The Calendar on the Antikythera Mechanism and the Corinthian Family of Calendars

Abstract:This article explores the evidence for the Corinthian family of calendars in light of the calendar recently discovered on the Metonic Spiral of the Antikythera Mechanism. It will be argued that the calendar on the Antikythera Mechanism cannot be that of Syracuse, and that it is likely to be the Epirote calendar, possibly adopted from Corinthian Ambrakia. It will also be argued that the first month of this calendar, Phoinikaios, was ideally the month in which the autumn equinox fell, and that the start-up of the calendar began shortly after the astronomical new moon of August 23, 205 B.C. It will also be shown that the sixth set of games on the Games Dial are the Halieia of Rhodes, suggesting that the Antikythera Mechanism was built on Rhodes, possibly for a client from Epiros. Finally, there will be other observations on the Doric calendars of Argos, Epidauros, and Rhodes.