An Introduction to the Trireme Olympias
Olympias is a reconstruction of an Athenian Trireme of the 5th and
4th
centuries BC, built in Greece to a design worked out by John Coates, a
naval
architect, taking into consideration ancient evidence researched by John
Morrison, former President of Wolfson College, Cambridge. Olympias
was
commissioned into the Hellenic Navy in 1987. The two pictures below show
Olympias propelled in two ways: by sail and under oar (click on images to
view full-size).
She is manned by 170 oarsmen (and women), 85 a side, arranged in three
tiers,
Thranites at the top,
Zygians in the middle, and
Thalamians at the bottom.
Height generally determines where you sit. The ideal crew height is 5'10",
and
if you are over 6'1" you will probably find conditions cramped on board.
You can get an idea of what it looks like from the inside from this sketch:
The last picture gives you a side-on view of Olympias
coming into dock:
Text by Charlie Day, photos: top-right © Paul Lipke, others
©Mary Staley Pridgen
The Trireme Self-Assessment Questionnaire
More photos (from the
Perseus Encyclopedia)
How I became a galley slave (but got better) (Paul Lipke)
Trireme Trust Home Page