Do we yet know how greek fire was made? I’ve always been told that the secret of it died with the greeks.
A couple of follow up questions 
Who else, besides the greeks, used Greek Fire? When was the last recorded date of it’s use? And wasthere an effective defense against it? Water was not effective, so did people figure out how to extinguish it? Do we know now how to put it out?
You might want to have a look at Adrienne Mayor’s book **Greek Fire, Poison Arrows & Scorpion Bombs: Biological and Chemical Warfare in the Ancient World
**
Despite the title, she doesn’t spend enough time on Greek Fire – she’s more interested in the poison part. There are some ideas about what constituted Greek Fire, but no recipes have come down.
For a thorough investigation of the weapon one can refer to Professor J.R. Partington’s book, “A history of the Greek Fire and Gunpowder”, Heffer, 1960. This volume quotes the ancient authorities extensively, with an excellent commentary. It also examines ancient and modern theories on the composition of the chemicals used in the Greek Fire. This is considered the most up to date source on the subject.
You might try this resource.
** Greek Fire **
IIRC, nobody.
Don’t recall, see references above.
Not really.
Vinegar, sour red wine.
Yes. W/ modern technology we could choke it out w/ a fire extinguisher.
There have been a lot of different uses of fire in warfare; Greek Fire was perhaps the crowning achievement until napalm came along. IIRC, Greek Fire was superior because it was liquid enough to be delivered through a hose like a flame thrower.
A lot of fire weapons simply involved stuff that burned and was sticky, such as pine resin. Others were more sophisticated, utilizing quick lime, IIRC, because when it touched water it would heat up enough to ignite the fuel — so quicklime mixed with something flammable would light up when it got wet because the quicklime would get so hot. Other stuff included sulfer, which would drive defenders away from a wall w/ its noxious smoke. And of course, where oil was close to the surface, naptha was quite popular.
My favorite, BTW, is red-hot sand. Evidently some would hurl this at attackers and the sand would get in under the armor with very distressing results. Cruel? Yes. But if invaders are going to overrun you city, I suppose a bit of nastiness may be warranted.
All this I got from the first book referenced above. I just had a couple spare minutes, so I figured I’d expand somewhat.
We could probably make something equivalent to Greek fire with modern technology, or probably even better. We just don’t know how the Greeks specifically did it.
That’s my understanding from the book. Greek fire was ahead of its time, so to speak, but wouldn’t stand up against napalm. I imagine it fascinates us because the recepie is lost.
I don’t get this. What makes this better than say, boiling oil or even boiling water?
Well, in some places sand is pretty easy to come by, I suppose. I don’t know if it holds its heat better than the other two and would therefore be more effective. I imagine that it would fan out quite well. And oil and water have alternative uses that would make sand a low cost alternative. Those are my guesses.
It’s quite possible that we know how to make it. It’s just that we don’t know if our technique is the one used by the Greeks. Also, there’s the problem of hyperbole and exageration in the story of Greek Fire. Third and fourth-hand accounts almost always over rate the effectiveness of a miracle weapon and distort the details of it’s use. So even if the greeks were just using burning tar or pitch in a particular fight, it gains miraculous attributes in the retelling.
Also, if you have containment issues while you’re heating sand, it puts the fire out. Oil, not so out.
Maybe in contained uranium.
Now that is something when ignited and a BKonWheels to extinguish!
Sand doesn’t boil (at least not until it gets above 2000F), so it can hold lots of heat, without any of it’s matter being lost to boiling. Plus, it’s an abrasive, so even if you have to dump it on your attackers before it gets up to the right temp, the attackers are going to have problems with the stuff chewing away your skin. Water will just make you wet, oil will do pretty much the same, but you’ll be at risk of a fire.
As for when it was used the last time, Wikipedia says it was used during the Fourth Crusade, which ended in 1204 with the Venetians conquering COnstantinople.
Ecellent info, thank you everyone.
Are the stories we have on Greekfire consistent though? Hypno Toad suggests the stories may have been exagerated, certainly a possibility. Unless they are all more or less consistent.