Abstract

The oldest diagrams contained in the Greek manuscripts of the Mechanics derive from the Byzantine period and should be understood in this context. These diagrams are the result of a creative tradition; they are extremely valuable to our knowledge of the Byzantine reception of the treatise, in that they show us how the text was read and understood in Byzantine times. The analysis of the diagrams of the first problem of the Mechanics shows us how rectilinear and circular motion were conceived in the Byzantine period. This interpretation of the first problem is very different from a modern perspective on the text, as a comparison with the diagrams contained in the critical editions of the Mechanics shows. The diagrams in the manuscripts are not only significant for our understanding of the mechanical principles described in the text, but also play an important role in relation to the text. By examining the manuscript diagrams, many authentic manuscript readings can be recovered, and thereby a text of the Mechanics can be reconstructed that remains closer to the authentic text.