The passages about the tripods and the automatically opening gates of Olympus (Iliad 5.749 and 18.376) are the earliest…
The passages about the tripods and the automatically opening gates of Olympus ( Iliad5.749 and 18.376) are the earliest appearances of the ancient Greek word αὐτόμᾰτον, automaton, “acting of one’s own will.” In the fourth-Century BC, Aristotle quoted the Homeric verse and referref to the tripod-carts as automata ( Politics 1.1253b). Notably, Philostratus (AD 170-245) reported that the peripatetic sage Apollonius of Tyana saw many amazing sights in India in the first or second century AD ( Life of Apollonius 6.11). Among the thaumata, “wonders,” were tripodes de automatoi and automatic cupbearers that attended royal banquets.
Adrienne Mayor. 2018. Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.