The Odyssey Travel Brochure How will your cruise arrive in style?
Be an Original! Try a Penteconter!
The penteconter (or unitrene) had 50 rowers with one row of oars on each side of the boat (25 rowers on each side). The penteconter also had at least one square sail.
Penteconters were very fast for their day. - by oars they could travel about 11 miles per hour (9.5 knots)! Penteconters were about feet long and about 12 feet wide.
Greek ships had an "all-seeing eye" painted on the front or prow. The sailors believed the magic eye would guide them safely home to port.
Greek ships also generally had a ram used in battle as they attacked other ships. They would use a large stone with a rope as an anchor at first, but later developed the shape of our modern day anchors!
Two Rows are better than one! Try a Bireme!
Biremes were made with outriggers that allowed them to have two rows of oarsmen with one above the other. This doubled the motion force of the ship without increasing its length!
The upper row of oars was designed to be more outside than the lower row. The oarsmen were also position on top of each other in an alternate manner. That way, oarsmen could row without interference.
Many biremes had one hundred oarsmen arranged on a single ship! The oarsmen were given special training for synchronized rowing.
Want the most manpower? Try a Trireme!
The largest Greek warships, Triremes had three banks of oars. Similarly to Biremes, the oarsmen were positioned on top of each other in an alternate manner with oars reaching various distances to prevent interference..
A trireme needed 170 men to row it - one man to each oar. It had a long narrow deck that soldiers could run along and fight from. The oarsmen sat underneath the deck.
A trireme was about 115 feet long, similar in length to a Penteconter and Bireme. All rowers were free men (not slaves) and were carefully trained to work together.
The amount of oarsmen increased the weight of the ship which could reduce speed, so before a battle, a Trireme would dump much of their gear on shore – including the sail to increase speed. Triremes were faster than sail-only ships with a battle-speed in calm sea of about 13 mph (11.5 knots).
Although the top than speed of the Trireme was usually only 20% faster the Penteconter (due to wave resistance and weight), The ship could accelerate from standstill to half speed in 8 seconds and to top speed in approximately 30 seconds! It was also very maneuverable.
How will your travelers pay on your cruise?
The main coin of Ancient Greece was called a Drachma. These coins appear as early as 1100 B.C.!
The coins usually had a stamp referring to a Greek God or Goddess (for example Athena) and had a stamp of the city or image which represented the city in which the coin was minted.
The exact exchange value of the Drachmas depended on the quality and quantity of the metal, and the reputation of each mint.
An Obol was worth one-sixth of a drachma. Another Ancient Greek coin was an Obol.
Ancient Greeks often put obols on the eyes of the deceased as part of the burial ritual. This was so the deceased could pay Charon to enter into the Land of the Dead
You must pay 2 obols to Charon to cross the River Styx to enter the Land of the Dead.
Don’t forget the cost is 2 obols for ONE WAY! (You don’t want cruise patrons to be stuck in the Land of the Dead!)
Enjoy your Cruise!