KING ALEXANDER the GREAT DIVING BELL

[aukepalmhof]

King Alexander the Great (384-322) BC is be considered the first person who descended in a diving bell below the water around 322 BC.
Aristotle, in “Problemata”, tells the tale of Alexander the Great. At the siege of Tyre, in 332 BC, he ordered divers to destroy any submarine defenses the city might undertake to build. While in none of these records does it actually say he had any kind of submersible vehicle, legend has it that he descended in a device which kept its occupants dry and admitted light. He was lowered in a diving bell, also noted in the Roman 12th century Alexandria which, in iambic lines of six feet or twelve syllables of verse (hence the term Alexandrine) relates the tale that Alexander had built "a very fine barrel made entirely of white glass" which was towed out to sea and lowered into the water. In the Alexandria version, two companions accompanied Alexander and all were stunned by what they saw by the bright lights emanating from the diving machine. Alexander is quoted as observing, from what he had seen underwater, that "...the world is damned and lost. The large and powerful fish devour the small fry." Another story regarding Alexander's underwater adventures was published in 1886 in France. At the age of 11, Alexander entered a glass case, reinforced by metal bands and had himself lowered into the sea by a chain over 600 feet long.
Greece 1977 1.50Dr. sg1371, scott1210. Monaco 1962 1f sg746, scott? (the other on the right of the stamp is the bathysphere of Beebe.)
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/UnderWater.htm