The entry is based on the Polish edition Olbrzym z Syrakuz, Warszawa: Nasza Księgarnia, 1966.
A Sicilian Greek boy, Sporos, plays with his friend Zeuxippos*. Sporos, son of the mathematician and astronomer Phidias**. Out of curiosity, he uses a bifurcated branch to draw circles on sand to see how many of them could be placed on the circumference of the central one; he discovers that the correlation ratio is not dependent on the size of the circles. His friend wants to go home, so he destroys the drawings; consequently, they argue and fight. Sporos’ father and his guest, having heard what had happened, admire the boy’s cleverness and start to call him Archimedes – “master of rigorous reasoning”. The boy indeed is of such a great mind and ingenuity that he astonishes both his peers and the adults. He grows up and figures out how to measure the sun elevation angle using a simple device made according to his design by a local carpenter.
When his father dies, Archimedes throws himself into study and work. On the demand of Hiero II of Syracuse, his kinsman***, he participates in rebuilding a theatre in the Neapolis district of Syracuse, placing some useful new scenic devices to heighten the performance of Aeschylus’ tragedy, Women of Aetna. As the opening night is a great success, Hiero asks the genius builder to his row and orders him to do something nobody else could complete: having suspicions about his goldsmith, he asks Archimedes to ascertain whether his new votive crown is made of pure gold. The idea of how to solve the problem of measuring an object’s density comes to Archimedes while in a bathtub, so the absent-minded inventor, out of joy, runs out of the house naked, shouting heúrēka! – “I have found”****.
Having solved the problem, Archimedes embarks on a journey to Alexandria,***** where he stays for three years. The possibility of being in touch and exchanging ideas with the most eminent academics of that time makes him excited and happy. Eratosthenes, called Beta, the headmaster of the Library, introduces the Syracusan scholar to people frequenting the Mouseion. Later on, they cooperate in calculating the circumference of the Earth. Despite the academic work, Archimedes is much appreciated for what he calls “just a mechanic toy” – Archimedes’ screw, facilitating Egyptian farmers to water their fields******.
Archimedes returns to Sicily. As a result of a bet with Hiero, he constructs a machine which lets him pull an entire ship with its crew and cargo. Hiero, amazed by the show, asks Archimedes to build some defensive and offensive war machines. An ongoing war between Rome and Karthago places Syracuse, the key to Sicily and the sea, in a difficult position. Archimedes designs and supervises the construction of equipment for the royal ship – a combination of excessive luxury and warfare. While building and equipping the ship, he continues research on the sphere and cylinder and figures out how to count grains of sand using the myriad myriad concept.
The Second Punic war begins after years of peace. Hiero II gets older but is still of sound mind. As a wise and far-sighted man, he appreciates peace but asks Archimedes to again prepare some plans for a war machine as possible salvation if the situation starts turning for the worse. Unfortunately, Hiero dies, and his grandson Hieronymus becomes the new tyrant at 15. In contrast to his grandfather’s greatness, the boy is spoiled and only uses his power and wealth to pursue pleasure. He abuses wine and eventually leads Syracuse to doom as he breaks the alliance with Rome; he offends Roman deputies and members of the legation. His lack of political foresight and his contempt for state duties results in a plot for his murder. The Syracusans are divided; pro-Roman and pro-Punic factions start to fight in a civil war. Supporters of pro-Punic politics win; Syracuse becomes an ally of Karthago and incurs the ire of Rome.
M. Cl. Marcellus leads the Roman invasion of Sicily. He conquers Leontinoi and targets Syracuse as next. Although Archimedes is a pacifist regarding the siege, he decides to prepare the defence of his home city to protect his right to scholarly work. Using catapults, which he refers to as “mechanical toys”, and other war machines, including new inventions, such as the claw “ship-snatcher” and the blinding mirrors, he bolsters the defence and gives Syracusans new hope. Each Roman assault fails. After eight months of siege, the city walls are untouched while Roman morale is so low that the army panics at the sight of lath and rope on the walls, afraid that it is a new Archimedes’ device. The Romans retreat, the citizens celebrate, and people lower their guard. At night, the Romans come back and conquer district after district. At dawn, in Archimedes’ garden, a Roman soldier sees an older man drawing geometrical calculations on the sand. Thinking it might be Archimedes and, considering him a dangerous warlock, he wants to protect Rome by destroying the drawings. As Archimedes asks him not to disturb his circles and continues his calculations, the soldier interrupts what he thinks are incantations to evil powers and stabs him. As an epitaph, Marcellus orders a sphere and cylinder be placed on Archimedes’ tomb because the genius appreciated them more than war machines.
* Zeuxippos is mentioned several times by Archimedes in the Sand-Reckoner as a friend. Nothing more is known about this character.
** His name and profession are known from the Sand-Reckoner only.
*** See: Plutarch, Lives. Marcellus 14.7: Ἀρχιμήδης, Ἱέρωνι τῷ βασιλεῖ συγγενὴς ὢν καὶ φίλος.
**** As related by Vitruvius in De Architectura IX. preface, 9–10. See: perseus.tufts.edu website (accessed: June 17, 2022).
***** The journey is not confirmed in ancient sources.
****** Athenaeus, in Deipnosophistai, describes the screw as being invented out of a need to remove the bilge water from Syracusia, the luxury ship designed by Archimedes at Hiero’s request. The ship was the largest one built in the ancient world.