Product Description

Dramatic stories and computer animation re-create Classical Greece, founder of modern science, politics, warfare, philosophy, and source of breathtaking art and architecture. This film charts the rise, triumph, and decline of the world's oldest democracy, witnessed through the eyes of Pericles, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. DVD GOLD version includes wide-screen capability, additional interviews, director's comments, and more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15180 in DVD
• Brand: Paramount
• Released on: 2005-04-05
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 150 minutes

Amazon.com
The lavish and lengthy production of PBS's The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization is a fitting tribute to the glory of ancient Greece, telling the story of Greek democracy from its first stirrings in 500 B.C. through to the cataclysmic wars that virtually destroyed the empire. It concludes with a fascinating look at how the Greeks were defeated, yet their philosophy endured and changed the world forever. Beautifully photographed, and with intelligent narration delivered by actor Liam Neeson, this two-volume set goes into considerable detail while also being engaging to the eye as well as the mind. The photography at ancient sites is often spectacular and judicious use of actors filmed in re-creations of critical events provide immediacy. Much of the story relates how the Greeks essentially invented politics and democracy, and interviews with prominent scholars of classical history provide insight into the major characters, including Thales, Pericles, and Socrates. The stories of epic battles on land and sea and a thoughtful treatment of the Greek ideals of heroism are presented well. But the documentary particularly succeeds in the latter stages, when the story turns to the downfall of Socrates and a thoughtful explanation of how Greek philosophy transformed civilization. --Robert J. McNamara

Customer Reviews

Not perfect, but very good
The title of this DVD is not altogether accurate. If the writers had been interested in choosing a title which had veracity, the DVD would have been called "Athenians, Crucible of Civilization." For it is the Athenians, not the Greeks in general, which this documentary focuses on. Lacedamon, the other Superpower in Greece, as well as minor city states such as Corinth and Attica, are only mentioned in passing. Even then, the purpose for speaking of these places is almost always just to point out how they related to Athens.

Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing. It is true that Athens was a watershed for western culture with its impressive contributions to political ideology, art, literature, theatre, architecture, philosophy, science, polemic techniques and so much more. All of these above topics were shunned by the people of Sparta, and the rest of the city states in Greece paled in comparison, insofar as these fields are concerned, when compared to the grandeur of the ostentatious Athenians.

One place in which this preference for Athens is taken too far, however, is in the treatment of the Persian War. There were four major battles in this war; Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis & Plataea. Only Marathon and Salamis are noted in this work; Thermopylae and Plataea are not cited at all. Apparently, the reason for this is that Marathon & Salamis were the two battles where the Athenians faced the Persians alone [at least for the most part; there were some allied ships sprinkled into the mix @ Salamis]. At Plataea they squared off against the Persians shoulder-to-shoulder with the Spartans and other Greeks. The Athenians were not involved @ Thermopylae at all. Persons who are unfamiliar with Greek history would be likely to walk away from this presentation thinking that there were only 2 major battles in the Persian War, and the Athenians deserve all the credit for saving Greece. That is a skewed understanding of history, and as such, not a good thing.

The biggest oversight of the DVD resides in its chapter on the battle of Marathon. We are told that after his 140 mile jaunt to Sparta, the messenger Pheidippides' plea for help was refused by the Laconians. That is very, very, very misleading. The Lacedamons did NOT intentionally hang their Athenian brethren out to dry in the face of the Persian invasion of Marathon. Rather, it was due to religious protocal which prevented the Spartan army from setting out right away. Here is the passage in Herodotus which details the Lacedamons' answer to Pheidippides:

"...the Spartans wished to help the Athenians, but were unable to give them any present succour, as they did not like to break their established law. It was then the ninth day of the first decade; and they could not march out of Sparta on the ninth, when the moon had not reached the full. So they waited for the full of the moon." (Herodotus, "Histories," Book VI [Erato], p. 342, trans: George Rawlinson)

When the Spartans did send their army, they arrived @ Marathon within an astonishing 3 days. Unfortunately, by then, the fighting was already over & the Athenians had earned a glorious (not to mention improbable) victory. So, the Laconians congratulated the Athenians and headed home. The (mostly Ivy league) historians who put this documentary together should have known better than to omit these facts.

By now you're probably thinking that I have nothing but bad stuff to say about this work, right? Well, no, that's not quite true; I've said all the negative things I am going to say (after all, I did give it 5 stars, right?). Now it's time to detail why I loved this DVD so much.

First of all, what the DVD does cover, it covers very well. The major epochs of Athens are detailed down thru the ages until the end of the Peleponnesian War. The work goes over such diverse subjects as the role of women in ancient Athens, the tactics and tools of warfare and the paradigms of pottery & architecture. Also, the lives of such great men as Themosticles, Pericles and Socrates are scrutinized extensively. As an added bonus the narrarator is none other than the venerable Liam Neeson, and the score is nearly movie-soundtrack calibre.

Despite my criticisms, I would highly recommend this DVD to all persons who have any interest at all in Greek history and / or the foundations of western thought.

If you teach Greek history: Use this video
This movie is an incredibly well done and thoughtful look at Greek history. It manages to include all the major events and individuals and do so in way my high school students as well as college students were able to understand. It brings Archaic and Classical Greece into perspective and is an invaluable tool useful not just in the classroom but for general use. Interesting and educational not two words often put together.

Salamis Toward Athens


As noted by a number of reviewers, this DVD should have been called "The Athenians". The program suffers from a lack of detail despite its narrow focus.

The program uses shots of (I guess) live models standing stock still, in order to provide some kind of image of various characters from Athenian history who are profiled. The classical Athenians are portrayed as backstabbing turncoats, but still, the characters come and go for the most part without any kind of before and after history. Socrates is an exception, but literally everyone knows that story already, so no new ground is covered.

Themistocles, the genius behind Athens' naval victory over the Persians, was "ostracized" after his success -- a sign that the "democracy" of Athens was really just another fascist oligarchy -- and eventually wound up living in honor among his former enemies, the Persians. His ostracism is mentioned, but his ultimate fate in the Persian Empire is not. It would have taken an additional five or ten seconds.

The same can be said about the actions of another estranged Athenian, one who gave Sparta the key to success against Athens. Perhaps another ten or twenty seconds would have sufficed.

At one point during the war, Sparta sued for peace. The "democratic" government of Athens refused to parley. And as it imposed more and more tribute on the so-called Delian League, more and more of the tributary towns dumped Athens or even jumped to the Spartan side.

The "democracy" existed just long enough to start a major war with a view to a swift victory, then turn down the victory, and even widen the war, suffering a major defeat in the process, and eventually losing everything.

We see almost nothing regarding other Greek cities, even Sparta, the city on which Athens made war. The pretext for the war arose from something else entirely, and was the result of something Sparta did (as well as its political system), but this is not discussed in the video.

The video "The Spartans" [B0000C508X] deals strictly with the Greek city of Sparta, with an entire "episode" on the Peloponnesian War. Despite its focus on a single city, "The Spartans" does a better job of giving a real picture of life and politics in classical Greece. If you get "The Greeks", be sure to get "The Spartans" in order to see more of the picture, including important details of their struggle with Athens that are omitted from "The Greeks".

I do not agree that there was a lot to Sparta. It wasn't a sophisticated place at all. Besides the oppressive social structure, the mandatory buggery, the racism / elitism, the eugenics program, the enslavement of its neighbors for centuries, the employment of women as baby machines, and its defeat of Athens, followed by its defeat at the hands of its neighbor, there's little to know about Sparta. But boy, what an interesting and frightening story.

The Persians dealt piecemeal with the Greeks as much as possible. That strategy worked in Anatolia and elsewhere. The Greek city-states managed some major defeats of the Persians alone or by alliances, but on the other hand savaged each other using the Persians either as a pretext (the Delian League) or as an ally (Sparta, in the denouement of the Peloponnesian War). None of this is explained in the DVD, and again, it wouldn't have added significantly to the length.

"The Greeks" is a little on the repetitive side, and heavy on irrelevant modern graphics, possibly because it was intended for school aged viewers. The narrator's voice comes off as a little pompous in my opinion, and the soundtrack is ponderous. It's worth having around as an introduction to the city of Athens, provided this isn't the only thing in your video library. Enjoy.