Presentation

Welcome to Pompilos. The purpose of this site is to spread the book entitled The Nautical Origin of Greek Architecture and Sculpture, which is still in progress. The main thesis of the book, the nautical hypothesis, argues that the Greek temple, and Greek public buildings in general, originated from boats stored and turned over upon supports, with the space under them being used to bivouac, to meet, to banquet and to store gear and commercial products. As the meeting point for the captains of a fleet, ὁ ναὸς οἶκoς (“the arsenal”) became ὁ ναός (“the temple”). On the other hand, the statue of the god venerated in temple originated from the ἱερὰ ἄγκυρα or “sacred anchor”, the one for desperate situations. This anchor was used in naval battles as a throwable weapon (δελφίς), propelled from the top of a pole into the enemies’ boats. Thus it became the ensign of the king, of the fleet and finally of the nation. The naval hypothesis sheds new light on the study of the symbols of the royalty, and so to the study of the classical and other ancient cultures.

Greek galley overturned and stored upon support walls

In the download section I will make the chapters of the book available to download as I finish them. Presumably I will post articles sporadically in the progress section, because my main purpose is writing the book.

Ἀνερρίφθω κύβος · Alea iacta esto. Men. 65.4.

Download

Enjoy them, and feel free to give me some feedback.

Abstract

PDF icon File: Plan of the Book · English, 12 pages (219 kB).
Date: 2005-08-16. Descargas: 11152.

PDF icon Archivo: Plan de la obra · Español, 12 páginas (211 kB).
Fecha: 2005-08-16. Descargas: 11550.

Related article

PDF icon Archivo: Del shadouf a las columnas dórica y jónica · Español, 10 páginas, 3 figuras del autor (2 MB).
Fecha: 2007-10-25. Descargas: 11302.

PDF icon Archivo: Capítulos 1, 2 y 3 · Español, 76 páginas, 15 figuras del autor (736 kB).
Fecha: 2005-08-16. Descargas: 6981.

PDF icon Archivo: El barco en la cueva: el origen griego y náutico de la arquitectura budista · Español, 19 páginas (15 MB).
Fecha: 2019-12-17. Descargas: 1184.

PDF icon File: The Ship in the Cave: The Greek and Nautical Origin of Buddhist Architecture, Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering 19:1 · English, 21 pages (6.5 MB).
Date: 2019-12-17.

PDF icon Archivo: Los barcos dormidos y sus anclas de guerra: el origen naval de la arquitectura y la escultura griegas (borrador) · Español, 85 páginas (45 MB).
Año: 2021.

PDF icon File: Sleeping Ships and Their War Anchors: The Naval Origin of Greek Architecture and Sculpture, (preprint) · English, 119 pages (8 MB).
Year: 2021.