In the ILIAD (Bk 18) (written down probably in 8th century BCE) there is mention of one of the Gods (the smith, Hephaestus) having created intelligent androids in gold.
As translated by A. T. Murray (1925):
"... there moved swiftly to support their lord handmaidens wrought of gold in the semblance of living maids. In them is understanding in their hearts, and in them speech and strength, and they know cunning handiwork by gift of the immortal gods. "
E. V. Rieu (1950) has:
"Golden maidservants hastened to help their Master. They looked like real girls and could not only speak and use their limbs but were endowed with intelligence and trained in handwork by the immortal gods."
George Chapman (1615) has:
"...and then went halting forth,
Handmaids of gold attending him, resembling in all worth
Living young damsels, fill'd with minds and wisdom, and were train'd
In all immortal ministry, virtue and voice contain'd,
And mov'd with voluntary pow'rs; "
Here "Homer" is suggesting, it seems, that the gods have the power to put a soul into a machine. Note that the duality of body+soul is ubiquitous in the Iliad. Of course, this might just be "Homer"''s imaginative embellishment, rather than a belief that such a combination could actually exist.
What other mentions of intelligent machines are there from around this date or even earlier? [Epic of Gilgamesh?]
# C�A�+�
No offers on this question yet, alas. Perhaps "Homer" really WAS the first to conceive of intelligent machines.
I am told that there is a possibly relevant episode in (one version of) the THREE KINGDOMS in which the admirable and ever clever and resourceful Kongming (aka Zhuge Liang) designs "wooden bulls and gliding horses". These are wooden transport devices that make the transport of grain possible. I haven't yet been able to check the text for any suggestion that these devices have any kind of cognitive abilities (eg obeying spoken commands) but Kongming is sometimes presented as a semi-wizard so maybe. Three Kingdoms is much more recent that the Iliad, of course.
JD
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