It’s not as far-fetched as you might think: Alexander the Great exploring the sea floor in a diving bell.
True, after Alexander’s death in 323 B.C. all sorts of legends arose, detailing the exploits of this mysterious, powerful, almost superhuman figure. These legends were collected in an early Greek text called the Romance of Alexander the Great, which traveled across Europe and Asia, becoming embellished with more and more “facts” about Alexander’s life. By medieval times, Alexander was purported to have seen the wonders at the bottom of the ocean, flown in a cage to the heavens and visited men without heads, among other fantastic adventures.
The reasons for his underwater journeys vary. Sometimes he seeks to add the great pelagic depths to his empire. At other times, he is proving his faith in God, acting as an early naturalist, searching for giant crabs with pearls in their bellies or simply visiting the denizens of the ocean. In the late 16th-century A.D. Indian miniature show above, the great conqueror seems to represent the human spirit in its tireless pursuit of the unknown. (Note the depiction of Portuguese traders at the upper left.)
However improbable it may seem, Alexander may well have experimented with a primitive diving bell. His teacher, the philosopher Aristotle (384–322 B.C.), had much to say on the subject of diving and underwater breathing apparatuses. Aristotle’s treatise on animals, for example, compares the elephant’s trunk to tubes used by divers to breathe underwater. In his Problems, Aristotle mentions an underwater breathing system involving large kettles. The kettles, he writes, “may not incline to either side, but must remain perpendicular.” The divers would breathe from the air in the kettles and then send them back up to be refilled. The diving bell was simply a kettle large enough to accommodate a person.
Can you imagine a youth of Alexander’s fearlessness and ingenuity not trying this out?
It’s not as far-fetched as you might think: Alexander the Great exploring the sea floor in a diving bell.
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