FASHIONING THE VASES
(1) WHEELWORK
Diodorus Siculus, IV, 76.
Talos, the son of Daedalus’ sister, was brought up as a child by Daedalus, and being cleverer than his teacher, he invented the potter’s wheel.
Τῆς ἀδελφῆς τῆς Δαιδάλου γενόμενος υἱὸς Τάλως ἐπαιδεύετο παρὰ Δαιδάλῳ παῖς ὢν τὴν ἡλικίαν, εὐφυέστερος δ’ ὢν τοῦ διδασκάλου τὸν κεραμευτικὸν τροχὸν εὗρε.
Strabo, Geography, VII, p. 303.
Ephoros says that Anacharsis’ inventions were the bellows, the double-fluked anchor, and the potter’s wheel. I repeat this statement, although I am well aware that this writer is not very accurate, and especially in the account of Anacharsis, for how could the potter’s wheel be an invention of his, while Homer[61] who was of an earlier time knew of it?
Ὁ Ἔφορος ... εὑρήματά τε αὐτοῦ λέγει τά τε ζώπυρα καὶ τὴν ἀμφίβολον ἄγκυραν καὶ τὸν κεραμικὸν τροχόν. ταῦτα δὲ λέγω σαφῶς μὲν εἰδὼς ὅτι καὶ οὗτος αὐτὸς οὐ τἀληθέστατα λέγει περὶ πάντων, καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸ τοῦ Ἀναχάρσιδος. πῶς γὰρ ὁ τροχὸς εὕρημα αὐτοῦ, ὃν οἶδεν Ὅμηρος πρεσβύτερος ὤν;
Pliny, Natural History, VII, 198.
Coroebus the Athenian invented earthen pots, and among the inventors, the Scythian Anacharsis, or as others say, Hyperbius the Corinthian, discovered the potter’s wheel.