Prod Co: Tern TV
Broadcaster: BBC2
Format: 2x60min
Who Were The Greeks? is a two-part historical series written and presented by classicist Dr Michael Scott.
Two and a half thousand years ago, before the first books of the Old Testament had even been set down, European civilisation had begun in Athens. The people who built this city were a civilisation that left a blueprint for all European culture to follow.
When we think of the ancient Greeks, we think of the great legacies they have given us – democracy, architecture, art, philosophy, literature. But scratch the surface of that culture and you find what can seem a seething tornado of unsettling and downright outrageous customs and beliefs. They are a culture to whom we owe a lot, but about whom we are often in the dark – leaving us with the question: just who were the Greeks? And just who are we to claim their legacy as our own?
In this series, Dr Michael Scott will travel across the ancient Greek world, from ancient Olympia to Athens and Macedon, Turkey and Sicily, uncovering the critical people, objects and ideas of ancient Greek culture, trying out ancient Greek wrestling and tasting the famous Spartan blood broth, to discover not only what the Greeks were really like, but also why the ancient Greeks were so successful. Why their culture and way of life spread across continents and through time. And why they still have such a powerful hold over our imaginations today.
