Hints for the Antikythera Tablets

Check your answer :

Lid Lock

The lid lock isn't intended to be a tough puzzle, the solution is fairly linear just keep moving pieces to new positions and eventually it should open

Reset Guide

Here is a rough guide for the steps required to reinsert the lid lock. Most important is to have all the four bars in their correct starting positions. There are also dot marks on the puzzle to help with this alignment.

Perseus

The 'Shield' in the middle of the puzzle needs to be rotated to discover the word hidden underneath it.

Hint 1

Only one disk can rotate at any given time, find which one it is and go from there.

Hint 2

The central disk rotates last so work 'the gap' around the outside aligning all the outer disks before unlocking the centre.

Solution

The word that can be seen through the holes is 'Lambda'

Sisyphus

Roll the 'boulder' all the way to the top of the tablet and it'll fall back to the beginning revealing the next letter as it does so.

Hint 1

The blind sections of the puzzle get increasingly complicated but are they all they seem?

Hint 2

The topmost blind section follows a different path to the one drawn on the tablet.

Hint 3

The final blind route looks like this:

Solution

The word that can be seen through the holes is 'Upsilon', the difference between 'Upsilon' and 'Epsilon' mean that all seven circuits are need to be completed to discover the answer

Bonus Reset

If you align the driving wheel to point directly at the code wheel, you can turn the code wheel freely, very useful to know if someone only performs a single loop of the puzzle. Just as Sisyphus cheated Hades, this can be used to cheat the puzzle which is why I left it in.

Heracles

Interpret the description of the battle between Heracles and the Hydra, move the sliding bars and reveal the next word.

Hint 1

Work out which bar represents which head in the description. Some bars are restricted in their movement, which can be used to eliminate some head options.

Hint 2

Only one bar can swing all the way from one side to the other.

One of the heads is blocked from moving to the centre; this must be the main head because it can't be one of the pair of heads.

This identifies all four heads, try to follow the description to perform the first advance.

Movement Descriptions

1. All the bars need to start at the left hand side.

2. The first bar moves to the far right and stays there.

3. The second bar moves to the left of centre.

4. The fourth bar moves to the centre.

5. The third bar moves to the left of centre, advance the draw inwards.

6. The third bar moves to the right of centre, retract the draw outwards.

7. The third bar moves all the way to the right, advance the draw inwards.

8. Switch the positions of the second and fourth bar, advance the drawer inwards a second time.

Solution

The word that becomes visible at the top of the drawer is 'Tau'

Theseus

Insert the stakes into the holes and wrap the string around them to reveal the path of the labyrinth.

Hint 1

The coordinate system reveals where each stake lies in relation to the previous stake.

Hint 2

There is only one place to go North 8 and West 8 while still remaining on the board. Start there and work backwards and forwards.

Hint 3

The string path will form an actual labyrinth, one entrance, one middle, no junctions.

Hint 4

Follow the path around the labyrinth taking 'a number of steps Around' the circular alphabet wheel to spell out a sentence.

Hint 5

For each step through the labyrinth, count on that number from the current letter to find the next letter. Each new letter depends on the previous letter in the sentence "A-R-I..."

Solution

"ARIADNE LED THESEUS TO THE HEART OF THE LABYRINTH AND SPOKE THE WORD OMICRON"

Odysseus

There are two solutions to this puzzle, find the other one and letters will show through the holes spelling out a word.

Hint 1

The word is a letter from the Greek alphabet (the same as the other tablets). There is no such word using twelve letters so some holes must be blank.

Hint 2

Certain combinations of letters must be incorrect, such as 'X' and anything other than 'I' or 'Z' and anything other than 'ETA'.

Hint 3

If a piece has rotational symmetry, and can be inserted into the same hole in more than one way, the hole has to show the same letter in all of the positions. This is very important for the large square piece which has four orientations.

Solution

The word that can be seen through the holes is 'Kappa'

Gear Puzzle

With the five letter solutions from the tablets and the five gears from inside the box it is possible to align the gears and start spelling out a sentence from the box.

Hint 1

The spiral side of the box contains the information connecting the tablet names to the number of teeth on the gears. Look for the names and their start positions.

Hint 2

Align each gear on the box using the letter identified and the tablet name.

Perseus - Lambda - 'L' - 17 Teeth

Sisyphus - Upsilon - 'U' - 7 Teeth

Heracles - Tau - 'T' - 37 Teeth

Theseus - Omicron - 'O' - 11 Teeth

Odysseus - Kappa - 'K' - 13 Teeth

Hint 3

Rotate the outer ring in the direction of the arrow drawn on it, the arrow pointing towards the centre of the ring will line up with letters on the gears as it goes round. "H-E-S...".

The answer to this final question is the answer to the puzzle and the solution you are looking for.

Solution

Rotating the outer gear ring spells out the question "HESPERUS AND PHOSPHORUS PERSONIFY?"

The Antikythera Tablets Solution

Congratulations for getting this far, solving the puzzles and making an attempt at answering the question posed by Antiochus.

Hint 1

Before Greek Astronomers the evening star and the morning star were considered to be two different things.

Final Answer

The two stars, Hesperous and Phosphorous, were both the same planet 'Venus'.