Friends, contemporaries and even enemies of Alexander the Great gather in a tent to tell his tale through their eyes.
Atmospheric soundtrack follows this compilation of nature footage that focuses on the ocean and various life forms that live, mate and die in it.
Hélikè, la cité engloutie
Les secrets du mont Olympe
Michael Wood travels through Syria and Iraq to uncover the story of Alexander the Great's decisive battle against the might of the Persian Empire in 331 BCE. Ancient writers agreed that it was fought somewhere near the city of Irbil in northern Iraq, but the exact location has never been discovered. Using dramatic new finds in the UK - a cuneiform clay tablet in the British Museum and a papyrus dug up in Egypt - Michael sheds new light on the course of events. Then to reconstruct the campaign, he follows Alexander's route through Damascus and Aleppo to the river Euphrates in Syria and travels into Northern Iraq with the British and US military.
Eminent classical historian Robin Lane Fox embarks on a journey in search of the origins of the Greek myths. He firmly believes that these fantastical stories lie at the root of western culture, and yet little is known about where the myths of the Greek gods came from, and how they grew. Now, after 35 years of travelling, excavation and interpretation, he is confident he has uncovered answers.
Papyrology expert Margaret Mountford goes in search of the truth behind the legend of Sappho, the most controversial writer of the ancient world and the first authentic woman’s voice in Western history. The mysterious discovery of a lost papyrus containing the words to songs unheard for 1700 years sends Margaret on a journey to discover the truth about Sappho. Was she indeed the first lesbian, a priestess, sex worker, a stern schoolmistress or an aristocratic lady of leisure as readers over the centuries have variously alleged? We ask how each generation’s view of the archetypal liberated woman of letters tells us as much about us and our fears as it does about her.
Ancient Explorer, Amish Shah travels to the west coast of India in search of an ancient submerged city. With a passion for the truth, he stumbles into a cover up and in this film, he goes public with what he found.
In the last month of the space shuttle programme, Kevin Fong is granted extraordinary access to the astronauts and ground crew as they prepare for their final mission. He is in mission control as the astronauts go through their final launch simulation, and he flies with the last shuttle commander as he undertakes his last practice landing flight. Kevin also gains privileged access to the shuttle itself, visiting the launchpad in the company of the astronaut who will guide the final flight from mission control.
Go beyond the lost human history! A profile and examination of the recent findings of a highly advanced human settlement submerged at the end of the Ice Age when the sea level rose. The story of Atlantis has its roots in actual historical events!
Virginia Woolf said that Homer's epic poem the Odyssey was 'alive to every tremor and gleam of existence'. Following the magical and strange adventures of warrior king Odysseus, inventor of the idea of the Trojan horse, the poem can claim to be the greatest story ever told. Now British poet Simon Armitage goes on his own Greek adventure, following in the footsteps of one of his own personal heroes. Yet Simon ponders the question of whether he even likes the guy.
Fascinating new translations and fresh research are transforming the myth of Atlantis from the realm of fantasy into an incredible reality. Travel across continents and centuries to unlock the secrets of Plato's final legacy - a true story of Ancient Greece, Africa, and climate change across deep time.
Over twenty-five hundred years ago, the ancient citizens of Athens, Greece built the most magnificent temples that mankind has ever been inspired to create. These towering shrines, shrouded with unworldly spirits, were home to mysterious cults that performed bold sacrifices and evoked unspeakable wonders. And yet, from the citadel of the Acropolis came the very hallmarks of civilization, ideas that remain today the highest testament to the nobility of man -- democracy, science, philosophy and theatre. Through stunning film, interviews with experts and vivid reenactments, you'll explore the haunting mysteries that still lie buried in the mystical world of Ancient Greece.
Alexander, a student of the brilliant philosopher Aristotle, worshiped the god Amun which he believed to be his father. He suffered from epilepsy and was gay, when his partner died he sacrificed all 5,000 inhabitants of a village for him. Alexander's legacy was that a man could be a god, by he has many peoples, cultures and beliefs influenced his vast empire. Alexander the Great had a vision: one civilized world with him as absolute leader! An ambition which had all districts with enormous bloodshed as a result. His craving for power was so great that in our modern world has no equal! While his influence is still noticeable, we know still very little about him. Greek and English archaeologists searching for years for one of the world's greatest mysteries:. the last resting place of Alexander the Great and his golden sarcophagus Alexander The God King is a fascinating journey through time and separate the truth from the legends. The ambition of one man, the course changed our history!
Who invented time, who invented the clock? Why 1 hour, why 60 minutes, why 60 seconds? Since prehistoric times, man has sought to measure time, to organize social and religious life, to plan food supply... Today we can surf the Internet, geolocate, pay by credit card… All our daily lives depend on time and the synchronization of clocks. The history of the invention of time and of the ways and instruments to measure it is a long story…
A look at a haunted town
Adventurer-geologist Dr. Martin Pepper sets out to prove his theory – that the true Atlantis existed on the Greek island of Santorini, and was destroyed in the biggest volcanic eruption in human history. In order to achieve his goal, Pepper will use new scientific evidence gathered using state-of-the-art sonar scans of the sea bed and microscopic analysis of the ancient landscape. He must also match Santorini to a series of key clues embedded in the first ever description of Atlantis by the Greek philosopher Plato – from the lost city’s strange ring-shaped design, to the role Egyptian priests played in recording the legend in the first place. By the end of the program, he reveals the stunning findings which may pinpoint the city and show exactly what it looked like.
A historical and scientific investigation telling the extraordinary story of how the ancient Greeks built a computer 2,000 years ago. Set against the glorious backdrop of classical Greece, this Grierson-nominated film follows the international research team who finally solved the puzzle of the ‘Antikythera Mechanism’. Scientific breakthroughs illustrated with stunning graphics and reenactments, reveal a trail of mysterious numbers that solved the conundrum of the gears – a real life Da Vinci code set in ancient Greece.
The film presents compelling evidence that Altlantis wasn't so far away after all, but what it omits is just as compelling. Although Plato’s account of Atlantian masonry, consisting of red, white and black stones, was a visually perfect match for the modern walls of the Minoan excavation site favored by the film, and his account of a sea made impassable by small islands of mud could, in fact, be a description of the rafts of pumice left by the catastrophic eruption of an ancient volcano there, little mention is made of Plato's specific account of where Atlantis was or the common root that links Atlantis to the Atlantic ocean. Also omitted is Plato's chronology placing the sinking of Atlantis in the same time frame as the end of the last ice age which caused the inundation of huge expanses of once fertile lands. Is "Atlantis: The Evidence" a thinly disguised example of Eurocentrism in the media? Watch Discovery: Atlantis for a more comprehensive view on an age-old debate.
For 25 centuries the Parthenon has been shot at, set on fire, rocked by earthquakes, looted for its sculptures, and disfigured by catastrophic renovations. To save it from collapse, the modern restoration team must uncover the secrets of how the ancient Greeks built this icon of western civilization in less than nine years without anything resembling an architectural plan.