—Delve into groundbreaking new explorations of the ancient Greeks' journey across time.—
On THE GREEKS, a three-part miniseries, historians and archaeologists, actors and athletes, scientists and artists launch a groundbreaking exploration of the ancient Greeks’ journey.
This quest is not just to better understand their past, but to discover how their legacy illuminates our present, and will shape our future.
From the origins of Western civilization to the first democracy to models of art, architecture and philosophy that are still mimicked today, the story of THE GREEKS is the story of us.
“This was a time and a place when there was a collision of ideas and inspiration and influence that resulted in a truly extraordinary culture,” says author and historian Bettany Hughes, a research fellow at King’s College London and one of more than a dozen scholars featured in the series. “They were working out the best way to be human, the best way to live in the world, and that’s an idea that is as strong now as it was when it was conceived 25 centuries ago.”
They were born of white rock and blue sea.
They invented democracy, distilled logic and reason, wrote plays to plumb the deepest recesses of the soul and captured the perfection of the human form in athletics and art.
“Any civilization that expresses curiosity among its citizenry — that is a civilization that will lead the world,” says astrophysicist Neal deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium.
Quite simply, the Greeks created our world.
Today, of course, Greece conjures very different images — civic unrest, financial meltdowns, long ATM lines. But as its ancient history attests, strife and discord are often incubators for greatness.
Starting out as hunter-gatherers in harsh, unforgiving landscapes and rising to face off against the greatest empire the world had ever known, the Greeks would overcome incredible odds to pave the way for the modern West.
“This series has been over 3,000 years in the making,” says executive producer Jared Lipworth. “Seeing how the ancient Greeks evolved, how much they accomplished, and how their legacy has lasted, we start to realize what a spectacular civilization they created. Their Golden Age was fleeting by historical standards, but their influence is still massive all these centuries later.”
“We are still the intellectual children of Greek thought, of Greek ideas,” continues archaeologist and historian Patrick Hunt of Stanford University. “The idea that everyone has a voice and should be heard — this is something that we’re directly in debt to Greece for. Greece lives on in every person who casts a vote in a ballot box, anywhere in the world.”
Shot in 4K across multiple continents, each episode of THE GREEKS presents a crucial chapter in their epic journey.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Episode 1: “Cavemen To Kings” repeats Monday, Jan. 29 at 10 p.m. - Uncover the first draft of Western civilization, which, though it met a spectacular end, laid the groundwork for the revolution in human thought that was to come.
Episode 2: “The Good Strife” repeats Monday, Feb. 5 at 10 p.m. - Watch as ancient Greeks strive for excellence, strife proves to be an inescapable certainty — and it’s not long before the rising civilization and all that it promises will face its gravest tests.
Episode 3: “Chasing Greatness” repeats Monday, Feb. 12 at 10 p.m. - Watch as ancient Greece’s legacy is invoked in Athens and at the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court. Take a look back at its rise and fall, which might not only help us understand the challenges we face now, but also point toward a better future.
WATCH ON YOUR SCHEDULE:
All three episodes are available to stream on demand with KPBS Passport, video streaming for members ($60 yearly) using your computer, smartphone, tablet, Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire or Chromecast. Learn how to activate your benefit now.
The DVD is available for purchase at ShopPBS.org.
CREDITS:
THE GREEKS was produced by National Geographic Television in association with PBS. Producer/Writer/Director: Chad Cohen. Co-Producers: Matt Hill and Chris Dye. Editors: Arthur Binkowski and Salvatore Vecchio. Director of Photography: James Ball and Stefan Wiesen. Narrator: Toby Leonard Moore. Executive Producer: Jared Lipworth.
