The reception of the Ballo in Pre-indepedence Greece. Impressions and Reactions

1. Entity type Lemma
2. Original titleΗ υποδοχή του αερόστατου στην προεπαναστατική Ελλάδα: εντυπώσεις και αντιδράσεις
3. Language term Greek, Modern (1453-)
4. lemma author Katsiampoura, Gianna
5. lemma category History and philosophy of science - Orthodox view on technology and engineering
6. Publication date 15-03-2017
7. lemma work Makrides, Vasilios [Author]. Η υποδοχή του αερόστατου στην προεπαναστατική Ελλάδα: εντυπώσεις και αντιδράσεις (The reception of the balloon in Pre-independence Greece. Impressions and Reactions)
8. lemma manifestations Νεύσις
9. Keywords technology - church and technology - Greece - Greek Enlightenment
10. Citations
    1. <p>Makrides, Vasilios (1995), Η υποδοχή του αερόστατου στην προεπαναστατική Ελλάδα: εντυπώσεις και αντιδράσεις (The reception of the Balloon in Pre-independence Grece. Impressions and Reactions, Νεύσις, v. 2, pp. 91-116</p>
11. Lemma body

    1. The invention of the balloon by the rothers Etienn and Joseph Montgolfier in 1783 was an event of utmost importance for the development of aerostation. The news concerning this invention triggered a craze that swept through Europe. At that time Greece under Ottoman rule experienced an intellectual revival, the so-called "(neo)hellenic Enlightenment", and remained under the continuous impact of European social, political, intellectual, and scientific developments. As a result, it is no surprise that the news concerning the balloon reached the Greek milieu very early through the entusiastic reports of Greeks living in Western Europe (e.g. A. Korais).

       More extensive and accurate descriptions of the balloon were given in various scientific books. The most important among them was the one given by P. Kodrikas in his Greek translation (1764) of Fontenelle's work Entretiens sur la pruralite des mondes. This translation contributed decisively to the popularization of the Copernican worldview in pre-independence Greece and caused a very fierce controversy. Drawing on reports of foreign travellers (Pouqueville, Hobhouse) and on the ideas of Athanasios Parios, a strong adversary of the Enlightenmennt, the writer of this paper came to the conclusion that the balloon became also the focus of discussion and critique from a theological point of view at that time.

       Apart from this, the reservation of some Greek scholars spread the news about this invention and its potential implications shows that there were some negative reactions against the balloon on the part of the superstitious and illiterate masses too. This can also be inferred from the fact that the psysician P. Ipitis urgent Orthodox preachers to enlighten the masses on this issue. In addition, some negative reactions were also caused by failed flights of balloons, as a satire written by I. Vilarasclearly shows.

       To sum up, the invention of the balloon -generally speaking- was positively accepted in pre-independence Greece. The whole issue was rather marginal, therefore solely few negative reactons are witnessed, which came, on the one hand, from some opponents of the Copernican worldview and the Enlightenment and, on the other, from the ignorant masses.