The Greeks

They were an extraordinary people 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. Quite simply, the Greeks created our world. These days, Greece conjures up very different images: civic unrest, financial meltdowns, and long ATM lines. But if history has taught us anything, it’s that strife and discord are often required for greatness. Ancient Greece was born out of chaos – economic and environmental collapse, political turmoil and brutal warfare. And yet, it alone became the cornerstone of Western civilisation.

Delve into groundbreaking new explorations of the ancient Greeks' journey across time in this three-part series.

Classicist Dr Michael Scott uncovers the strange, alien world of the ancient Greeks. He asks who were these people who gave us democracy, architecture, philosophy, language, literature and sport.