As the others have correctly told you, we don’t know exactly what Greek fire was. Its formula was a jealously guarded secret until the fall of the Empire in 1453. Greek Fire Recipe: fine grained raw potassium (or lithium) metal powder suspended in oils (olive oil + lamp oil). The invention of Greek Fire is credited to a Christian Greek named Kallinikos (aka Callinicus) who escaped to Constantinople from Muslim-held Syria in 668 CE. The most famous and strategically important use of Greek fire took place in 672AD. Shake/mix well, light, and catapult or trebuchet. Greek Fire is a weapon used by the gods and demigods, and is described by most demigods as being "one of the most dangerous magical substances in the world." History Uncovered Recommended for you. Flammable liquids had been used in both Greek and Roman warfare but nothing had ever been devised that was quite as lethal as Greek Fire. Incredibly, the formula for true Greek Fire appears to have been lost. What Was Greek Fire? The sulfur and pitch make it burn hotter and stickier. 5:43. The naphtha increases the flammability of the Greek fire and may contribute to its auto-ignition on contact with water. It could devastate a fleet or a troop of soldiers. Greek Fire: The Secret Weapon That Saved An Empire - Duration: 5:43. If I were to "modernize" Greek fire I'd substitute sodium metal for the lime … Greek Fire helped protect the besieged Byzantine Empire for many centuries. When launched against an enemy’s ships, it set them on fire with an intense flame that was extremely difficult to quench. It was employed in naval battles to great effect as it could continue burning even under water. A Secret Formula. Eventually, the Byzantine Empire itself was lost. In it he placed a chunk of Christ's cross to rescue the faith, classic writings to again shape Western thought, and the mysterious This seems to corroborate the use of naphtha as a basic ingredient of Greek fire. An alternate name for Greek fire was "Median fire", and the 6th-century historian Procopius, records that crude oil, which was called naphtha by the Persians, was known to the Greeks as "Median oil". Greek fire (also called Byzantine fire, wildfire and liquid fire, Greek Υγρό Πυρ, igró pyr) was a weapon used by the Byzantine Empire.It was invented by a Greek Syrian in about 673 AD. Greek fire was a flaming liquid. With an initial burn to cause panic.