Ancient Greek pottery

Ancient Greece

Episode 8Athens.

Conspiracy: the lost civilisation of Atlantis.

Alexander the Great dressed as a Byzantine emperor

The remarkable afterlife of Alexander the Great.

Kleisthenes is credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508/7 BCE. For these accomplishments, historians refer to him as 'The Father of Athenian Democracy'. (Picture by Alamy)

15 minutes of fameMichael Scott chooses Kleisthenes

KleisthenesFather of Athenian democracy.

Troy: everything you wanted to know.

Saint Michael and the DragonSaint Michael and the Dragon

DragonsFrom mythological beasts of history to the firebreathers of fantasy.

The Parthenon Sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, on display at the British Museum

The Elgin Marbles: what are they and where are they located?

A woman reading a vintage thesaurus

Q&AWho wrote the first thesaurus?

The Trojan Horse is pulled in the city of Troy

Q&AWhat is the Trojan Horse and why do we say 'Beware the Greeks bearing gifts'?

Naked statues, naughty gods & bad wine.

The real Amazons: how the legendary warrior women inspired fighters, feminists and Wonder Woman

Greek myths: everything you wanted to know.

Ancient Greek scientific thinking.

Michael Wood on the Parthenon Sculptures"The case is unique: the sculptures are bound up with Greek identity".

Sketch of Pytheas of Massalia standing on the deck of a wooden ship. He was a Greek explorer who claimed to have visited the British Isles

Q&ADid any ancient Greeks visit Britain?.

Ancient greek alphabet contains 24 letters, starting with alpha and ending with omega

The ancient Greek alphabet: when was it invented, how many letters are there and how do you pronounce them?

How the Greeks changed the world.

An Etruscan scarab made of Carmelite featuring a winged Daidalos

The mythical genius of Daidalos, the first polymath.

Greek soldier Pheidippides arrives in Athens with news of the Greek victory over the Persians at Marathon, only to die on the spot

Pheidippides: is the ancient Greek marathon runner remembered for the wrong run?

QuizHow Much Do You Know About Ancient Greece?.

Boats clash at sea in this illustration of the 480 BC battle of Salamis, fought between a Persian army led by King Xerxes I and the Greek army led by Themistocles

Salamis, 480 BC: a horror at sea for the Persian empire

An image of Hippocrates from the 14th century, sitting and holding a book open in front of him

Hippocrates and humours: medicine in ancient Greece

This red-figure pottery depicts a story involving Helen of Troy. Greek tragedies posed their audiences an awkward question: what would you do if you were in a similar situation? Meanwhile, comedy gave satirists a channel through which to cut Athens' political heavies down to size. (DEA/G.NIMATALLAH/De Agostini/Getty Images)

Ancient Greek theatre and the Athenian identity.

Adolf Hitler stands with his back to a statue of Discobolos, the Discus Thrower

The classics and racial hatred: how the far right hijacked the ancient world.

The Spartan king Leonidas at the battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. The conflict has become the archetype for the courageous last stand, pitting around 200,000 Persians against 7,000 Spartans.

Your guide to the battle of Thermopylae

A depiction of a Spartan mother saying goodbye to her son, she is seated as he leaves

Women in ancient Greece: what were their lives like?

A modern illustration shows prisoners of war being sold into slavery

Slavery in ancient Greece: what was life like for enslaved people?

An ancient Greek vase depicting sexual intercourse

A brief history of sex and sexuality in Ancient Greece

A stone bust of the Greek god Dionysius

The gods and their whims: your guide to ancient Greek religion