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This paper investigates the ‘prehistory’ of automata in fourth-century Greece. It argues, first, that automata appear more frequently in the philosophy and drama of this period than has usually been recognised; second, that robots function in classical Greek literature as a utopian substitute for slavery or other forms of bound labour; and, finally, that the failure of Hellenistic automata to realise this utopia illustrates some basic constraints on the power of technology to disturb social institutions in the ancient world.

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