The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization

Nicely done history, with all the major players clearly defined. Not that easy for ancient history. Very nice photography, and as far as I can tell, no factual inaccuracies. If you like history and know the period, you'll enjoy this one. If you don't know history, this one is a good choice to learn about the Greeks and the concepts we derive from them. A good show all around.

The Greeks is initially overly dramatic, focusing on one man, but it appears historically accurate and offers some interesting scenes on the whole - useful for high school and college classes.
Dr. Roger Peace

At the end of the episode of the original Star Trek series titled "Who Mourns for Adonais", Captain Kirk laments having to destroy the power source of the being that calls himself Apollo. He states how the Greeks have given us so much, which is an understatement. The concepts of democracy, scientific thought, abstract mathematical thought, zoology and much of philosophy can all be directly traced back to the ancient Greeks.
While this tape mentions those things, the main focus is the history of the city-state of Athens, its rise to glory against the mighty Persian forces to their utter defeat by Sparta. When historians engage in historical "What-if" speculations, one of the speculations commonly engaged in are the consequences of an Athenian defeat. Quite likely more than any other thing, it would have changed the course of political, economic, scientific and mathematical history.
In only a few decades, Athens rose to the level of a mighty commercial empire, engaging in trade with places all over Europe, Africa and Asia. This led to a flowering of the arts, culminating in the building of the spectacular Parthenon. However, it took only approximately a decade for all of this to be destroyed. A failed strategy in their war with Sparta, the scapegoating and execution of generals by the political class and the resort to mob rule all combined to lead to an utter defeat. In this defeat, there was a rise to power. The philosopher Socrates was the last scapegoat and with his death, we see the rise of the greatest intellectual flowering ever seen.
All of this is explained in great detail, after seeing the remnants of the buildings of ancient Athens, both my wife and I vowed to visit Greece. The times described on this tape were truly historic; the repercussions were wide, deep and lasting. It is one of the best historical tapes I have ever seen.

I used most of this DVD in a HS Humanities class and it was very accessible to 9th graders. It was informative and held their attention. Good information about the pre-democratic time in Athens, the evolution of democracy, the battles of Marathon and Salamis and the War between Athens and Sparta.

While this documentary can get just a bit grandiose and long-winded, it provides a very nice introduction to ancient Athens that is both informative and enjoyable to watch.