CHAPTER 4. ERGONOMY IN ANCIENT GREECE

The word ERGONOMIA is a purely Greek word.

Its roots are ancient Greek and it is composed of the words: work and law. Internationally we see it adopted by other languages - like thousands of other Greek words - and pronounced with the English term "Ergonomics". The terminology may not have been rendered as it sounds today in Ancient Greece, but the approach to ergonomic design of all workplaces, structures and tools was a given for our ancestors.

The anthropocentric view of engineering in ancient Greece was the measures used and the integration of the study of the human factor in constructions with the aim of their optimal use by him.

For example, the construction of everyday vessels, temples, weapons, tools in ancient Greece were all studied and adapted to the anthropometric data of the time. A typical example is the tools of Hippocrates' surgery, which were made to have the best possible use in Medicine. The peculiarity of their construction had to do with the combination of appropriate body postures to increase the comfort of the operation. All of these were indisputable elements of the use of "ergonomics" in people's daily practice.

There are countless references to the ergonomics of ancient theaters, their acoustics and their architectural structure. For example, the concave shape of the stairs matched the shape of the foot and offered the required comfort to the viewer.