks a lot.
Gosh, I can't remember the names anymore, it's been so long. How about
the guy who made a statue of a beautiful woman (Galatea?) and fell in
love with it?
Love is more cruel than a mere monster.
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SMILEY DAVID WILLIAM
In book 10 of the Metamorphoses Ovid writes of a Cyprian sculptor,
Pygmalion whose beautiful creation turned to living flesh by the
intervention of Venus.
Hope this helps..
david
///
(o o)
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Et dixit illi Iesus "Amen dico tibi hodie mecum eris in paradiso."
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Wm G. Smith
John K. Taber wrote:
>
> Cecilia Rennie wrote:
> >
> > Hi! Do you know of any Frankenstein-like myths (an android created by a
> > human). The only one I can remember is the Golem.
> > Thanks a lot.
>
> Gosh, I can't remember the names anymore, it's been so long. How about
> the guy who made a statue of a beautiful woman (Galatea?) and fell in
> love with it?
The sculptor's name was Pygmalion.
--
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D. Barrington
SMILEY DAVID WILLIAM (smi...@ucsu.Colorado.EDU) wrote:
: In book 10 of the Metamorphoses Ovid writes of a Cyprian sculptor,
: Pygmalion whose beautiful creation turned to living flesh by the
: intervention of Venus.
: On Sat, 17 Aug 1996, John K. Taber wrote:
: > Cecilia Rennie wrote:
: > >
: > > Hi! Do you know of any Frankenstein-like myths (an android created by a
: > > human). The only one I can remember is the Golem.
: > > Thanks a lot.
: >
At least according to _D'Aulaire's Illustrated Greek Myths_, Hephaestus
made a couple of "robots" (their word, obviously not the classical word
as "robot" from Czech about 1900) to help in his workshop. IIRC, they
were made of silver and gold, and could think for themselves.
Wasn't Talos, the big bronze guy, some sort of robot-like thing as well?
Dave MB
Richard M. Alderson III
In article <4v9vvu$m...@kernighan.cs.umass.edu> bar...@fiji.cs.umass.edu
(D. Barrington) writes:
>At least according to _D'Aulaire's Illustrated Greek Myths_, Hephaestus made a
>couple of "robots" (their word, obviously not the classical word as "robot"
>from Czech about 1900) to help in his workshop. IIRC, they were made of
>silver and gold, and could think for themselves.
The play _R. U. R._ by Josef Capek was written much later than 1900; I think it
is from the 1930's, though it may actually date from after World War II. This
is the play that gave the word "robot" to the world.
>Wasn't Talos, the big bronze guy, some sort of robot-like thing as well?
I seem to recall that Talos was the last of the Bronze Age men (the Age which
followed those of Gold and Silver). In other words, he was human, but not of
current humankind.
--
Rich Alderson You know the sort of thing that you can find in any dictionary
of a strange language, and which so excites the amateur philo-
logists, itching to derive one tongue from another that they
know better: a word that is nearly the same in form and meaning
as the corresponding word in English, or Latin, or Hebrew, or
what not.
--J. R. R. Tolkien,
alde...@netcom.com _The Notion Club Papers_
Daan Sandee
In article <ALDERSON.96...@netcom16.netcom.com>, alde...@netcom16.netcom.com (Richard M. Alderson III) writes:
|> In article <4v9vvu$m...@kernighan.cs.umass.edu> bar...@fiji.cs.umass.edu
|> (D. Barrington) writes:
|>
|> >At least according to _D'Aulaire's Illustrated Greek Myths_, Hephaestus made a
|> >couple of "robots" (their word, obviously not the classical word as "robot"
|> >from Czech about 1900) to help in his workshop. IIRC, they were made of
|>
|> is from the 1930's, though it may actually date from after World War II. This
|> is the play that gave the word "robot" to the world.
R.U.R. is from 1920, and usually attributed to Karel Capek, although his
brother Josef, the painter, may have contributed, as he did with many of
the early Capek literary works.
Daan Sandee
Burlington, MA san...@think.com
Chris Camfield
In article <ALDERSON.96...@netcom16.netcom.com>,
Richard M. Alderson III <alde...@netcom.com> wrote:
[chop]
>I seem to recall that Talos was the last of the Bronze Age men (the Age which
>followed those of Gold and Silver). In other words, he was human, but not of
>current humankind.
Really? It might be a later invention , but I know I've read of Talos
hopping into a fire to heat up, so that he could walk around and burn
invaders to death. I didn't think the men of the Bronze, Gold, and
Silver races were actually _made_ of those metals... or were they?
Chris
--
Christopher Camfield - ccam...@uwaterloo.ca - BMath Joint CS/C&O
"And the Crow and the Jackal and the Jackfish
Are suited up to go another round / I'll be up to my ticker in dead-beats
When the cold steel hammer swings down" (BRJ)
Cecilia Rennie
Thanks for your help! For those of you who are interested in this subject,
apart from the suggestions I got from you, I've also found:
a legend that says man was created by the Archangel Gabriel and that when
he was finished God breathed life into him.
Several attempts in the eighteenth century to build automata (especially a
Frenchman called Vaucanson).
Drawings by Athanasius Kircher of automata
Thanks again,
--
Cecilia Rennie
George Robertson
: At least according to _D'Aulaire's Illustrated Greek Myths_, Hephaestus
: made a couple of "robots" (their word, obviously not the classical word
: as "robot" from Czech about 1900) to help in his workshop. IIRC, they
According to Homer, Hephastos seems to have had quite a good line in
automata: when Thetis visits him in Iliad 18 to get new armour for
Achilleus, he interrupts his construction of self-propelled tripods to
speak to her. When she's seated, he moves over to her with the help of
golden attendants in female form, who possess intelligence, speech, and
strength, and who have learned their tasks from the gods.
In Odyssey 7, Hephaistos is said to have created gold and silver dogs to
guard Alkinoos' palace and golden youths (kouroi) who stand around holding
torches during dinner. It's not clear whether either of these inventions
is able to speak, move, etc.: the kouroi are standing (fixed?) on bases,
and may be no more than statues, and perhaps the same is true of the dogs
(although the poet does point out that they's `immortal' and `ageless').
These marvels are described in some detail, but the gods take them for
granted: when Hephaistos reminds Thetis about the beautiful things he has
made in the past, he seems to be most proud of things like brooches and
cups! And if I'd managed to create thinking, speaking, physically capable
robot attendants, I don't think I'd spend much time slaving over a hot
forge making glorified dessert trolleys ....
GR
George Robertson
A quick follow-up to my previous note: of course, Hephaistos is a god, and
the originator of this thread was asking about human inventors. Of these,
Pygmalion of Amathous in Cyprus (not a Greek name, nor for that matter a
Greek place) has been mentioned, but the Cretan Daidalos hasn't: Diodoros
refers (4.76) to the legend that Daidalos made statues that walked, though
(always the rationalist) he says the story simply reflects increased
realism in Cretan sculpture.
In the stories of Pygmalion and Daidalos, as in those of Frankenstein and
the Golem, human creativity gets the creators into trouble. The androids
of the god Hephaistos, on the other hand, cause no problems. In other
words, `Don't try this at home'!
GR
P.S. Daidalos' nephew was called Talos.